Rising electricity costs and current supply issues continue to put pressure on the agriculture sector and the South African economy. Any farm (regardless of size) can implement energy efficiency (EE) measures in order to lower operating costs. Energy saving interventions ranges from behavioural changes to investing in more efficient technologies. The former is cheap to implement and has reportedly saved agriculture businesses on average an estimated 20%. 

Technological interventions can be minor changes, such as switching to more efficient lighting to more complex system changes. There are various service providers that operate in this space. These services typically include energy audits, advise on technological changes and their associated cost savings, monitoring & evaluation of system performance and some offer finance solutions in the form of shared cost savings (read more at ESCo link below).

Below you can find useful links and publications to assist those looking to invest or expand their knowledge on energy efficiency in the SA agriculture sector. For case studies on renewable energy in agriculture see this page (click) and for projects and research, see this page (click) on our website.