Enlit Africa 2026: Huawei Launches 'Intelligent Substation' Solution for Sub-Saharan Africa
Cape Town, South Africa – Huawei has launched its Intelligent Substation solution for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Southern Africa Electric Power Summit during Enlit Africa 2026, the continent’s largest conference for the electricity, water, and energy sectors. The initiative accelerates digital transformation in the region’s power industry. Under the theme ‘Building Future Power Systems, Unleashing Surging Digital Intelligence Productivity’, the event brought together industry leaders and strategic partners including South Africa’s Eskom, Ghana’s BPA, Nigeria’s Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE).
At the main session of Enlit Africa 2026, Huawei’s Vice President of Electric Power Digitalization Business Unit, Wang Guoyu, delivered a presentation titled ‘Advancing All Intelligence, Empowering the Future Power System’. He stated that the prosumer model – where consumers also act as energy producers – will become a new paradigm in the global energy transition. According to Wang, the power industry is entering a critical phase towards increasingly intelligent systems. He explained that communication technologies, digitalisation, and artificial intelligence (AI) are fundamentally reshaping power systems. AI and digital technologies are driving value chain transformation across power generation, transmission, and distribution. Huawei will continue to provide reliable communication technologies and cutting-edge AI capabilities to support Africa’s power system transformation towards a digital intelligence era.
During the event, Huawei, CIGRE, and Zhuhai Unitech Power Technology Co., Ltd. officially launched the Intelligent Power Substation solution for Sub-Saharan Africa. This launch underscores Huawei’s commitment to accelerating smart substation modernisation through industry collaboration.
Several African power company representatives shared experiences of implementing the solution. One representative stated that the solution integrates smart video, AI algorithms, and secure wireless networks to replace four manual processes with intelligent automation: monitoring, inspection, meter reading, and analysis. ‘Field and maintenance staff can now remotely monitor entire substations. Inspection time has been reduced from days to minutes, and labour costs for operations and maintenance have dropped by up to 70%. With Huawei, our transmission network now has comprehensive digital sensing capabilities for the first time, supporting a shift from reactive methods to proactive early warning systems,’ the representative said.
Following the main session, Huawei, CIGRE, and the 450 MHz Alliance held a discussion on private wireless networks and telecommunications for power systems. According to Gösta Kallner, Executive Chairman of the 450 MHz Alliance, private wireless networks based on the 450 MHz spectrum are now a crucial foundation for maintaining the reliability and operational sustainability of power grids due to their wide coverage, diverse ecosystem, and readiness for future development. A CIGRE representative added that, from an international standardisation perspective, a unified technological framework and global cooperation are key factors accelerating the digital transformation of power networks. All forum participants agreed that extensive, secure, and efficient power communication infrastructure supports next-generation power systems and sustainable energy development in Africa.