Two megatrends in technology are energy transition and Digitalisation

Renewable energy in India is going through a massive transition. The industry is witnessing trends like the solar side of TVs and Linux production solutions, which are very encouraging shares. Syed Sajjadh Ali, Managing Director, Electrical Sector (India), Eaton, at a recently held REI Expo 2022.
What are the various products in your portfolio?
In the context of the infrastructure, we have a lot of good products, starting from medium-voltage switchgear, various charges, and many more, as our company has been focusing on this segment for quite some time. In this segment, we can see that things are evolving very well, right from the medium-voltage breakers to the MCCB, ACB, and distribution switchgears. As a leading player in this industry, Eaton will be managing these charging points in the EV infrastructure.
How are your company’s contributions to the power sector aligned with the EV?
Eaton is an intelligent power management company, and we are helping our customers know, drive, manage, and distribute power efficiently and safely. In the specific context of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, many of our products directly fit into that infrastructure. We are also trying to look at the gaps to see if anything is there so we can completely complement that infrastructure, starting from a fuse that goes into our electric vehicle. Now we are moving toward creating a charging infrastructure that meets the demands of charging facilities.
Tell us about your manufacturing facility and the various products you manufacture.
Our company is constantly evolving, and our manufacturing base is in China. But primarily, we are very good at localising products. We are at par with India in manufacturing products. With a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Pondicherry (sprawling across more than 1.2 Lac sq ft), we can localise many products. In this plant, we can very efficiently manufacture products at very attractive price points. And that is where we will undoubtedly leverage our manufacturing operations in Pondicherry to localise Eaton’s global offerings.
Our India Innovation Center in Pune has more than 3000 engineers operating and supporting this business and aerospace vehicles everywhere. As we have the technology, the question is about choosing the right product with the appropriate adjacency to complement our currently available capabilities. This is why we can spend more time here, where we are trying to figure out the market’s needs, what we have, what the gaps are, and we are comfortable moving.
What various innovations are happening?
In innovation, we have spotted two megatrends in technology: one is the energy transition, and another is digitalization. Talking about the energy transition, everybody wants to use more energy and make it more efficient and safer. So, everything is getting upgraded for the entire generation, from distribution to consumption. All our products would play a very legitimate role in helping the transition in the energy journey in terms of upgrading. Carbon neutrality is the slogan as most people want to reduce greenhouse gases and make low-power systems, which are very efficient and eco-friendly.
Talking about digitalization, everything will be digital, and it wants to pick up data and try to use artificial intelligence. So, in that way, digitalization is another area of focus for us. We have conceptualised the whole thing as a bright-layer suite. This multilayer suite helps us develop IoT-enabled products, making them smarter and more intelligent. It is something in which we enable our products with IoT, which makes our products intelligent. So currently, whatever products we make will be competent so that they can talk to each other, add values,record data, and pick up data. So, these are two focus areas for keeping pace with technology.

How will energy storage systems evolve in the coming year?
For energy storage, or for EV charging infrastructure, for that matter, we need systems to store the energy for further use. Now that we are moving towards the lithium-ion era, there are multiple energy storage methods. So, our company has already been one of the pioneers in deploying lithium-ion battery technology in data centers, so we are aware of all the technical requirements. Moreover, energy storage is going to play a key role in the power sector and in EV infrastructure in the coming years. We have our products and over-focus, and we will contribute to that field with our efforts.
What are your plans regarding energy distribution?
India is self-sufficient in energy availability, but the distribution is challenging. We need to find out how to arrest energy and its leakages, make it more efficient, and distribute it very efficiently. This is where our entire MV and LV product range will come into play. We will soon upgrade our power distribution product mix to offer power distribution products for efficient power consumption.
How are you looking at the need to save and secure performance and efficiency, especially when they are integrated into other systems?
Whenever we come up with a new product or concept, we look at it in terms of safety, eco-friendliness, and energy efficiency. This is not just for the new product. Even our existing products here, which we are upgrading, ensure that they are more efficient and do not utilise any non-eco-friendly components or materials.