[Sponsored] 4Sight OT Automation, a wholly owned subsidiary of 4Sight Holdings, has been named the South African winner of the 2024 Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Award. The award recognises the company’s commitment to driving measurable sustainability outcomes for its customers through digital transformation and energy management innovation.
Eskom’s Load Curtailment programme is part of South Africa’s national demand-side management strategy to stabilise the grid during periods of generation shortfall. Unlike traditional load shedding, where electricity supply is temporarily cut to certain areas, load curtailment requires large industrial or commercial electricity users to voluntarily reduce their power consumption by a specific percentage during curtailment periods. These requirements are typically communicated via SMS or email notifications and are based on predefined curtailment stages, ranging from Stage 1 to Stage 4. Participating customers such as Tharisa Mine must respond promptly to reduce their load by the instructed percentage, typically calculated against a baseline of historical consumption. Non-compliance can result in penalties or full load disconnection. The programme is designed to keep essential services running and avoid system-wide blackouts, while also encouraging more active and automated energy management practices among high-usage consumers.
The award-winning Load Curtailment Response project was developed to help Tharisa Mine meet Eskom’s load curtailment requirements. To enhance the customer’s responsiveness to national grid constraints, 4Sight deployed a Digital Energy platform that integrated real-time power monitoring and automated control of six existing 1,6 MVA generators that were previously operated manually. This automation significantly reduced generator runtime and load, resulting in direct carbon emission savings of approximately 2000 kg of CO2 per hour of reduced operation − a major milestone in decarbonising mining operations.
Safety and compliance remain central to all engineering projects. To meet these standards, routine manual inspections of the generators continue. During scheduled inspections, personnel record the Pass/Fail status of each generator, which is then incorporated into the automated control system to ensure reliable and safe operation.
Generator control is dynamically scheduled and executed based on the load curtailment stage communicated via SMS from Eskom. These messages are automatically decoded into actionable control variables, including a calculated load reduction target derived from a scaled baseline evaluation method. Generator prioritisation is determined using factors such as availability, accumulated runtime and other operational parameters.
A key benefit of the project execution are reduced diesel consumption, saving approximately 2000 kg of CO2 emissions per hour of reduced generator runtime. In addition, deployment of Schneider Electric’s Power Monitoring Expert (PME) software and PM8000 Advanced Power Meters (IEC 61000-4-30 Class S certified) enable the following to be achieved:
• Real-time visibility of actual consumption and generation.
• Improved control during load curtailment events.
• Shift-aligned reporting.
• Power quality monitoring and reporting.
• Verification of utility bills via Time-of-Use consumption analysis at Eskom’s point of delivery.
• Maximum demand prediction for proactive energy management.
• A clear roadmap for future expansions.
“Our mission at 4Sight is to support customers in making data-driven, sustainable decisions,” said Christa Dowd, digital energy lead at 4Sight OT Automation. “We are proud to partner with Tharisa to bring operational intelligence to life through automated energy control. This recognition underscores our role as a trusted advisor and implementation partner to clients navigating the path to Net Zero. Tharisa, a key player in South Africa’s platinum and chrome mining sector, embraced innovation through its partnership with 4Sight. The deployment of Schneider Electric’s PME platform provided real-time operational insights and empowered Tharisa to reduce its environmental footprint proactively.”
JC du Preez, digital and automation manager at Tharisa, said: “The ‘i’ in Tharisa stands for Innovation. With 4Sight OT Automation’s expert integration and the deployment of Schneider Electric technologies, we’ve achieved measurable results aligned with the sustainable mining charter. The 2000 kg per hour CO2 reduction is a clear indicator of the value this partnership delivers.”
Schneider Electric has firmly established itself as a global leader in sustainability and climate action. In both 2024 and 2025, the company was named the World’s Most Sustainable Company by TIME Magazine and Statista, following an extensive evaluation of more than 5000 global firms on criteria including emissions reduction, transparency and sustainability commitments. In June 2025, Schneider Electric further cemented its influence by being included in the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list, receiving the inaugural “Impact in Sustainability” award for its pivotal role in guiding 40% of Fortune 500 companies towards more sustainable operations. These achievements build on a strong legacy, including being the first organisation to top the Corporate Knights Global 100 list twice, and earning consistent A-list ratings from CDP for both climate action and water stewardship. Schneider Electric’s integrated approach, embedding sustainability across its operations, supply chain and customer-facing solutions, demonstrates how business performance and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.
Beyond its own achievements, Schneider Electric actively empowers its global ecosystem of partners to drive sustainability transformation. Through initiatives like the Sustainability Impact Awards, Schneider Electric celebrates and recognises partners who contribute to reducing energy consumption, enhancing efficiency, and accelerating decarbonisation. These awards underscore Schneider Electric’s belief that meaningful climate impact is best achieved through collaboration. The recognition of 4Sight OT Automation is a testament to this philosophy, highlighting the company’s strength as a trusted systems integrator that enables clients to move from data hindsight to actionable foresight using intelligent automation and real-time energy management. By supporting and celebrating such innovations, Schneider Electric inspires a broader shift toward a low-carbon, digitally connected future.
“Innovation is in the DNA of 4Sight”, said Tertius Zitzke, CEO of 4Sight Holdings and 2024 Innovator of the Year at the 12th All African Business Leaders Awards. “By leveraging structured data, AI and automation we enable cost savings and sustainability improvements across every layer of business, from operations to finance.”
Tharisa is an integrated resource group critical to the energy transition and decarbonisation of economies. It incorporates exploration, mining, processing and the beneficiation, marketing, sales and logistics of PGMs and chrome concentrates, using innovation and technology as enablers. Its principal operating asset is the multi-generational Tharisa Mine, located in the south-western limb of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. Tharisa is also developing the Karo Platinum Project, a low-cost, open-pit PGM asset located on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe, while simultaneously focusing on beneficiation in the form of chrome and PGM alloys. A 15-year power purchase agreement with Etana for the procurement of wheeled renewable energy and a 40 MW solar project under construction will ensure that Tharisa Minerals’ drive to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2030 is well within reach, forming a major part of a roadmap to become net carbon neutral by 2050. Redox One is accelerating the development of a proprietary iron chromium redox flow long-duration battery utilising the commodities mined by Tharisa.
4Sight is a multinational, diversified technology group. Its strategic vision is digital AI transformation for businesses through seamlessly integrating the OT and IT worlds with the business environment, and using AI for boosting productivity across all sectors. Through its Channel Partner network, 4Sight reaches more than 900 partners who benefit from its cutting-edge technological services and solutions.
The four clusters of 4Sight focus on serving the specific needs of its target industries with its own innovative IP solutions, while leveraging its deep domain expertise, empowering its customers and partners to futureproof their businesses through digital AI transformation, and to make better and more informed decisions in the modern digital economy.
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