New issue of company magazine

be top magazine from the Friedhelm Loh Group highlights efficiency booster for the energy sector

The energy sector is under a lot of pressure. German distribution grid operators need to get their infrastructure ready for the energy transition. The new edition of be top explains how more speed is being brought into the modernisation of energy systems. The company magazine of the Friedhelm Loh Group – which encompasses Rittal, Eplan, Cideon, Stahlo and LKH – provides a platform for experts from the industry and the energy sector and showcases an exemplary pilot project for digitalising transformer substations. In addition, readers are given insights into impressive developments such as the new RiLineX power distribution platform, the concept machine of a wiring robot, and a megawatt cooling system for AI applications.

Herborn, 11. November 2024 – “For the energy transition to succeed, we need to be much faster in expanding existing energy systems and building new ones. To manage these radical changes, we need help. We need innovations and efficiency drivers,” says Prof. Friedhelm Loh, owner and CEO of the Friedhelm Loh Group, in his editorial for the new issue.

Digital revolution in transformer substations
In our be top cover story, we explain how this works, based on the example of naturenergie netze. In collaboration with software suppliers Eplan and entegra, this southern German distribution grid operator is now working for the first time on a digital twin that will greatly speed up the planning and further development of transformer substations.
The project is demonstrating that users in the electricity industry are benefiting from experience and solutions from mechanical engineering. In an interview, Haluk Menderes, Managing Director of Eplan, explains the contribution Eplan is making to the conversion of energy systems. “With the Eplan Platform, we can speed up and simplify the planning of equipment throughout the energy system. We are therefore transferring our decades of experience in industrial automation to the energy technology sector.”

More power with a platform
There is a demand for ways to speed things up at system level, too – for example when it comes to power distribution technology. be top presents a new development from Rittal for this purpose – RiLineX, an open platform system for even more efficient planning and faster installation of 60 mm busbar systems that offers energy savings of as much as 50 percent. Anybody who needs a fast, reliable solution will benefit from RiLineX. This means everybody from conventional panel building and switchgear manufacturers through to the energy storage industry, installers of photovoltaic systems and the IT sector.

Busbars highly sought after on the US market
be top readers can also discover what has been happening on the busbar market in the USA for several years. Many companies and public institutions are undertaking large-scale modernisations of their ageing electrical installations. However, busbar production capacities in the USA have so far been inadequate. A customer article about S+S Industries shows how copper processing machines from Rittal Automation Systems are plugging this gap.

Ready for robots
A glimpse into the development of a wiring robot from Rittal Automation Systems shows the direction of travel of panel building, but also shows what is still some distance away. The wiring robot wires terminal strips and components on mounting rails automatically, and complete with a wire pull-off test. “There’s simply no alternative to automation in panel building. Control system requirements are growing, and yet it’s getting harder and harder to find skilled staff,” explains Jochen Trautmann, Managing Director of Rittal Automation Systems.

Speedy machine cabling
be top also casts an eye over the latest new products in the field of engineering. Features of the new Eplan Platform 2025 and the Eplan Cable proD software both provide greater simplicity and speed in electrical planning. Instead of working on the basis of whether something “looks right” and using complex prototypes, users of the software benefit from entirely virtual cable planning. As a result, the cabling of new machines works straight away, saving design engineers both time and money.

Solutions for AI and sustainability
This issue of be top also reveals how the Friedhelm Loh Group is spurring on the development of the latest technologies such as AI – thanks to an impressive megawatt cooling solution – and driving forward sustainability concepts in relation to steel and plastic.

The editors were able to convince Dr Gunther Kegel, President of the ZVEI, to contribute a guest article on the subject of the energy transition. be top is rounded off with a report from the Debora Foundation about its support for children and young women in India. Last but not least, there is a treat for motorheads, in the form of a review of what has been a successful year for the “Nationales Automuseum – The Loh Collection”, during which it welcomed some 85,000 visitors.