Energy Transitions Podcast: Africa’s frontrunner in the SF6-free race
In this episode of the Energy Transitions Podcast, we hear from Leon Laing, Manager: Planning and Customer Services at the Drakenstein Municipality in the Western Cape, South Africa, on how the SF6-free transition is revolutionising how they manage and operate their power distribution system.
While South Africa is not yet regulating the shift to SF6-free switchgear, Laing is pre-empting this inevitable step and ensuring his municipal district is not only ahead of the curve, but setting the standard for sustainability.
Laing is responsible for the municipality’s electric planning and design where forward-thinking for assets of this cost and nature is critical. This forward-thinking has led to the Drakenstein Municipality being the first in Africa to install and operate Schneider Electric’s RM AirSeT switchgear with pure air technology and digital connectivity.
Read more:
First African SF6-free switchgear installed in South Africa
Why the energy transition cannot compromise on SF6
Air – the outstanding sustainable alternative to SF6
This episode is brought to you by Schneider Electric, a French multinational company specialising in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, software, and services.
Previous Energy Transitions Podcast episodes:
Time to humanise energy
Sustainable strategies to decarbonise heating
The green promise of next-gen fuel cells
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”