As we wrap up this December 2021-January 2022 issue of Electricity + Control ahead of the traditional end-of-year shutdown for many businesses, we bring you plenty to think about for the year ahead and into the future.
As Editorial Technical Director Professor Ian Jandrell notes in his comment upfront, reflecting on the year past and looking to the year ahead, one of the lessons industry needs to take forward is a realisation that it simply cannot be business as usual. “We have been thrust into the age of digital transformation and we have been thrust into a world where skills simply must be revised.”
Against that background we ask, in the feature on Industry 4.0 + IIoT: Do robotics have a place in South African industry? Linda Eales from ABB Robotics in South Africa outlines some of the benefits of using robotics in the food and beverage industry, and Omron presents a case study of a cobot put to work on a specific task – in the intricate finishing assembly of personal grooming equipment.
The shift to renewable energy sources continues to gain momentum globally and new ways of managing dynamic electricity supply networks are being developed and implemented. Digitalisation will be key to managing the energy grids of the future and optimising energy efficiencies at plant level and at utility scale. Looking at Energy management + the industrial environment, Schneider Electric points to the use of digital technologies alongside clean electrification to advance efficiencies and reduce carbon emissions. And in the context of SA’s IRP 2019 and the REI4P, SAWEA turns its attention to the next decade of growth for wind energy in SA.
In Drives, motors + switchgear, M&C reports on a major rewind project it performed on the stator of a 281.5 MVA reversible motor-generator at Eskom’s Drakensberg pumped storage power station.
In Measurement + instrumentation a White Paper from Ametek outlines the key factors to be taken into account in selecting ac power sources for testing electronic equipment.
And in Safety of plant, equipment + people, Pepperl+Fuchs highlights the benefits of using ultrasonic sensors for safety applications in production and warehousing facilities – particularly with regard to automated guided vehicles, machines and people.
Transformers constitute critical equipment in any power supply system. In the feature on Transformers, substations and cables, Trafo Power Solutions sets out critical factors that should be considered in specifying transformers to ensure they are fit for purpose and engineered to provide a long service life.
Turning to the broader context of the economy and the environment in which we all live and work, in Write @ the back we report on the historic partnership, announced at COP26, between SA, a number of European countries and the UK, which aims to mobilise R131 billion in highly concessional financing over the next three to five years, and the principles agreed to guide its use in supporting South Africa’s Just Energy Transition.
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