REGISTRATION
INFORMATION
World University Rankings - Top 600

DUT SUCCESSFULLY HOSTS SAUPEC2022

DUT SUCCESSFULLY HOSTS SAUPEC2022

The Durban University of Technology (DUT) hosted the prestigious 30th Southern African Universities Power Engineering Conference (SAUPEC2022) at the Durban International Convention Centre Complex from 25 January 2022 till 27 January 2022.

SAUPEC2022 brought together experts from the industry, academics, and students in engineering, information technology, smart grids, renewable energy technologies, computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronics, and cyber-physical systems to present research papers, network, and expand the fraternity that has been built as part of the SAUPEC legacy over the last three decades.

On Day 2, Wednesday, 26 January 2022, the opening address was delivered by the SAUPEC2022 General Chair, DUT’s Professor Innocent Ewean Davidson.

He welcomed all the local and international esteemed guests, keynote speaker, delegates from South African universities and institutions, DUT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor-Research, Innovation and Engagement, Prof Sibusiso Moyo, SAIEE President Prof Sunil Maharaj, Prof Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy, Clemson University, USA, President, IEEE South Africa, Dr David Oyedokun, Prof Dr Ihami Olak Nisantasi University, Turkey, Deputy President SAIEE: Prof Jan de Kock, Director: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Support, Dr Linda Linganiso, Members of the SAUPEC 2022 Programme and Organising Committee, Representatives of South African Utility Companies and Eskom, Delegates from South African Universities and Institutions, international delegates from the UK, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, USA, Nigeria and China, esteem Professors, Researchers and Presenters, and members of the Durban University of Technology Community,

“It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 30th edition of the Southern African Universities Power Engineering Conference (SAUPEC 2022), hosted by the Department of Electrical Power Engineering at DUT,” said Prof Davidson.

He gave insight into DUT’s ENVISION2030 strategy plan, and spoke on DUT’s DNA two strands, namely people-centred and engaged, as well as innovative and entrepreneurial. He then explained how these are woven intrinsically, on the DUT way which demonstrates its collective character and behaviour.

Prof Davidson explained that the institution’s ENVSION2030 strategic plan’s ultimate goal is similar which is to contribute towards the improving the lives and livelihoods of its people, both internal and external.

“This is particularly relevant since engineering as a profession is committed to the improvement of the living standards in society. We would need to address, amongst others, the critical challenges of economic growth. Tackle the problem of unemployment and dealing with load-shedding and ensuring security of electricity supply at all times, and on improving on the quality of life in society,” he said.

He relayed that technical papers are only published in the conference proceedings if the reviewers’ reports are satisfactory, the similarity index is acceptable, and if the authors have made any corrections suggested by the reviewers.

He stressed that as part of the publication’s requirements, it is a mandatory requirement that a paper is presented at the Conference, orally or virtually, where the work is discussed.

“The review process in this regard is conducted in accordance with the IEEE as the papers (with authors consent) are consequently submitted and included in the IEEE Xplore database. He affirmed that 60% and/or more of the papers accepted and presented at the conference proceedings belong to authors from institutions found both internationally and locally,” he said.

Prof Davidson gave his immense thanks to all those who had worked tirelessly towards making this conference a success, especially his co-chairs, Dr Elutunji Buraimoh and Dr Musasa Kabeya, Publication and Technical Chairs. He thanked Mr Shakeel Ori and his wonderful DUT team for the logistics and the delegates for making the conference a reality and many who have come from far and nearby.

“Thanks to all the delegates who will be presenting work orally or virtually or by poster presentation. SAUPEC is a training ground where we share, listen, learn and improve,” he said.

The official welcome address was given by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement, Professor Sibusiso Moyo, who also welcomed all the local and international guests to the SAUPEC.

She relayed that this conference provides an opportunity to make sure that the engineering community are really providing opportunities where students can improve their skills and also increase their chances to contribute to the economy, both from the level of professionals but also as entrepreneurs within the business field.

The first keynote address titled: “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Modern Power Systems” was delivered by Prof Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy.

Prof Venayagamoorthy is the Duke Energy Distinguished Professor of Power Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clemson University, USA. He is the Founder (2004) and Director of the Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems Laboratory.

He explained that the modern power system is complex and one that is expected to be conscious, intelligent, distributed, and flexible.

“Such an electric power system architecture can facilitate secure and distributed flow of power from renewable energy sources including solar and wind. Furthermore, it can handle flexible loads and energy storage including electric vehicles,” he said. His talk addressed the potentials and promises of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for power system operations and control.

“AI has evolved over the last 40 years to transform operations and control of complex systems. A modern power system with variable power and energy sources, bidirectional power flows, and uncertainty in forecasting and real-time availability of generation, loads, energy storage and other operational resources requires intelligent technologies for its operation and control,” he added. Dr Venayagamoorthy further gave examples of AI technologies for stable, secure, reliable, and efficient operations and control of power systems.

The rest of the day entailed of technical sessions, culminating with a gala dinner, and remarks by the Kwazulu-Natal Head of Department for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Mr Nhlakanipho Nkontwana. He delivered the key message on behalf of Honourable Ravi Pillay, MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, a sponsor of the SAUPEC2022 event.

“This engagement is particularly critical at this juncture as our country is finding new ways to implement energy mix that will be in line with global trends, produce clean and sustainable energy, while addressing our immediate needs of providing electricity to our masses, grapple with limited budgets and ever so increasing population and demand.

We are excited by the conversation around the way forward for South African’s energy mix. Although no definite answer at this stage but we are encouraged to see a meaningful shift towards opening up the space for many players in the industry in different sectors of energy supply,” he said.

He relayed on the government introducing and promulgating the Integrated Energy Plan which considers the country’s energy needs up to 2050.

“This framework will guide the process of ensuring security of energy supply,” said Nkontwana.

He further highlighted some of the key catalytic projects, saying that a reliable energy supply will be critical for the implementation of the catalytic projects such as the Automotive Supplier Park, Airlines and Cargo, Revitalization of Regional Airports, Discussions with Transnet and other stakeholders for the migration of bulk goods from road to rail.

“The introduction of the alternative energy is critical, but we need to ensure that we save jobs created in this sector. We have to work with the private sector through the social compact.

As I conclude I wish to reiterate our unwavering commitment to reduce the impact of the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, on the people of KwaZulu-Natal. As this government of KZN we want to assure you that we are serious about combating corruption of fraud whether perceived or real, to ensure that we have a clean, transparent, honest government so that the private sector will have confidence in us. We call on you to join hands with us as we work hard to successfully position this province as a preferred investment destination,” he said.

Announced at the Gala dinner was the name of the best student paper in rotating machinery by Johannes Giliomee, titled: Maximum Power Point Field Control of Direct DC-Grid Energy Storage System.

On the final day of the conference, the second keynote speaker, Prof Dr. İlhami Çolak, a full professor at Nisantasi University, conveyed his address titled: “Impacts of Digital Transformation on Alternative and Green Energies.”

His intriguing talk looked at digital transformation and highlighted on tackling Global Warming – Improving Supply Side of Energy, alternative and Green (Renewables) energies, Smart Grids, key Digital Transformation Trends in 2021, as well as international peer-reviewed Journals.

He explained that Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new or modify existing -business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements.

“This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital transformation. In another word, digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business resulting in fundamental changes to how businesses operate and how they deliver value to customers. Beyond that, it’s a cultural change that requires organisations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment often, and get comfortable with failure,” he commented.

He then conveyed more on the effects of digital transformation on Green and Alternative (renewable) energy systems.

Digitalization describes the growing application of information and communications technologies (ICT) across the economy, including renewable energy systems.

  • The trend toward greater digitalization is enabled by advances in data analytics and connectivity.
  • increasing volumes of data thanks to declining costs of sensors and data storage.
  • rapid progress in advanced analytics, such as machine learning.
  • greater connectivity of people and devices as well as faster and cheaper data transmission.
  • Digitalization encompasses a range of digital technologies, concepts and trends, such as artificial intelligence, the “Internet of Things” (IoT) and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

He then indicated that some of these digitalization trends are truly astounding, saying that-90% of the data in the world today were created in just the past two years, and there are now more mobile phone subscriptions in the world than there are people.

“These digitalization trends raise the fundamental question of whether we are entering a new era of digitalization in renewable energy,” he said.

The conference also saw technical sessions which gave a platform for research staff and students to continuously engage and present their scholarly work amongst the best engineers and scientists both locally and internationally. Some of the topics discussed pertained to High Power Electronics, Power Network Planning and Protection, High Voltage Engineering as well as Artificial Intelligence and Software.

The next SAUPEC is geared to take place at the University of Johannesburg in 2023 and all delegates were urged to be part of the forthcoming conference.

Pictured: Left to right: SAIEE President Prof Sunil Maharaj, Director: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Support, Dr Linda Linganiso, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagement, Prof Sibusiso Moyo, Prof Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy, Clemson University, USA, SAUPEC2022 General Chair, DUT’s Professor Innocent Ewean Davidson and Priscilla Kumar.

Waheeda Peters

No comments