Energy Efficiency Measurement & Verification in South Africa
Speaker: Doctor Christopher V. Hollot
Host Faculty: Professor Zhong-Ping Jiang
Abstract
Measurement and verification (M&V) is the process of using measurements to reliably determine actual saving created within an individual facility by an energy management program. This talk will describe the basics of M&V, and introduce how M&V is conducted in the Republic of South Africa. Topics covered include the history of M&V in South Africa, the business structure, and the Eskom-led M&V protocols and guidelines of M&V. The talk will also present how the M&V profession is governed and regulated by the national professional body, the national stardard (the first in the world), and a national accreditation system of energy efficiency measurement and verification. Lastly, the talk will highlight the research and postgraduate student training in relation to M&V -- an fast evolving field where you find new research opportunities with applications of mathematics, control systems, power engineering and environmental psycology.
About the Speakers
Xiaohua Xia is a professor in the Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, director of the Centre of New Energy Systems, and the director of the South African National Hub for the Postgraduate Programme in Energy Efficiency and Demand-side Management. He was academically affiliated with the University of Stuttgart, Germany, the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France, and the National University of Singapore before joining the University of Pretoria in 1998. Prof. Xia is a fellow of the Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), a fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE), and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). He has an A rating from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). He served as the chair of the Technical Committee of Non-linear Systems of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). He has been an associate editor of Automatica, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, and specialist editor (control) of the SAIEE Africa Research Journal. His research interests are control systems and automation, and more recently, the modeling and optimization of energy systems. Prof Xia is a registered professional engineering with the Engineering Council of South Africa. He is a measurement and verification professional certified by the Association of Energy Engineers, the founding director and one of the two technical signatories of Onga Energy Pty Ltd – the first energy efficiency inspection body accredited by the South African National Accreditation Systems, and leads the measurement and verification team of the University of Pretoria.