At the end of May, Electricity + Control had the opportunity to join a tour of LH Marthinusen’s newly upgraded industrial fan manufacturing and services facility in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg. The expanded and upgraded facility was officially opened by Minister of Trade, Industry & Competition, Mpho Parks Tau, and Mervyn Naidoo, CEO of the ACTOM Group, which is the holding company of LH Marthinusen. Speaking at the event, Naidoo, a long-time champion of local manufacturing, noted three key points that are perhaps fundamental to rebuilding South Africa’s manufacturing sector and the country’s re-industrialisation. Firstly, the investment in renewing the facility has been made possible by what is in effect a public-private partnership, with support from the DTIC, Eskom, and ACTOM/LH Marthinusen. Secondly, he highlighted that the manufacturing industry is, after a long idling time, beginning to see an upturn in new demand for mechanical and electrical equipment as Operation Vulindlela gains traction and new build infrastructure projects are increasingly being realised – particularly in the energy and rail sectors. Thirdly, he emphasised the importance of skills training for industry, essential to opening up employment and growing South Africa’s economy. A walk through the new ACTOM Training Centre, adjacent to the industrial fans production halls, formed part of the site visit, Here, 120 apprentices from nearby local communities – many living in informal settlements – are currently in training. These factors together will contribute substantially to the country’s progress in re-industrialisation.
Turning to the features in this June 2025 edition of Electricity + Control, we see how Industry 4.0 + IIoT, Renewable energy + industrial sustainability, Measurement + instrumentation, and Transformers, substations and the grid, all play a part in advancing industry and the South African economy.
In the feature on Industry 4.0 + IIoT, Arvin Ramjee of ABB, outlines how the pulp and paper industry is transitioning to increasingly automated production, and Xylem Water Solutions reports how digital technologies are being used to support agriculture and food security, particularly in arid regions of the world. Such technologies would serve equally well in the drier regions of South and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Renewable energy + industrial sustainability are key aspects of industrial economies globally. In this feature, IRENA reports that renewable energy capacity again reached record growth in 2024, although the weighting of that new capacity continues to be uneven geographically. Alberto Gambacorta, EVP for Sub-Saharan Africa at renewable energy company Scatec, highlights that the revised Phase 2 of South Africa’s carbon tax regime, due to kick in from January 2026, presents significant opportunities for investment in renewable energy. And Shaniel Lakhoo, Electronic Engineer at WSP in Africa, points out that understanding the power production profile for PV plants using different modules is critical to ensuring accurate long-term energy planning and ensuring the right decisions are made on the generation technology mix to support the country’s energy needs.
In Measurement + instrumentation, Instrotech shares how accurate temperature measurement using infrared technology works to enable consistent product quality in the harsh production environment of aluminium rolling processes. And we learn about a new series of digital manometers from ifm, new non-invasive temperature measurement solutions from Endress+Hauser, new flow monitoring solutions from Kamstrup, and more.
Looking at Transformers, substations + the grid, it is becoming increasingly clear that electricity transmission grids, globally, need to be strengthened and expanded to accommodate the evolving energy mix. The IEA flagged this in its 2023 report on electricity grids, and re-emphasised the challenges in its most recent Electricity 2025 report. As we well know in South Africa, a wider-reaching, stronger, more flexible, and more resilient grid is essential to stabilising supply and securing the electricity system.
In this regard we see how South Africa is opening up the need for new transmission infrastructure to private sector investment with the launch of the ITP pilot programme, and how the country is liberalising its electricity market with the release of new rules for wheeling privately generated electricity across the national publicly owned grid.
In an interview with Lee Mbenge, Divisional Chief Executive Officer at ACTOM Power Transformers, we take a closer look at the medium voltage transformer-inverter station that it has developed in collaboration with Sungrow, specifically for utility-scale renewable energy generation plants.
As always, there’s more to learn from our regular columns. IDTechEx shares some of the findings of its research on perovskite photovoltaics – looking at the technologies and future markets. And Write @ the back, the NSTF celebrates the award-winning work of the SAEON uLwazi Node team – sharing data globally to support environmental protection.
Enjoy the read.