Schneider Electric wins SA contract

Global specialist in energy management, Schneider Electric has won orders to supply three 630kW containerised Variable Speed Drives (VSD) winders.

Each drive and control system is fully containerised in a standard shipping container, which will facilitate re-deployment on various sites. Initially two winders will be used in India and another in Kalagadi in South Africa. The winders are designed with dual low speed motors for redundancy and mechanical cost reduction and are able to run on a single motor or both, depending on the application.

The drive is based on the latest Altivar 71 Variable speed drive with onboard PLC and network braking unit. Flux vector control will be employed to control the torque in the motors and to ensure stable master-slave operation. The winders are fitted with the Schneider Electric e-lilly for conveyance protection against over speed and stage collision avoidance.

The Schneider Electric Drives Competency Centre (DCC), (originally Hoist-Tec (Pty) Ltd), was formed to provide a one stop drives solutions centre for all Schneider Electric drives.  This includes design, repair, specification, installation, commissioning and support of MV and LV VSDs. The DCC is also recognised for all types of hoisting and handling equipment, mills, fans and pumps, with special emphasis on mine winders, mine winches and cranes – for power from 5kW to 10MW. For 27 years the company has been collecting experience in the design and engineering of drive systems for heavy industry, including capability in the design of analogue and digital circuitry.