The small town of Clarens in the Free State has recently achieved the status of being South Africa’s first “smart town”.
This title is because of a unique project with Eskom which allows the town to manage its electricity usage.
Clarens is known for its arts community and beautiful surroundings and depends largely on its tourist trade. The town has now welcomed technology to handle electricity load management.
Eskom highlighted the town’s readiness for this project due to its infrastructure, which includes smart metering and electric vehicle charging stations, and several small-scale power generators.
This new system, known as “group curtailment”, is a community-led approach to managing electricity demand, especially during power shortages.
The entire community in Clarens works together to reduce electricity usage when Eskom tells them to.
This notification is given two hours beforehand and the required reduction must be maintained throughout load shedding.
To manage this process, an app has been developed that alerts residents when they need to reduce their power usage.
The town’s electricity demand is monitored in real-time, and if necessary, residents are prompted to reduce usage further.
Gert Kruger, the project’s coordinator in Clarens, said that for a tourist-dependent town like Clarens, avoiding load shedding is critical.
The project relies on the participation of residents and businesses. The community supports the project and the entire community gains from the group effort.
Pictured above: Clarens.
Image source: Clarens.co.za
