MR is a member of the new Open Direct Current Alliance (ODCA)
ZVEI founded the Open Direct Current Alliance (ODCA) on Nov. 3, 2022 with 33 companies from industry, academia and research. The goal is the worldwide development of a direct current ecosystem and the cross-application establishment of direct current technology. The ODCA, a working group of the ZVEI, follows on seamlessly from the successful DC-INDUSTRIE2 research project, which will be concluded next year.
Holger Kretzschmar (Head of Sales - Power Quality Products): "Our vision within the ODCA is to create a groundbreaking addition to the historically grown AC network, comparable to the USB standard. There we connect devices directly with direct current and use alternating current only for charging. At MR, we are already working on direct, more efficient networking of much larger devices in terms of power. This requires an open system with harmonized technology. That's what we want to help shape within the ODCA."
"The founding of the ODCA is the starting point for moving closer to a resource-saving and CO2-neutral world," said Gunther Koschnick, ZVEI division manager for industry, on the founding. "With the ODCA, we want to bring the insights and solutions of DC technology into international distribution." DC delivers several benefits for a modern industrial power grid: efficient integration of renewable energy, lower resource consumption, reduced feed-in power, stable grids and an open system for users.
The electrical and digital industries are in a key position to achieve climate policy goals, and direct current can make an important contribution. In existing plants, up to 10 percent energy savings and about 50 percent copper savings could be realized for the lines. But coupling the particularly climate-relevant sectors of buildings and mobility also enables high efficiency gains.
ODCA founding members include: Audi, Bender, BLOCK, Danfoss, Eaton Industries, ESR Pollmeier, E-T-A, ETO Magnetic, Fraunhofer IISB, Fraunhofer IPA, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Harting, Innelekt, Jean Müller, KEB, KEBA, KUKA, Lapp, Lenze, Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, Murrelektronik, Paul Vahle, Phoenix Contact, Rittal, Schaltbau, Schneider Electric, Siemens, SOCOMEC, TH Ostwestfalen-Lippe, TU Braunschweig, TU Ilmenau, Weidmüller, Wöhner.
Dr. Hartwig Stammberger, Eaton Industries, was elected Chairman, and Dr. Jan Stefan Michels, Weidmüller, was elected Vice Chairman.
