- ABB is helping to lead the energy transition by implementing sustainable solutions at our own sites in Germany.
- The ABB Lüdenscheid factory in Germany provides a blueprint for the Mission to Zero decarbonization program.
- The Factory of the Year award won by ABB’s Ratingen facility in early 2024 highlights our efforts in optimizing industrial processes with a focus on development and automation.
Germany’s industrial sector is fundamental to the country’s economy, playing, “a much stronger role as a driver of growth, prosperity, and employment than in other countries that share many characteristics,” according to its Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
The vital role of industry in tackling climate change, and innovating to decarbonize and optimize operations, has been highlighted by business and political leaders.
ABB is helping to lead the energy transition by implementing sustainable solutions at our own sites in Germany, and we’re supporting customers with integrating innovative ABB technology into their own sites and operations.
ABB’s Mission To Zero factory in Lüdenscheid
The Lüdenscheid factory in Germany – a typical energy-intensive industrial multi-purpose site making products for electrical installation – was unveiled in 2019 as a test bed for turning sustainability ambition into action under the Mission To Zero program.
Multiple energy efficiency initiatives enable the factory to generate around 14% more energy on-site than it needs and surplus power is fed through the public grid.
Reducing emissions across our own operations, to enable a more sustainable and resource-efficient future, is at the core of ABB’s Sustainability Agenda. Those ambitions framed these objectives for the Lüdenscheid site:
- Deliver a proof-of-concept zero-emission factory that acts as a blueprint for other factories
- Deliver a digital energy management blueprint for industry, homes and cities
- Provide a base where customers, partners and ABB R&D collaborate, test products, share ideas, and develop new ways to innovate
ABB teams integrated their own energy management and building automation solutions across the 7,300 sqm site, including an intelligent digital energy management system that allows users central monitoring and control of loads and energy distribution.
A cogeneration plant was also created, which has double the energy efficiency of a traditional coal-fired power plant. It generated 1,190 MWh of climate-neutral solar power in the first year – about as much as the annual demand from 360 private households – and now saves up to 680 tons of CO₂ per annum.
ABB’s commitment to efficiency in its own operations
ABB’s engagement in optimizing industrial processes was recognized earlier this year with a prestigious Factory of the Year award for its facility in Ratingen, Germany, which makes vacuum interrupters. The prize was awarded by Germany’s Produktion magazine, in the Global Excellence in Operations (GEO) category.
A focus on continuous development and automation at Ratingen were identified as key factors in its success and the award follows another made by the same title in 2021.
In its previous accolade for ‘Outstanding series production’, Produktion noted high levels of automation, harmonious integration of multiple technologies and “committed employees who always contribute good ideas”.
ABB’s Mission to Zero program is continuing to expand and sites in multiple countries are adopting the blueprint first laid out in Lüdenscheid. To find out more about the concepts that underpin Misson to Zero and the factories where they are being employed, click on this link.
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