In his Comment in this October 2022 issue of Electricity + Control, Editorial Technical Director, Professor Ian Jandrell highlights the International Conference on Lightning Protection – ICLP 2022 – taking place in the first week of October in Cape Town at the International Convention Centre. As the world’s leading conference on lightning protection it will again this year cover all aspects of the topic, with the protection of renewable energy systems a key focus. As well as acknowledging the honour of being able to host such a prestigious international conference in South Africa, Ian notes the country’s long history of cutting-edge research in lightning protection, which makes ICLP 2022 an especially valuable platform to share our stories with people from around the world.
In this issue, in the feature on Safety of plant, equipment + people, we include an article on the use of surge and lightning protection systems in telecommunications networks. With Industry 4.0 demands for real-time data availability and communications connectivity, telecoms networks are increasingly seen as critical infrastructure. Phoenix Contact and leading German telecommunications provider Telefónica Deutschland, present the case of the protection systems installed at all its system-related locations.
In Industry 4.0 + IIoT, we look at the new Eplan Platform 2023, which facilitates the streamlining and acceleration of project planning with new cloud-based device management, multi-standard support for schematic macros, and other capabilities. Users can get results more quickly – especially when working on international projects – and overall project quality can be improved.
Energy management + the industrial environment are critical concerns for businesses globally – as they are here at home. For South Africa, as the most carbon-intensive economy among the G20 countries, almost 50% of the country's exports are at risk as trade partners prioritise imports from low-carbon economies instead. The integrated energy report released earlier this year, reflecting findings from research undertaken by The National Business Initiative, Business Unity South Africa, and the Boston Consulting Group over the past two years, reinforces the growing recognition that South Africa urgently needs to transform its energy system to reach net zero by 2050 and ensure a just transition.
Gregor Küpper of Solarworld Africa explains some of the alternative power solutions that small businesses and people working from home can consider to keep the lights on and machines running during load shedding, enabling them to become more self-sufficient or grid independent.
And looking at the opportunities and challenges presented by the energy transition in southern Europe, the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa, Christian Previati of the Italian Exhibition Group outlines some of the important elements of the upcoming event – Key Energy 2022.
Turning to Measurement + instrumentation, the process industry, globally, has not yet fully embraced the digital revolution of Industry 4.0, and there are good reasons for this. However, the development of Ethernet-APL has triggered a new era for the industry. Instrumentation specialists in process automation, Pepperl+Fuchs and Endress+Hauser together introduced new Ethernet-APL supported solutions at Electra Mining Africa 2022 – and shared some of the key benefits of the technology.
In the field of radar measurement technology, VEGA is widely recognised as a pioneer in developing radar sensors for specialised applications. More recently the company introduced a new series of sensors to serve a wider range of applications. Jürgen Skowaisa outlines some of the benefits of the new standardised radar technology.
And there is always more of interest in our regular columns: Engineering the future, Reskilling, upskilling + training, and Write @ the back.
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