Electricity and Control March 2016

LIGHT + CURRENT

Fighting energy poverty

The European Policy Centre, with the support of the King Bau- douin Foundation, and Schneider Electric has launched the Energy Poverty Task Force to consider energy poverty challenges in the European Union. Schneider Electric , the global specialist in energy management and automation, and the European Policy Centre, an independent, not-for-profit think tank with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation, announce the launch of the Energy PovertyTask Force to consider energy poverty challenges in the European Union. The launch event of the task force took place on 26 January, 2016 in Brussels, in presence of Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of energy. Energy poverty affects people in mature economies who do not have normal and regular access to the energy necessary to cover their basic domestic needs, i.e. heating, power and cooking.This is caused by a combination of low incomes, higher electricity prices and poor building energy performance. According to the French National Energy Poverty Monitor (Observatoire National de la

Précarité Energétique, or ONPE), energy poverty affects nearly 20% of the French population. Fight against energy poverty in mature economies is today amajor development issue, as access to energy in developing countries. It needs to improve people’s day-to-day lives while offering concrete solutions to tackle climate change. As a socially responsible company and a global specialist in energy management, Schneider Electric launched in 2013 its pro- gramme to fight energy poverty in mature economies.The Group wants to foster the emergence of a virtuous circle by focusing on three areas: education, investment and technology. Schneider Electric is now seeking how to be most effective in its actions.That’s why the Group partnered with the European Policy Centre in the Energy PovertyTask Force, to consider energy poverty at European level. End of 2015, Schneider Electric had already published aWhite Paper Resolving Energy Poverty in Europe: Understanding the Initiatives and Solutions. Enquiries: Email veronique.roquet-montegon@schneider-electric.com

Siemens celebrates SA’s new engineers and technicians

Siemens commits to training South Afri- cans as part of its contracts for work on SA power stations and other infrastructure. Special attention is given to local commu- nities, women and people with economic and educational disadvantages. Under government’s national Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGI-SA) scheme, Siemens trains engineers, electrical tech- nicians and artisans. The ASGI-SA Skills Development Programme is a partnership training programme between Siemens and Eskom. Skills development programmes are project specific and they are linked to Eskom power stations, including Kusile, Medupi, Duvha, Ingula and Hendrina. On Friday, 12 February, more than sixty

female supervisor at Siemens’ North Rid- ing facility. She is currently a supervisor in the facility’s medium voltage division, a job which was previously done by a skilled German worker. Lloyd Dlamini, 27, started as a trainee and is now a Siemens’ training mentor. He comes from the Bushbuck Ridge area in Mpumalanga and matriculated in 2006. Lloyd was studying electrical and electronic engineering at TUT when he met visiting Siemens recruiters, and in July 2010 he joined a Siemens facility in Centurion to complete his practical training. By the time he finished studying he already had a job offer with Siemens, and he started as an engineering technician in the testing depart- ment in 2011. In July 2014 he was appointed manufacturing qualitymanager at Siemens’ North Riding facility. Siemens’ new graduates include two en- gineers with a BSc in Electrical Engineering, two project managers, 25 technicians with a national diploma in electrical engineering, 27 artisans with a higher certificate, and nine candidates with learnership certificates NQF Level 3-4.

newly-skilled men and women celebrated their graduation with engineering degrees, diplomas, trade certificates and national certificates. They will now enter the SA economy with confidence and skills to build careers in engineering. One of the new Siemens graduates is Jaquolyn Mononyane, 26, who comes from Ekangala inMpumalanga. She matriculated in 2008 and did electrical engineering at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Now Jaquolyn is on a further two-year Siemens graduate training programme and studying for a BTech in electrical engineer- ing. As part of her training, she has been to work on the Sere wind farm in theWestern Cape. In 2015 Jaquolyn became the first

Enquiries: Keshin Govender Tel. 27(0)11 652-2000 or email Keshin.govender@siemens.com

Clifford Klaas, Siemens Executive Director and Head of Human Resources for Siemens in Southern and East Africa, Nake Maepa, Eskom, and Thandeka Mnisi, professional technician at Siemens, receiving her National Diploma in Electrical Engineering and her BTech.

Electricity+Control March ‘16

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