ABB commissions India’s first industrial solar microgrid

Vadodora: ABB has inaugurated an innovative microgrid solution at its Vadodora manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The ABB PowerTEC institute was also inaugurated.

This is the company’s largest facility in India, with over 3,000 employees and among ABB’s biggest manufacturing hubs in the world.

The microgrid is the first of its kind to be installed at a manufacturing campus in India, and will harness the area’s abundant solar energy supply to help the expanding factory meet its growing electricity needs, while lowering its carbon footprint, the company said in a statement.

The microgrid’s rooftop photovoltaic field and its innovative battery-energy storage system will support the factory’s productivity and enable green power supplies in the evening hours or during cloudy periods during the day, it said.

A sophisticated ABB AbilityTM control and automation system, serves as the brain of the microgrid, ensuring the maximizing the use of renewable energy. The use of renewables will lower the facility’s carbon footprint by approximately 1,400 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Microgrids with integrated battery energy storage offer industrial and business establishments a viable solution to mitigate planned and unplanned power outages that negatively affect their operations. When connected to renewable energy sources they also provide clean energy, often replacing fossil fuels. Furthermore, they provide more control to the business on how and when to deploy the stored power. A key benefit is the reduction in overall operational costs and reduced spend on electricity bills.

With India expected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, and with its rapid adoption of the latest digital technology, the country is looking for smart and sustainable technology solutions to meet its growing energy demands while minimizing environmental impact, ABB said.

“Growth demands power and access to clean, reliable electricity sits at the heart of India’s economic development,” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids Division.

“The ABB PowerTEC institute will enable customers to benefit from ABB’s domain expertise and enable them to leverage our latest technologies. The solar energy driven ABB Ability microgrid at our Vadodara campus reinforces our commitment to clean energy as we lead by example to enable a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”

At the Vadodara facility, ABB manufactures critical power equipment like transformers, high voltage products, distribution relays, motors, generators and turbochargers for a variety of national projects and beyond.