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.
Publisher
Electrical Engineering
Description
Degree of Master of Science in Engineering