In what is said to be a first for South Africa, medium voltage softstarters are now being manufactured locally – reducing lead times and offering a more cost-effective option for customers.

WEG Africa director: digital & systems Pervin Gurie says the company has already supplied 11 locally made units to a mining customer in Angola. Produced at the company’s facility south of Johannesburg, the WEG SSW7000 units are used in pump and fan applications in Africa’s mining sector.

“As the demand for our MV softstarters has grown in recent years, we recognised that customers could benefit considerably from having these products manufactured locally,” says Gurie. “The immediate benefit is that we can almost halve the lead time from 20 to 24 weeks to 10 weeks, by removing the need for long distance shipping from WEG’s Brazil facilities.”

He notes that softstarters help customers address the rising cost of electricity, protect electric motors and extend their operational lifecycle.  The devices allow a gentle ramp-up of power as electric motors are started, reducing the peak energy demand during startup. Gurie explains that motors starting with a conventional direct-on-line starting will draw up to 700% more than its rated current, while a softstarter can reduce this to just 300%.

Solutions can also be packaged in a containerised substation, as was the case with a recent order for a mining customer in Angola, notes Gurie. He sees ongoing potential for the WEG SSW7000 range, which includes a monitoring feature that tracks whether the electric motor is overheating or drawing excessive current. This enables the shutdown of the motor before damage is caused.