A study of demand-side electrical energy management techniques applicable in Kenya industrial sector

Abstract

In this study, electrical energy management techniques. applicable in Kenya industrial sector were developed, with the aim of finding ways that can be used to cut down waste in the industries through efficient use of electrical energy. The first chapter covers the introduction where definitions of energy management technique, purpose of the study, motivation and previous work related to this study are provided. The second chapter is the literature review. In this chapter, various categories of energy audit in an industry were studied in order to set up the methodology that was to be applied in the case studies. The methods were used to identify potential areas of energy waste in Kenya industries. The chapter also covers a study of energy consuming equipments and processes in industries and various methods that are applied in energy saving in industries. The following areas are covered: energy auditing, electrical bill management, lighting, motor and power factor controls, demand management, and other industrial processes control. It also covers the modern methods of software application in energy management and provides an economic study on how to evaluate for energy saving techniques. The third chapter describes the methodology that was used to carry out this research. It provides the methods used to identify various energy saving opportunities, methods of analyzing industries and the methods used in energy calculations to determine the financial impacts of the identified opportunities. The fourth chapter provides a detailed analysis of Kenya tariff structure, analysis of various processes in various industries and identification of energy saving opportunities in each industry. The industries studied are, Textile Industry, Tyre Industry, Glass Industry and Footwear Industry (there identity are left intentionally). Detailed analysis was carried out for the energy savin-g opportunities in Textile and Tyre industries - to investigate their financial impact. Kenya electricity tariff was graphically analyzed where the relationship between the improvement of the load factor wi th the cost of electricity per unit and the percent charges of maximum demand with a given energy consumption was investigated. Chapter five provides the development and justification of general techniques for energy management applicable in Kenya industries. Each technique is described in details. A number of 22 techniques were developed. In the conclusion(Chapter six), it was determined that there is enormous energy-saving potential in Kenya industrial sector; the saving potential is estimated to range between 7%-22%. This potential cannot be left untapped and it is time for the utilities, energy regulators, and other key parties to move forward and actively pursue the large energy saving opportunities in the industrial sector. To reinforce these outcomes, it was found that there is a need to have national standards to measure energy performance of equipment. It was also observed that if our local industries implement the energy saving techniques developed in this study, they could operate efficiently and there could be a reduction of the electrical energy demand and consumption in Kenyan industries, which would result to a number of benefits. Some of these benefits include: utility increasing the reserve capacity, utility providing reliable power supply due to reduction in demand, utility connecting new customers with the available power and finally the government can do away with some of the expensive and inefficient power generators leaving room for economic development. This will lead to a reduction of tariffrates, which will provide to a reduction in the cost of production in our industries, and hence our industries would be able to produce goods that are competitive in the regional market. Chapter seven highlights two recommendations of the future work. One of the recommendations is to carry out a study to develop a range of practical mechanisms for promoting the implementation of the developed demand-side energy management techniques and to provide analysis on the public policy implications of the developed . mechanisms in Kenya. Another recommendation is to carry out a study to develop improved methods for integrating the developed demand-side energy management techniques into resource planning in Kenya government.