Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced Drakenstein Municipality as a winner of the Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Award. 

Drakenstein Municipality received the award for commendable efforts made to achieve their decarbonisation goals this year. These included starting to replace their existing 11kV oil electricity distribution infrastructure and adopting Schneider Electric’s more modern, digitised and green RM AirSeT air-powered ring main unit, reducing the Municipality’s carbon footprint by using pure air instead of SF6 gas. This is part of Drakenstein Municipality’s long-term vision - not only to have an upgraded, sustainable and well-maintained distribution network, but also to be a decarbonising frontrunner in the local government space. The Municipality further invested in a Schneider Electric SCADA system to monitor its distribution network for simulating and modelling electrical circuits, trend analysis, futuristic system warnings, as well as recognising coordination-related disruptions and outages to perform detailed studies. 

The awards are part of Schneider Electric’s efforts to support partners, customers and suppliers who are committing time, energy and budget to reach their sustainability goals for the long-term benefit of their shareholders, customers, employees, and the younger generation. 

Schneider Electric facilitates sustainable practices with initiatives that transfer knowledge and build expertise towards executing a sustainability strategy. Furthermore, the company offers the digital tools to assess and address operations, and to enhance the efficiency of project functions throughout product life cycles and technology solutions and ESG practices to accelerate decarbonisation throughout the value chain. 

Devan Pillay, Cluster President, Anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric said: “I would like to congratulate Drakenstein Municipality for its outstanding effort in turning sustainability ambition into action. Businesses need to look beyond their own operations and consider who they are indirectly responsible for across their value chain and, crucially, who they can assist along the way. Reaching net zero is a collective goal, and we need to work together to share the best sustainable practices and support customers to decarbonise.”

“Municipalities and the communities we serve are directly affected by sustainability issues. Similarly, municipalities are in a unique and powerful frontline position to promote sustainable solutions through our policies, operations, infrastructure design, and resources management. In this aspect we could and should take the lead,” said Councillor Stephen Korabie, Executive Mayor of Drakenstein Municipality. “As a traditional agricultural community, sustainability is in Drakenstein’s DNA. As a fast-developing area, we believe in following an all-encompassing and forward-thinking approach to ensure a sustainable future and protected environment for our coming generations. Being acknowledged in this way is indeed a feather in our cap and a recognition of Drakenstein’s own dedicated sustainability journey and part in the quest for net zero.”

Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Awards were launched in 2022 to celebrate and recognise the pivotal role that Schneider’s extensive network of partners play in delivering a more resilient and sustainable electric world. Now in its second year, participants continue to be carefully assessed on how they are leveraging energy and digital & automation solutions in operations, reducing energy usage, increasing operational efficiency, and embracing circularity across the value chain. 

Winners from South Africa will participate in further selection for awards at regional and global levels. Global level winners will be announced on Q2 2025.

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