| Summary: | Global energy constraints and economic conditions have placed large energy consumers
under pressure to conserve resources. Several governments have acknowledged this and
have employed policies to address energy shortages. In South Africa, the lacking electrical
infrastructure caused severe electricity supply shortages during recent years. To alleviate
the shortage, the government has revised numerous energy policies.
Consumers stand to gain nancially if they embrace the opportunities o ered by the revised
policies. Energy management systems provide a framework that ensures alignment with
speci cations of the respective programs. Such a system requires a data consolidation
platform to import and manage relevant data. A stored combination of consumption data,
production data and nancial data can be used to extract information for numerous reporting
applications.
This study discusses the development of a data consolidation platform. The platform is
used to collect and maintain energy related data. The platform is capable of consolidating
a wide range of energy and production data into a single data set. The generic platform
architecture o ers users the ability to manage a wide range of data from several sources.
In order to generate reports, the platform was integrated with an existing software based
energy management system. The integrated system provides a web-based interface that
allows the generation and distribution of various reports. To do this the system accesses the
consolidated data set.
The developed energy information tool is used by an ESCo to gather and consolidate data
from multiple client systems into a single repository. Speci c reports are generated by the
integrated system and can be targeted at both consumers and governing bodies. The system
complies with draft legislative guidelines and has been successfully implemented as a energy
information tool in practice. === MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
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