The award was presented at the annual conference which took place in Cape Town from 12 to 14 May.
Xulu was vying for this coveted award with seasoned and accomplished executives from across the continent, including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana.
Xulu said, “I am honoured and humbled to be conferred this award. This award is a tribute to the exceptional work that the members of the executive and management team did, it pays homage to the untrammelled vision that the board and members have articulated, and it is an acknowledgement of the diligent work done by the entire workforce of City Power which gave expression and impetus to this vision.”
This prestigious award celebrates the outstanding accomplishments of a CEO from an African water or power utility in the past year. Xulu was recognised for the innovative and smart initiatives City Power introduced to the market in the year under review.
These interventions significantly improved billing accuracy, enhanced revenue generation for municipalities and contributed markedly to managing electricity usage and reducing pressure on the national grid. They included the rollout of smart meters and solar geysers across Johannesburg and the introduction of smart technologies such as ripple control, load limiting and time of use.
Using ripple control, City Power can remotely switch off energy-intensive geysers during periods of constrained supply; while load limiting enables the utility to monitor household usage in real time and disconnect residents who exceed the set threshold. Time of use is a dynamic tariff model that prices electricity more cost-effectively during off-peak periods to encourage usage during this time, and prices it at a premium during peak periods to discourage consumption.
Ripple control has freed up an extra 110 megawatts of power, while the rollout of solar geysers has generated an additional 60MW of electricity.
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