In a first for South Africa, medium voltage soft starters are now being manufactured locally by WEG Africa – reducing lead times and presenting a more cost-effective option for customers. Director of the Digital & Systems Division, Pervin Gurie, says the company has already supplied 11 locally made units to a mining customer in Angola.
WEG Africa is the first OEM to manufacture MV soft starters in South Africa.
The WEG SSW7000 units are produced at WEG Africa’s Robertsham facility south of Johannesburg to the high quality standards for which the company is well known. Gurie says the SSW7000 range is well regarded by the market. The soft starters are used extensively in pump and fan applications in Africa’s mining sector.
“As the demand for our MV soft starters has grown in recent years, we recognised that we could offer customers considerable benefits by manufacturing the products locally,” says Gurie. “The immediate benefit is that we can almost halve the lead time from 20 or 24 weeks to 10 weeks, by removing the need for long-distance shipping from WEG’s Brazil facilities.”
He notes that the value of soft starters has come to the fore as users look for ways to address the rising cost of electricity, as well as to protect installed electric motors and extend their operational lifecycle. Soft starters allow for a gentle ramp up of power as electric motors are started, reducing the peak energy demand during startup. Motors starting with a conventional direct-on-line (DOL) starting system will draw up to 700% more power than the respective motor’s rated current, and a soft starter can reduce this to about 300%.
“At our Robertsham design and production facility we already manufacture a range of variable speed drive panels and motor control centres, among other solutions,” Gurie adds. “Our customers are always impressed by our infrastructure and expertise here, and we look forward to welcoming more of them when they visit to inspect the new MV soft starter manufacturing area.”
The local manufacturing capability will include the continued customisation of MV soft starters, where units are designed to meet specific requirements in customers’ applications. Gurie highlights that solutions can also be packaged in a containerised substation, as was the case with the recent order for the mining customer in Angola.
“The order for 11 units, which we built last year, was delivered in three containerised substations, and could be transported easily and installed on site for quick commissioning,” he says. “We have also found that customers in Africa have particular needs, such as extra space in their panels to accommodate thicker cables with less flexibility.”
He sees ongoing potential for the WEG SSW7000 range and highlights that the units include a monitoring feature which tracks whether the electric motor is overheating or drawing excessive current. This allows for the motor to be shut down before damage is caused.
“To produce the MV soft starters locally, we have applied our stringent manufacturing quality systems that are in place at our Robertsham facility,” he says. “We use the proven WEG designs from our head office in Brazil, as well as technical input from our engineers there, as and when required. This assures customers that all the units continue to be produced to WEG’s world class standards.”
For more information visit: www.weg.net
