30-05-2012, 12:31 PM
Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)
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Introduction
This project was implemented in Khayelitsha, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. The city of Cape Town is positioned on the southern peninsula of the Western Cape Province covering a geographical area of 2,479 square kilometers (957.15 sq mi) and serves as the province’s capital city. With a total population of 3.4 million people (2010), it is the second most populous city in South Africa and the provincial and legislative capital of the country. Cape Town is South Africa’s second richest city, in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, after Johannesburg. In 2009 Cape Town’s real GDP was US$26.6 billion (R188.46 billion) and a per capita income of US$7,840 (R55,428). As the province’s economic hub, it produces 10.6 percent of South Africa’s GDP and accounts for almost 71 percent of the Western Cape’s economic activity. The main drivers of economic growth are finance and business services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade sectors.
Although South Africa is viewed economically as a developing country, it is a significant carbon polluter and emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), mainly due to its coal-fired electricity generation facilities and large industries. The country is 13th on the GHG emitters list, with emissions of 9.25 tons per capita and a total contribution of over 451 Mt/year.3 The country also faces challenges: (i) providing energy to its poorer citizens; (ii) meeting energy demand with recent energy shortages; and (ii) supplying affordable housing in its cities. Since 1994, the African National Congress (ANC)-led democratic government in South Africa has promised its citizens a “better life for all,” including adequate housing, access to water, electricity, sanitation, education, health care, decent transportation, and economic opportunities. Although significant progress has been made in redressing the inequalities of the past, significant backlogs still exist in terms of adequate housing and access to energy. Cape Town’s housing shortage of approximately 400,000 units has been noted as the city’s most serious developmental challenge.4
Project Description and Design
The project was a City of Cape Town initiative in collaboration with the community of Kuyasa and the Dutch nongovernmental organization (NGO) partner SouthSouthNorth (SSN).6
The goals of the Kuyasa retrofit project were to improve the living conditions of the low-income inhabitants of Kuyasa while reducing fossil fuel-based energy, energy costs and CO2 emissions. This would be achieved with three main interventions: The local government of Cape Town is the project owner, the main coordinating body and the implementing party for this project (via subcontractors). The municipal departments involved in the project are the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) and the South African Export Development Fund (SAEDF). SSN covered the costs related to the project design and savings validation required to register the project under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Improvement of thermal performance
The existing low-cost households in Kuyasa lacked insulated ceilings. The project planned to retrofit them with 25 mm IsoBoard thermal insulation (0.024 Kelvin/Watt Degree Celsius- K/WºC) to make households more comfortable year-round and to reduce demand for fuel sources used for space heating purposes. Thermal modeling of ten houses in Kuyasa was conducted to establish the baseline, estimate the improved thermal comfort levels (defined at 21º C or 70º F), estimate energy consumption levels for space heating, and other associated benefits from the insulation. The project utilized the QUICK (Version 3.0) thermal modeling software to simulate the thermal performance of the households and the sensitivity of these units to thermal performance interventions such as ceilings.7
2. Provision of energy efficient lighting The project activity emission
reductions were calculated based on actual energy use for space heating and the energy model was used to calculate the amount of energy it would have taken for equivalent heating in a home without an insulated ceiling.
The lighting retrofit involved replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs in each household. In each home, two 60W incandescent lamps were replaced by two CFLs (11W and 16W). In the sampled households studied to develop the baseline, data was analyzed on which two lights were in use the most in order to target them under the project. Survey data in the baseline study showed that the average daily operating time of the lamps was 6.8 hours. It was expected that including CFLs in the project would make a significant contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions, result in cost savings to the household, and reduce the utility’s peak demand. Maintenance and proper care (during monitoring periods) was planned to ensure continued use and replacement of the CFLs within the project period. In addition, the project provided the residents with improved and safe electric wiring and electric outlets for usage in their homes.
3. Improvement in water heating efficiency through SWHs
The project also planned to equip each house with SWHs with a collector area of 1.4 square meters (15.07 square feet) and a hot water storage tank of 100 liters (22.7 gallons). The design specifications of the SWHs, such as the collector area, storage capacity, azimuth and tilt angles, etc., were finalized through a numerical modeling exercise commissioned by SSN. The SWHs were installed with timers to respond to the heating load peaks in the evenings in winter. The project initially used imported ”Genergy” evacuated tube SWHs, but later switched to locally-manufactured open-vented SWHs by ”XStream” which provided similar or improved performance.