As this new year opens, South Africa is gearing up to host the G20, which will see working group meetings and other discussions taking place throughout the year – with a focus on what the country has determined as the key themes: solidarity, equality and sustainable development. President Cyril Ramaphosa has pointed out that the G20, a leading forum for international economic cooperation, is being hosted on the African continent for the first time, marking a significant moment for South Africa, the African continent and the world.

The increasing proportion of renewable energies in electricity supply systems, globally, influences the way transmission grids operate, creating new technical requirements in measurement, monitoring and control systems and driving the move to smart grids to manage decentralised, diverse and variable energy resources. This context spotlights all the features in focus in this December 2024 edition of Electricity + Control: Industry 4.0 + IIoT, Energy management + the industrial environment, Measurement + instrumentation and Transformers, substations + cables.

In this issue of Electricity + Control we feature Control systems + automation; Drives, motors + switchgear; Sensors + switches; and Plant maintenance, test + measurement.

As the world seeks new pathways to sustainability, food security tends to be buried beneath growing revelations of extreme weather patterns emerging around the world and the clamour for cleaner energy and stable water supply. Of course, they all work together in earth’s natural ecosystem – which our primarily industrial climate stressors have pushed out of balance.

In this October 2024 issue of Electricity + Control we report on some of the interactions we had with exhibitors at this year’s Electra Mining Africa. The show was, according to the organisers, the biggest yet in the event’s 52-year history, with more exhibitors and exhibits stretching over a greater area than before, and the highest number of visitors attending.

In his Comment upfront, Editorial Technical Director Professor Ian Jandrell notes how pervasive Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things have become – and this was evident among a broad spectrum of the exhibitors at Electra Mining Africa, reflecting how digital transformation is occurring across industry sectors, to a greater or lesser degree, enabling new ways of operating, maintaining and improving plants, processes and production.

As this edition of Electricity + Control goes to print, Electra Mining Africa 2024 is in full swing – and this year’s show is the biggest yet in the event’s history. This is perhaps in part a reflection of renewed buoyancy in the South African economy – galvanised by a sense of fresh energy in the recently formed GNU and, at least in some areas, a commitment to taking action and getting things done. Undoubtedly it is buoyed further by loadshedding receding dramatically over the past several months – allowing industry, businesses, institutions and organisations, as well as households – to operate more smoothly and consistently.