Beijing, November 26, 2014 -- At ABB Power World 2014 under the theme of "Green Power, Better Life", ABB showcased its full range of power technologies and products in the field of digital power generation, UHVDC, smart substation, intelligent power distribution as well as its industry application solutions for various sectors such as oil, semiconductor, metals, light industry, railway, buildings and data centers, together with more than 60 technical seminars to fully display its strength in the power field and leading position in smart technology.
After 30 years of rapid development, China's economy now faces tremendous pressure in terms of resources, environment and sustainable development. In response to this, the Chinese government is trying to achieve the sustainable development of the environment, economy and society through economic transition, industrial upgrading and energy restructuring. Green, efficient smart technology is an important driving force to achieve these long-term goals.
"Through smart technologies and solutions, ABB helps utility, industry, transportation and infrastructure customers improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions and achieve industrial transformation and upgrading," said ABB Group CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. "Our Next Level strategy fits perfectly with China's development goals. We are excited to contribute to decoupling economic growth from energy consumption and emissions. In the utility sector, ABB has a wide range of smart power technologies that support connection of clean energy to the grid, UHV transmission, distributed power generation, smart substations and electric vehicle chargers, which help the entire electric value chain achieve efficient and reliable operation."
In geographically sizeable China where energy is consumed far from its source, the long-distance, high-capacity and low-loss HVDC transmission technology becomes a critical solution. ABB pioneered HVDC technology 60 years ago and has continually promoted the development of this technology. Among 27 HVDC projects in China, ABB has participated in the construction of 19 of them, including the Xiangjiaba - Shanghai, Hami - Zhengzhou and Xiluodu - Zhexi HVDC lines, providing core products and technical support for China's grid construction.
Cable is an integral component for subsea and underground power transmission. At Power World 2014, ABB debuted its new 525 kV extruded HVDC cable in China. This technology can double transmission capacity and increase the transmission distance from less than 1,000 km to 1,500 km, while keeping transmission losses under 5 percent. It makes power delivery more efficient in densely populated or environmentally sensitive areas, coastal areas and open seas and makes it possible to connect more solar and wind energy power into the transmission system.
Connecting renewables and distributed generation into the grid is an important part for smart grid. ABB's Microgrid Plus micro-grid solution can take full advantage of solar energy, wind energy, hydropower and other clean energy to generate power, contributing to the emission reduction and environmental protection. This solution can automatically adjust the power of the generator according to changes in power consumption to achieve "load-based power generation" that results in 100% utilization of generation capacity. In addition, through flywheels and batteries, the energy storage system can store electrical energy and quickly release it when needed, easily dealing with the challenges of intermittency on the micro-grid and meeting the power needs of end users.
Environmental friendliness, safety, and reliability are important aspects for the development of smart grid technology. Among the new products showcased at ABB Power World 2014, Safe Air, the environmentally-friendly gas-insulated Ring Main Unit, uses environmentally-friendly gas instead of the traditional insulating gas sulfur hexafluoride, and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50% throughout its whole life cycle, greatly reducing the impact on the environment. The new-generation ELK-4 800 kV gas-insulated metal-enclosed switchgear can be used in EHVAC and UHVDC transmission converter stations, and has the highest level of insulation and interruption performance among the same class of products. In addition, the product can also reduce the usage and leakage of greenhouse gases, reducing the impact on the environment.
In the field of intelligent power distribution, Emax 2 becomes one of the most watched products at the exhibition. As the world's first low-voltage circuit breaker integrated with power management features, it not only cuts off and protects the circuit when needed, but also measures and assesses energy consumption in order to help users save energy. When the line is overloaded, Emax 2 can work as an administrator to shut down some of the less important devices to ensure maximum power supply and the energy efficiency of critical loads. By replacing traditional circuit breakers, this product can save 5.8 billion kWh of electricity a year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 2.1 million Chinese households. Earlier this year, this product won the Red Dot Product Design Award, also known as "the Oscars of design world".
ABB smart technologies not only help enhance energy efficiency of conventional power industry, but also keep expanding application in the field of electric power, helping industry, transportation, infrastructure and other fields deal with challenges arising from energy shortages and environmental pressures. For example, in China this year, ABB launched its first general-purpose electric vehicle DC charger in line with China's national standard to support the improvement of the charging infrastructure and the popularity of electric vehicles in the country, using smart technology to achieve the leapfrog development of the transportation field.
ABB Power World has been held twice in China and is the largest customer activity for ABB's Power Business in China. The theme of this year's event is "Green Power, Better Life". The exhibition area is grouped in four sections: utility, industry, building & infrastructure as well as transportation, comprehensively displaying ABB's advanced power solutions.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 19,000 employees, 37 local companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 109 cities.
