Electrification and Networking at WAGO

Customer application 4 April 2024

The Path the More Sustainable Business

Successful Electrification and Networking at WAGO

One of the great challenges that companies face lies in switching their office and production environments over to sustainable, networked, electrified solutions. WAGO’s success provides a clear example of how specific measures can help a company successfully orient itself towards sustainability while also supporting its industrial customers on with the right product portfolio and know-how as they work towards the same goal.

At a Glance:

Organizing Intelligent Power Distribution
WAGO Uses Its Own Portfolio of Solutions
Investing in Sustainability

These days, sustainability is one of the most important aspects of corporate management. Whether it is a startup, an exchange-listed conglomerate, or anything in between – every company needs to consider its own actions carefully. That is a complex task: Many different forms of sustainable business need to be taken into account and provided with concrete, measurable methods. Specific steps are then required for gradual, structured implementation of these methods. WAGO has also chosen this approach and has embedded it within its corporate objective of making sustainability an integral component of all business decisions.

As a manufacturer of electrical interconnection and automation technology, WAGO possess a unique combination of hardware, software and engineering expertise that helps automate industries around the world. Headquartered in Minden, Germany, the company has customers who demand integrated solutions for efficient, cost-effective production, as well as assurances that their OT systems will be future-proof and reliable. This fits perfectly with the company’s vision: “WAGO is the backbone of a sustainable and smart connected world.” Through these efforts, WAGO supports the transition to a renewable and sustainable society.

Organizing Intelligent Power Distribution

The conventional path of power distribution from the power plant, to the energy supplier, to the grid connection point is changing radically – and the roofs of production halls are just one place this change can be seen. However, this transition creates new challenges, such the necessity of safeguarding the power supply. Lukas Dökel knows how to maintain stability in the grid, despite the volatility caused by decentralized generation and consumption of electricity. As Head of Automation Sales & Industry Management for EMEA in the Smart Factory division at WAGO, he is the contact person for industrial customers who are actively involved in power supply conversion and optimization. “Renewable energy generation on companies’ own roofs, CHP plants on the premises or electricity from a new wind turbine in the neighboring community – such changes require internal and external infrastructure to be managed differently than before,” says Dökel, adding: “In such situations, my colleagues and I have the right answers.”

The individual components need to be coordinated and closely interlinked. “Inside and outside the production facilities, we provide intelligent networks with reconfigurable control systems that work flexibly. Our systems orchestrate the generation, consumption and distribution in the systems,” says Dökel. For this process, his team relies on the corresponding WAGO control technology. The entire network needs appropriate intelligent “contacts” in the subunits. These are often challenging projects, since, depending on the location, it may be necessary for units to exchange data smoothly over longer distances and with low latency. The goal is seamless communication among all elements within an efficient microgrid, combined with intelligent load management to balance generation, consumption and distribution. A “microgrid” in this context means a corporate-level power network of loads and generators.

For this purpose, WAGO offers specific products and solutions for operating complex networks composed of different energy sources and loads. Example elements range from WAGO Load Management for precise control of charging infrastructure all the way to microgrids, and the energy data management ensures the necessary transparency. WAGO’s solutions stand out thanks to their overall flexibility, seamlessly integrating renewable energy, energy storage devices and loads. Users can configure the corresponding components with the Webservers that are included. Experts like energy managers, system integrators and industrial electricians benefit from tailored training and dedicated customer support.

In order to save energy, WAGO Energy Data Management records consumption for energy monitoring and processes this information for further analysis, archiving and reporting. It consists of Web-based software combined with a modular control system. The software automatically detects the different signals from the connected meters and sensors; these can be made available to additional energy analysis tools via simple parameterization. Information about fieldbus systems and/or analog values is collected in the process. Add EDM topology image.