With the national energy sector facing a shortage of staff, CPUT has set itself up to play a key role in training highly skilled electrical engineers.

Recently the university launched the Centre for Substation Automation and Energy Management Systems– the only one of its kind in South Africa. It will offer specialised training, research and development in new technologies, which will improve power systems in South Africa.

The Bellville-based centre already received a thumbs-up from the government and industry, who has noted its role in the contribution of a skilled workforce.

EQUIPMENT: The centre received a large number of donations from industry, which included high-tech equipment.

Prof Raynitchka Tzoneva, who is spearheading the centre’s activities, said in 2004 new technology was introduced in the area of Substation Automation Systems, which are complex computer programmes, used by electrical engineers to operate substations and ensure an uninterrupted power flow to consumers.

“All over the world people are using the new equipment and technology. However, in South Africa there is a lack of skills in this sector. Universities are also not producing engineers who are properly trained in the new technology,” she said.

Tzoneva said the centre, equipped with a state-of-the-art substation automation laboratory, will provide students with hands-on experience, ensuring they hit the ground running when entering industry.

TRAINING: Postgraduate Electrical Engineering students and staff members who are currently utilizing the centre for training and research.

The centre, which was funded by the National Research Foundation, a development arm of the Department of Science and Technology and CPUT, will also provide much-needed training for engineers and technicians employed in industry.

LAUNCH: Members of the CPUT community and government officials attended the launch of the Centre for Substation Automation and Energy Management Systems, which recently took place.

Tzoneva said the appropriate training of student and energy practitioners will alleviate a number of problems currently facing the national energy sector.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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The Centre for Substation Automation and Energy Management Systems (CSAEMS) is playing a leading role in skilling the energy sector.

The centre hosted a two-day “Introduction to IEC 61850” seminar, which is the only of its kind offered on the African continent.

TRAINING: Dr Alexander Apostolov, a world-class specialist in Substation Automation who holds four patents, with Prof Raynitchka Tzoneva.

Presented by Dr Alexander Apostolov, a world-class specialist in Substation Automation, the seminar explored new technologies which can be used to upgrade and optimize power systems.

It also looked at the implementation of various standards that have been set by the International Electrical Commission and touched on the aspects of substation automation.

Head of CSAEMS, Prof Raynitchka Tzoneva, says the seminar was a huge success and attracted participants from across South Africa and Namibia.

The centre has been running these workshops since 2009, however, this year is the first time they opened it up to newcomers in the energy sector.

Prof Tzoneva says previous training focused on engineers and technicians who had some knowledge of this specialised field. But with newcomers to the energy sector, the centre rolled out an introductory course.

 “As a response to this need the CSAEMS will in future organise two seminars per year - an introductory seminar for newcomers in May or June and an advanced seminar for experienced users in September,” says Prof Tzoneva.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
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Efforts to develop Africa’s future energy workforce will receive a welcome boost with several universities in Africa identified to benefit from the roll-out of Electrical Engineering Masters and Doctoral programmes specializing in Smart Grids.

The DAMOC project, short for the Development of a Harmonized Modular Curriculum for the Smart Grid, is an ambitious programme funded by the ERASMUS + KA2 initiative, which promotes platforms for cooperation in innovation and the exchange of good practices in the international higher education sector.

CPUT’s Centre for Substation Automation and Energy Management Systems (CSAEMS) has been identified to participate in the DAMOC project, along with Stellenbosch University, University Of Pretoria, as well as two Tanzania-based institutions, which include The Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology and the University of Dar Es Salaam.

Director of the CSAEMS and a leading expert in Smart Grids, Prof Raynitchka Tzoneva, will lead the CPUT delegation, who this month will attend the project’s kick-off meeting in Germany.

Smart grid technology is a highly specialized area of electrical engineering, which focuses on development of standard-based monitoring, protection and control integrated power systems that allow electricity suppliers to monitor the flow of electricity, improve transmission and storage, as well as facilitate the distribution of energy generated from alternative sources, such as wind turbines. The skills developed in this area are crucial for the development of the energy sector and will help address Africa’s energy woes.

“Envisioned outcomes of this project are new, interdisciplinary master and doctor courses implemented at partner institutions in Africa, running laboratories, online courses, and improved networking between the partners,” says Tzoneva.

The Masters and Doctoral courses will include modules such as emerging standards for smart grid, power electronics, integration of renewable energy into the power system, cyber security, and virtual power plants.

Tzoneva says specialised laboratories will also be set up at CPUT and the Nelson Mandela African Institute Of Science and Technology.

The European partners include Dresden University of Technology in Germany, Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi in Italy, and Karlstad University in Sweden.

The project will receive support from the South African National Energy Development Institute – South Africa.

The DAMOC project will run over the course of three years.

Written by Candes Keating
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Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

From next year CPUT will offer a Masters of Engineering in Smart Grids, making us the first institution in the world to offer this IEC61850 standard-based Protection, Automation and Control (PAC) specialisation.

The Master in Electrical Engineering in Smart Grids qualification (level 9 on the NQF scale) will run concurrently with the regular Masters of Electrical Engineering programme at CPUT.
A Smart Grid is an electrical grid which incorporates a variety of operational and energy measures including smart meters, smart appliances, variable renewable energy resources, power substations and digital information and control systems.

Director of the Centre for Substation Automation and Energy Management Systems (CSAEMS), Prof Raynitchka Tzoneva, says this new Masters programme is a one of a kind.
“Our programme is unique in the world because it presents integrated knowledge for IEC61850 standard-based technologies for monitoring, protection, optimisation and control necessary for building Smart Grids and the education has a strong practical component for implementation of the considered solutions,” explained Tzoneva.

She says there are similar Masters programmes at universities in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. “But the content of their courses is limited to the technology of some elements of the Distributed Energy Resources as parts of the Smart Grid. There is one programme at Stellenbosch University called ‘Structural MEng. In Smart Grid Technology’ which is also part of the DAMOC project, but they teach mainly the technology of the renewable energy sources,” said Tzoneva. (DAMOC stands for the Development of a hArmonized MOdular Curriculum for the Smart Grid, an Erasmus+ project aimed at fostering capacity at African higher education institutions.)

A leading researcher in the field of industrial process controls and automation, Tzoneva helped to start the Centre in 2011. Equipped with a state of the art substation automation laboratory, the CSAEMS provides training for students, engineers and technicians employed in the energy sector. The need for the Centre goes back to 2004 when the International Electrical Commission (IEC) put into place the new IEC 61850 standards which governs the building, implementation and operations of Substation Automation Systems.

Whereas the university programmes elsewhere study the components of the smart grid, CPUT’s M Eng in Electrical Engineering in Smart Grids looks at the Smart Grid as a whole.
Smart Grids is still a new field “and it is difficult for narrow specialised electrical, IT, control or computer engineer to work in it because it requires interdisciplinary knowledge. The specialist in Smart Grids must know power systems, control systems, computers systems and communication systems,” said Tzoneva.

“The new qualification tries to prepare the students in the field of Smart Grids which is very new and difficult. First through the courses and parallel to that they will have research projects,” said Tzoneva.

Postgraduate Electrical Engineering students undergo a rigorous application process to the Centre before being accepted into the programme. Currently, the Centre is supervising 29 postgraduate students, which includes 9 on the doctoral level.

For the M ENG Electrical Engineering in Smart Grids qualification students have to study fulltime for two years, concentrating half of their time on attending classes, and the other half of their time working on a full thesis. This is different from the standard M ENG in Electrical Engineering which is a 100% thesis programme.

Early in next year the CSAEMS will host all members of the DAMOC project, three universities from Europe and South Africa each plus two from Tanzania – to demonstrate the laboratory and discuss the curriculum of the new programme.

Written by Theresa Smith
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