ABB's Charge for Energy Efficiency with Innovative Tech

Electric motors are behind almost half the world’s electricity transformation into motion, making their efficiency key to both industrial success and environmental sustainability.

At the helm of enhancing this efficiency is ABB Motion.

Its Chief Technology Officer Panu Virolainen highlights the importance of ABB Motion's efforts not just for the present but for the planet’s future.

In a bid to amplify its mission, ABB unveiled the Energy Efficiency Movement in 2021, an initiative aimed at rallying businesses and competitors alike towards adopting energy-efficient technologies.

“The intention was to increase awareness around the topic of energy efficiency, helping companies adopt available technologies and make the right choices when investing,” Panu explains.

This is a crucial part of ABB’s wider strategy to slash global electricity use as outlined in its commitment to technological innovation, which Panu believes could drastically cut down power consumption worldwide.

"Swapping all 300 million industrial electric motor-driven systems with optimised high-efficiency equipment could reduce global electricity consumption by up to 10%,” he adds.

This would not only lower operational costs but also contribute significantly to reducing CO₂ emissions. 

ABB: At the core of global sustainability

ABB’s essential business — generating motion through electric motors and drives — is more critical than ever in lightening the world's carbon footprint.

Panu says: “We are in the business of creating rotary motion — to run various processes across industries and applications.

“We create rotary motion with electric drives and motors from electricity in the most productive and sustainable way.”

Given its broad application, from watering homes to climate control systems, enhancing these motors' efficiency is not just beneficial but essential.

"Energy efficiency in the area of electric motion is a critical topic, not only for the industry but for society as a whole,” Panu emphasises.

Leading with innovation

ABB is not resting on its achievements.

It continues advancing in the electric motion arena with IE5 efficiency class technologies, heralded as a significant climate-saving advancement by the United Nations.

Panu is proud of ABB's proactive approach, including pioneering efforts that have now reached the IE6 hyper-efficiency level, a global first that defines the frontier of energy efficiency technology.

"We have not rested on our laurels," he said. "We have demonstrated permanent magnet-assisted versions of the technology and integrated it into our motor drives."

This relentless push for innovation is accompanied by an emphasis on reliability, ensuring smoother operations and lowering the risk of costly downtimes.

The benefits are twofold — energy and cost-saving, reinforcing ABB’s role as a catalyst for change in the industry.

"Improved reliability means processes run more smoothly, with less wear and tear, reducing the risk of breakdowns,” he adds.

Charting a path towards a greener tomorrow

As the demand for electric motion is expected to double by 2040, ABB's focus on enhancing efficiency gears up.

The end goal is profound: shaping a sustainable future through advanced technologies and driving industry-wide shifts towards smarter, more responsible energy consumption.

“Efficiency is everything,” Panu  asserts, as ABB's achievements spotlight the tangible benefits of adopting high-efficiency systems for enhanced sustainability and lower energy spendings.

Through unwavering commitment and collaboration, ABB is steering the global push towards a sustainable future, crucially impacting how industries conceive and utilise energy-efficient motion worldwide.

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