08-17-2017, 12:11 AM
demand side management (DSM) programme is directly financing viable DSM projects in the agricultural sector. water is pumped from the Crocodile River to irrigate about 300 hA of banana plants and sugar cane. The system was labour intensive. This context in zimbabwe, The DSM solution began with automating the start and stop sequences of the pump sets, then modifying water piping by means of non-return valves and other measures. automated irrigation control system with advanced systematic load management; a centralised control centre and a centralised processing facility were part of the next step. Soft starters were installed on three pumps which had the control facilities and the communications linked to the control centre. according to load management requirements the system could be switched on and off twice a day. Computerised systems control duration and start-up times in every sector of the farm. With the use of these DSM techniques in this sector, The expected total annual savings were calculated as R82 000.
Agricultural & Municipal DSM
-about 35% of electricity consumed by Agriculture and Municipal sector.
-The inefficiencies in pumping system used in the agriculture systems - targeted through a
subsidy reduction approach
- Business model linked to subsidy reduction is being evolved
-Shelf of bankable DPRs to be prepared- about 200 to
stimulate the market
Agriculture sector has 1.8million consumers with annual consumption of 6200W which is about 21.1% of the total sales.
DSM in Agriculture provides immense opportunity in
-Reducing the overall power consumption
- Improving efficiencies of ground water extraction
- Reducing the subsidy burden of the states without
sacrificing the service obligation to the sector
Overall electricity savings (from 20 million pumps) is estimated at 62.1 billion units annually in this sector.
Key Barriers to Agricultural DSM:
-Efficiency issue is neutral to farmers due to subsidised or zero cost
power.
-Vested interest in recommending cheap pump needing repetitive
maintenance
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