Schneider Electric is unveiling an array of new technologies and software solutions at this week's Hannover Messe 2023 with the goal of helping industries address the global priorities of energy security, resource efficiency, and sustainability.
“We are at a unique moment in history, where the global goal of carbon neutrality is meeting the short-term need to mitigate the energy crisis,” said Barbara Frei, EVP, industrial automation at Schneider Electric. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to tackle these issues, but it requires a mindset shift and the right tools. We must take a holistic view of energy investment, addressing both efficiency and the move to clean-energy generation. The digitalization, automation, and electrification technologies we will showcase at Hannover Messe are proof that solutions to the challenges we face exist here and now.”
The innovations Schneider Electric is announcing at the event span its IoT-enabled, plug-and-play, open, interoperable architecture and platform, EcoStruxure, to drive efficiency in industries. They include:
Edge control
- EcoStruxure Automation Expert V23.0: The industrial-automation system now delivers software-based redundant automation solutions for the water-desalination market. This extends the EcoStruxure Automation Expert portfolio to become the single control software platform that brings convergence across machine, hybrid, and process industrial operations, notes its maker. New features in V23.0 include enhanced integration with AVEVA System Platform to reuse graphics from existing applications for faster system design, and a new graphical editor for procedural automation which improves operational effectiveness. The new release brings multi-OS compatibility with the EcoStruxure Automation Expert HMI and archive now available on Linux, in addition to Windows, which enables users to develop similar objects across all compatible operating systems, per Schneider.
“The combination of EcoStruxure Automation Expert and a PC-based high-availability solution continues the trend of automation becoming more software-based and more hardware-agnostic,” said Alicia Pérez Ballester, manager of automation, systems & process optimization at Acciona Water Solutions, a long-term customer and partner of Schneider Electric in this space. “Such an approach can bring concrete benefits to our projects both in the design phase and during operations.”
Connected products
- Motor management: The latest release of Schneider Electric’s motor management offers is delivered with new Spacial SFN enclosures that protect equipment in any conditions and enable faster and more flexible panel assembly with more than 1,000 possible configurations. The new enclosures are built with 35% less CO2 emissions than previous iterations, thanks in part to the use of decarbonized steel materials. The new Altivar ATV320 solar drives ensure reliable power supply for the motor-management solutions with on- and off-grid compatibility and provide environmentally friendly pumping solutions without producing any CO2 emissions, per its maker. The updated solution is more robust and can handle more than 50% added static weight to accommodate solutions from across the TeSys range of motor starters and equipment.
- GM AirSeT Performance: With the new AirSeT, Schneider Electric extends and strengthens its sustainable SF6-free portfolio, which avoids the use of a potent and harmful greenhouse gas. The gas-insulated switchgear helps industrial customers better manage tightening F-gas regulations and eliminates the requirement for gas recycling from their installations. Based on pure air and natively digital connectivity with integrated services, the GM AirSeT Performance is the most powerful and resilient SF6-free medium voltage switchgear in the Schneider Electric portfolio and is suitable for most energy-intensive and critical infrastructure projects, they note.
