Sustainability Report 2012 - Transnet

Environmental dividends (continued)Total electricity consumptionfor 2011/12Freight Rail traction 68,0%Freight Rail property 6,0%Transnet Property 3,0%Rail Engineering 11,0%Pipelines 6,0%Port Terminals 5,0%National Ports Authority 1,0%Total traction electricity2011/12Iron ore line 14,0%GFB 59,0%Coal line 27,0%Energy efficiencyTransnet’s total electricity consumption in 2011/12 was approximately3 792 146MWh. 68,0% of this was used for Freight Rail traction; 9,0% inbuildings; and the remainder in Transnet’s ports, pipelines and rail engineeringoperations.Transnet’s total fuel consumption in 2011/12 was 227 934 079 litres. 62,0%of this was used by Freight Rail diesel locomotives; 3,9% by National PortsAuthority for tugs and pilot boats; 7,7 % by Port Terminals mainly for straddlecarriers; and the remainder in other Transnet operations including RailEngineering.Energy efficiency is an imperative for Transnet, specifically as we implementthe MDS which requires more electricity and more diesel to move largervolumes, in circumstances of severe electricity supply constraints, sharplyincreasing electricity and fuel prices, and the advent of carbon taxes.Efficiency gains are however, particularly challenging for Freight Rail tractivepower, Transnet’s largest energy consumer, where only new locomotivetechnology is able to introduce meaningful energy savings per ton kilometre.As Freight Rail buys and commissions new locomotive fleets as part of theMDS, it will be able to show increased energy efficiency over time.To indicate the levels of energy efficiency that can be achieved in the newlocomotives, Freight Rail has been measuring the regenerative capabilities ofnew fleets on the coal and iron ore lines. With the introduction of 100 newClass 19E locomotives on the coal line, Freight Rail records thatapproximately 10,0% of the energy consumed in these locomotives isregenerated for own use on the coal line. On the iron ore line, the 44 newClass 15E locomotives regenerate approximately 20,0% of their energyconsumption back into the Eskom grid, on a round trip between Sishen andSaldanha. The coal and iron ore lines are Freight Rail’s most streamlined andoperationally efficient businesses and these levels of energy efficiency areunlikely to be replicable on the general freight network.The calculation of electricity regeneration is not straightforward and FreightRail is currently investigating technology installations in some sub-stations tocapture the regenerative electricity discharged by locomotives back into thesystem. Tracking of regeneration is complicated by, amongst other factors,the need to use different configurations of locomotives (old and new, electricand diesel interchangeably on a single train set), train scheduling, electricitysub-station locations, and route gradients.At the Port of Ngqura Container Terminal, Port Terminals has installed six newLiebherr STS cranes. In 2011/12, Port Terminals metered the electricity usageand regenerative capabilities of this new equipment and has concluded that20,0% of electricity used by the cranes is regenerated.For the MDS forecast volumes, we have estimated that all Transnet’soperations (rail, port and pipelines) will need between 44,0% and 65,0% moreelectricity over the next seven years than we used in 2011/12. Grid electricitysupply to meet this demand is not certain and is registered by Transnet as asignificant risk to MDS.70