In the 21 st century, energy saving, cost savings and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions have become an important concern for the sustainability of steelworks. The emphasis is on assigning dedicated personnel to reduce energy cost and emissions on iron-and steelmanufacturing plants. Profitability in the steel industry, both globally and locally, has drastically reduced in the last decade. In South Africa, the production of steel was down by 4.5% year-on-year in 2015. This is due to both a struggling economy and a world surplus in steel supply. The emphasis on cost reduction is therefore even more important in South Africa to stay competitive in the global steel market. It is important for personnel at iron-and steel-manufacturing plants to be aware of the risks associated with electricity costs and how to mitigate these risks to stay competitive in a difficult and economically struggling industry. There is a lack of knowledge regarding electricity cost savings and personnel do not have the knowledge to achieve electricity savings. There is a need to establish a framework to identify, prioritise and implement electricity cost reduction in the South African steel-producing environment. There are several energy management systems and approaches that can be used to manage and obtain energy savings. The problem with these systems is the lack of a step-by-step framework that is applicable specifically to steel plants. Typical energy cost reduction strategies focus on large capital expenditure (capex) projects. Steel plants in South Africa have limited capex to spend on energy cost reduction.

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Significant advances have been made in automation technology allowing systems to shift electricity consumption from peak periods to off-peak periods. Load shift projects have been implemented throughout South Africa for their electricity cost saving potential.This study shows how these load shift projects also reduce the carbon dioxide production at power stations by 91 kg/MWh shifted. This reduction is however not limited to load shift projects on the demand side, but also includes supply side load management. Technologies such as pumped storage schemes and carbon dioxide conversion to methane are identified as effective means of achieving supply side load management.A load shift project is shown to not only have an electricity cost saving but also an environmental cost saving. This emphasizes the need to continue implementing these projects as a method of reducing the environmental impact. Measurement and Verification (M&V) teams should therefore also report on this carbon dioxide reduction.

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