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Home » Clover SA, at the forefront of efficient and sustainable solutions and heat pump technology

Clover SA, at the forefront of efficient and sustainable solutions and heat pump technology

Technical information provided by CEO of EP, Manie de Waal and EP general manager for refrigeration Dawie Kriel, edited by Eamonn Ryan.

Energy utility company, Energy Partners (EP), has invested in and constructed a R390-million integrated energy solution that provides solar-assisted cooling, heating and world-class utility management to help Clover SA – one of the largest dairy producers – power through South Africa’s energy crisis.

Ammonia surge drum: the system is an ammonia-based refrigeration system driven by Grasso screw compressors with evaporative condensing to ensure optimum efficiency. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.
Ammonia surge drum: the system is an ammonia-based refrigeration system driven by Grasso screw compressors with evaporative condensing to ensure optimum efficiency. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.

According to de Waal, South Africa’s limited and unstable power supply is now a medium-term certainty. More than just electrical power, it is absolutely critical to identify opportunities across the total energy ecosystem, such as refrigeration and steam supply, whereby capital can be preserved, efficiency increased, and costs reduced.

The view from the roof. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.
The view from the roof. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.

Clover is the largest and oldest dairy processor in South Africa and ‘Project Sencillo’ was introduced in 2020 to optimise its production footprint. With the amalgamation of many smaller production facilities into a few key larger factories, the dairy producer was in search of increased efficiency and cost reduction.

Energy Partners responded to the call. A pioneer in the field of energy efficiency and sustainability in South Africa, the energy utility company is making waves with its innovative approach to refrigeration, cooling -as-a-service (CaaS). The latter is a concept born from the global phenomena of servitisation. Central to the concept of servitisation is that clients pay for a service rather than the equipment itself. For Clover this means that they will only pay a fee per unit of cooling and heating they use, which enables the dairy company to lower its costs by as much as R792-million over the next 20 years.

Through servitisation, EP was able to invest in, design and construct an integrated refrigeration, power and steam plant, of which the utility company will operate and maintain on behalf of Clover for the period of the agreement. “This is an industry-leading partnership that not only realised the largest outsourced refrigeration system in the world, but also the first solar-assisted one we are aware of,” says Kriel.

De Waal continues: “Servitisation builds operational agility, improves profitability, minimises waste and achieves resource efficiency. We are global leaders with a servitisation model that includes 100% investment, design, construction and utility management across power, refrigeration and steam assets.”

With EP assuming the capital cost of the project, Clover is able to further invest in Project Sencillo and its five-year, multi-phased plan targeting the improved utilisation and efficiency of company assets and processes.

Anton Pretorius, Clover’s group manager: product technology and technical services, explains: “This removal of upfront investment, together with the fact that we have access to a modern, automated plant that EP has committed to guaranteed uptime and efficiency in line with industry standards, has resulted in lower operational costs and ensures that Clover is at the forefront of efficient and sustainable technology.”

De Waal notes that the model highlights an opportunity for commercial and industrial businesses to increase their bottom line, while decreasing operational costs and risks in a highly-challenging economic environment.

EP also provided an outsourced steam solution for this project with three 30 bar, 30 ton boilers.

THE REFRIGERATION PROJECT.

Energy Partners general manager for refrigeration, Dawie Kriel. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.
Energy Partners general manager for refrigeration, Dawie Kriel. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.

 

Kriel provides the following information: The project letter of intent was signed in February 2021. EP commenced on site around March that year, with the retrofit project that involved both the replacement and upgrade of the existing system at Queensburgh. EP took a phased approach to the project with staggered completion dates to ensure minimum disruption to Clover’s production. The final leg of the project was completed in March 2022, an effective 12-month project timeline that ran ahead of schedule despite the challenge of production uptime.

Initially, a new plant room was planned for the refrigeration system, but the site topography made this too expensive. It helped that EP’s in-house consulting team were also part of the overall professional team driving the larger project. Careful planning of shut-downs and space utilisation in the existing plant room were necessary to achieve effective time management. The use of the existing plant room proved to be an added complexity, both in terms of creating an efficient layout and ensuring continuity of cooling during the project. The focus of CaaS is providing peak efficiency for the full 20-year contract, so design and construction must be done with this in mind.

In terms of client Clover’s design specifications, they needed to increase the system efficiency and capacity, and wanted to take the refrigeration supply off-balance sheet.

EP’s CaaS product was chosen because it guarantees efficiency, uptime and temperature while providing a completely off-balance sheet solution for utilities such as cooling and heating.

Servitisation contracts typically span a significant period, typically between 10 and 20 years – 20 years in the case of the Clover contract – aligning with the lifespan of the refrigeration plant. These long-term agreements provide stability and predictability for both the service provider and the client.

However, Clover also has the option to buy out the system at any point during the contract period. This flexibility ensures that customers are not locked into a service agreement if they are dissatisfied or wish to explore other alternatives.

The new system capacity is 10 MWR with the capability to expand to 15 MWR – and the system recovers 12% of the waste heat to drive boiler efficiency by pre-heating feedwater. In addition, the solar system provides 16% of the electricity to the refrigeration system, thereby decreasing carbon emissions and the life cycle cost of cooling.

The system is an ammonia-based refrigeration system driven by Grasso screw compressors with evaporative condensing to ensure optimum efficiency. Heat recovery is from both the oil cooling system as well as the superheat from the discharge gas.

The system is a three-stage cascade plant that produces cooling a -28°C, -10°C and -2°C. The old ice banks were reduced in size to provide stability in the ice water temperature (acting as a capacitor). Ice water is supplied at 1°C, Glycol at -8°C and direct ammonia freezing at -22°C for the factory.

Dials on pump no. 3. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.
Dials on pump no. 3. Image supplied by EP Refrigeration.

System efficiency was key so adding VSDs, heat recovery, active Coefficient of Performance (COP) control, and a three stage system design was paramount to drive efficiency as high as possible.

Ultimately, an effective increase of about 40% of the system’s efficiency, compared to the old system, was achieved. In addition, the heat recovery and the solar PV system will reduce the CO2 emissions from the refrigeration system by 132 million tons over the life of the plant.

More importantly, Clover will save more than R70-million on a Net Present Value (NPV) basis over the next 20 years, while reducing their operational risk and enabling the management team to focus on the core business of producing dairy product of the highest quality, says Kriel.

De Waal reiterated that Clover experienced minimal interruptions to operations during the 12 months it took to construct the new ammonia cooling plant within the existing plant room, a 1 180m2 boiler house and a 1.6MW solar system.

Amid substantial challenges for South Africa’s commercial and industrial sectors, the partnership is “definitely a win-win for both parties,” Pretorius concludes.