With the Governor of the Department of Valle del Cauca, Dra. Clara Luz Roldán, the managers of the regional electricity industry and engineers from the Universidad del Valle (Univalle) in attendance, an ambitious project was launched to improve scientific and technologies of the electricity industry in Colombia, as well as its competitiveness in the international market: the planned 2022 construction of the National Electricity Sector Laboratory.
According to Professor Carlos Lozano of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Univalle, the launch event that took place on November 26, 2021 marks another great step towards the dream of a laboratory dedicated to conducting specialized tests on different equipment in the electrical industry: transformers, cables, insulators and other equipment used in electrical networks.Transformers serve a range of functions within a modern electricity grid. The step-up transformers allow the transmission of electricity between the power plant to the grid, through high voltage lines. In contrast, step-down transformers allow the electricity coming from the grid to be in a form suitable for use by the consumer in terms of voltage level and amplitude.
Professor Lozano said that this laboratory is particularly key for Colombia, due to its geographical location, close to well-built roads, the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón airport near the town of Palmira, the Buenaventura port and the Yumbo industrial zone, allowing manufacturers and customers to both industrial, commercial and residential different electrical equipment can find a place to conduct quality assurance testing.
"It will not only serve the purpose of developing its own technologies but also to ensure the quality of the equipment imported into the country", Professor Lozano.
All this will improve the competitiveness of the country, which would not be possible without a laboratory within the Andean region to test and ensure the quality of the equipment used in the electrical industry.
"Today to develop a prototype of a transformer, for example, we would have to go to Mexico, the United States or Europe, to test its physical characteristics (electrical and mechanical), which has a very high cost of transportation and waiting time."
The Director of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of Univalle, Ferley Castro Aranda, said the new laboratory would not only be an advanced testing center, but also a training center at the same time.
"This is a great opportunity for students and graduates in electrical engineering," explained Castro Aranda.
 |
| Photo: Representatives of the Universidad del Valle, industry, government and the press observing a the unveiling of a new sign. Credit: Andrew James / NCC / Univalle |
A Dream (Almost) Come True
More than 30 years ago, a small group of academics and figures from the electrical industry began to think about a national laboratory to solve the testing problem.
Now, during the event, Professor Lozano paid tribute with a minute of silence for Marcial Navarro Bazurto, Founder of the company Magnetron S.A. and Luis Eduardo Aragón Rangel, Manager of GERS S.A., two pioneers of the laboratory who never had the opportunity to see it come to fruition.
Mr. Navarro Bazurto died on May 3, 2021, at the age of 84, and was one of the first in the sector to support the creation of the project behind the national laboratory.
Navarro Bazurto's son, Alejandro Navarro González, who is, today, the President of Magnetrón, a company that manufactures electrical transformers, says that the first tests were made around 1986-1988.
“It has always been too ambitious and too big a project, but very difficult to finance… we did the process step by step... Today is an important step to give confidence to the people who can shape the project in the future,” Navarro González said.
"To see this moment, I am very happy in my heart, I arrived from Periera (many hours drive away) today for this event," added Mr. Navarro González.
Other patrons of the project were the current governor of Valle del Cauca, Clara Luz Roldán and the former governor, Dilian Francisca Toro.
"This project that Univalle presents, together with private actors and others ... as governor, I saw that it was very beneficial, not only for the southwest of Colombia but for the entire country and that is why we approved the resources in which they can execute it," Toro explained.
In terms of financial resources for the project, around $ 16.6 billion Colombian pesos would be invested in construction; the General System of Royalties contributed almost $ 6 billion and the total value of the project would be around US $52 million (more than $ 200 billion Colombian pesos).
 |
| Photo: (From left to right) Julían Cadavid, Celsia; the ex-governor, Dilian Francisca Toro; Edgar Varela Barrios, Rector Univalle, Clara Luz Roldán, the current governor of Valle del Cauca, Marino del Rio Uribe, Emcali Energy Manager. Credit, Andrew James / NCC / Univalle. |
Working Together
The National Laboratory of the Electricity Sector project which aims to "develop scientific and technological capacities in high current and voltage systems in Valle del Cauca" would be executed by Univalle and supported by the General Royalties System; the Government of Valle del Cauca; Celsia; Emcali; CIDET; IGT; GERS, PTI-Power and Incorporated Technologies; Celco; Fuente de Energía Renovables SAS - Furesa; and Magnetron, Navarro González's company.
Julían Cadavid, Transmission and Distribution Leader of the manufacturing company Celsia, said that the company contributed the lot to the municipality of Yumbo, north of the city of Cali, where the event took place and would be the new home of the laboratory.
"Here electrical engineers and other engineers can learn, do a master's degree in high voltage, in order to get the best out of the equipment," said Cadavid.
Nowadays, it is not only expensive to send the transformer abroad, it can be a six-month wait to open a test space, explained Rubén Darío Cruz, Director of Laboratories at the Center for Technological Development of the Electricity Sector (CIDET).
"One of the benefits of the National Laboratory is giving high priority to local manufacturers," Cruz said.
Marino del Río Uribe, Energy Manager for public utility EmCalli stated that Emcali's contribution would be the line bay at the Yumbo substation and the construction of the electrical connection.
"The project will create a very important public-private alliance that will generate better competitiveness in the electricity sector in Valle de Cauca, generating employment and reducing costs," said Del Río Uribe.
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario