Page 27 - EngineerIT June July Issue 2026

ENGINEERING

ACTOM offers a combination of manufacturing,
service, repairs, maintenance, projects and
distribution of electro-mechanical equipment
through its 33 outlets across sub-Saharan Africa.

The company’s product offerings include:
• Power conversion
• Power and energy
• Electrical equipment
• Repairs and services
• Transmission and distribution
• Smart technologies
• Engineering projects and contracts

Website: https://actom.co.za/

The extracted information can be analysed to
provide a detailed view of behaviours throughout
the network at any given time. Engineers can
monitor performance, identify trends and gain
insights that would have been difficult to obtain
through conventional systems alone.

The project involved design, manufacturing, testing,
installation and commissioning, bringing together
expertise from multiple organisations. It was also
completed ahead of schedule – and all locally.

According to Maré, projects like these
demonstrate the level of engineering capability
that already exists within the region. He adds,
"We've got the capability. We've got the engineers.
The skills exist locally."

As renewable energy, distributed generation and
data centres place new demands on electricity
networks, utilities are exploring new ways to
manage increasingly complex systems.

Traditional power networks were designed
around electricity flowing in one direction, from a
central source to the end user. Today's networks
often involve multiple generation sources
operating at different times and in different
locations. Smart grids, digital substations and
connected infrastructure are helping utilities
manage that complexity.

South African engineers are already working in that
environment.

"We should be the originators, not the adopters,"
concludes Maré.

27 | EngineerIT June/July 2026