Chongqing, March 31, 2015 - With support from ABB, the leading power and automation group, Solar Impulse 2, the world's first solar-powered plane to travel around the world, landed in Chongqing today as its first stop in China.
Solar Impulse 2 is a solar-powered plane that can fly day and night without fuel or polluting emissions. The plane is powered solely by 17,248 solar cells installed on its wings. The plane took off on March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, officially kicking off the first solar-powered, round-the-world flight in the history of human. Along the plane's 35,000 kilometer route, the project's co-pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, will take turns in the cockpit as they fly back to Abu Dhabi by mid-2015.
On its eastward flight, Solar Impulse 2 has already made short stops in Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; and Mandalay, Myanmar. Following Chongqing, Nanjing will be its second stop in China. According to its plan, Solar Impulse 2 will take off from Nanjing in late April and embark on the most challenging leg of its round-the-world journey: a non-stop flight for five days and nights across much of the Pacific Ocean from China to Hawaii.
In 2014, ABB formed a technology and innovation alliance with Solar Impulse and became one of the main partners of the Solar Impulse project. To ensure the successful completion of this round-the-world flight, three ABB engineers have joined the Solar Impulse technical team, where they are responsible for designing and installing reliable power control systems for the plane's mobile hangar, enhancing the plane's charging electronics, monitoring the cockpit battery, and being prepared to resolve the problems that emerge along the route.
ABB's enthusiasm for Solar Impulse stems from a shared faith in innovation and technology, which mirrors the company's vision: "Power and productivity for a better world." ABB aims to use its efficient and intelligent power and automation technologies to boost operational efficiency, reduce resource use, enable sustainable transportation and increase penetration of clean, renewable energy.
Dr. Chunyuan Gu, Senior Vice President of ABB Group, Chairman and President of ABB (China) Limited, said, "For ABB and the Solar Impulse project, we hope to use this solar-powered, round-the-world flight to showcase our innovative and environmentally-friendly concepts, and to show people the potential of clean energy. With our leading power and automation technologies and rich experience, ABB will actively support China's clean energy development and sustainable growth, so as to contribute to the ecological civilization and a 'Beautiful China'."
ABB is a global leader in renewable energy, sustainable transport and efficiency. The company is the world's second-largest supplier of solar inverters and one of the largest suppliers to the wind power industry. ABB is also a leader in integrating renewables efficiently and reliably into power grids. Over its 20-year development in China, ABB has been committed to helping customers increase energy efficiency and improve performance while lowering environmental impact, supporting the sustainable development of China.
In the area of renewable energy power generation, ABB has participated in many large-scale wind and solar power projects in China, delivering world-class products and solutions to the:
- Shanghai Donghai Bridge 100 MW Offshore Wind Farm, China's first large offshore wind farm
- Xiangyang Wind Farm in Jilin Province, one of the largest onshore wind farms in China
- Jiangsu Xiangshui Offshore 200 MW Wind Farm Demonstration Project, China's first wind power project that transmits power to onshore areas via an offshore substation
- Hebei Zhangbei Wind and Solar Energy Storage and Transmission Demonstration Project, the world's biggest new energy utilization platform, integrating wind power, solar power, energy storage, and smart transmission technologies.
- Kunming Shilin 166 MW Large-Scale Photovoltaic On-Grid Power Generation Project and the Gansu Wuhe 100 MW Solar Power Project, China's large-scale photovoltaic power stations
In the area of sustainable transport, ABB is taking an active role in the development of China's electric vehicle charging infrastructure. At the beginning of 2014, ABB formed a strategic partnership with Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd. to support China's sustainable transport development by building a nationwide, electric vehicle charging network. ABB has also worked with local partners and governments in China on several pilot electric vehicle charging and set up a local team to lead the development of the electric vehicles business, covering R&D, production, logistics and services.
As one of the world's largest makers of transformers, electric motors, and drives, ABB has played a significant role in increasing energy efficiency. By the end of 2014, the installed base of ABB drives saved 243 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity for Chinese customers, equivalent to two years' power consumption of Beijing.
As the biggest city along Solar Impulse's round-the-world flight, Chongqing plays an important role in Western China: It's not only the bridgehead for Western China's development, but also a strategic fulcrum for the Silk Road Economic Belt among the Belt and Road initiatives of China. Today, Chongqing has become an important R&D and production base for ABB in China. ABB's global transformer design & engineering center and ABB's global turbo-charging manufacturing center are all located in this city. Furthermore, ABB has decided to host 2015 "Automation World" in Chongqing, the first time for this annual event to be held in a Western Chinese city.
ABB is a Global 500 company and 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 roughly 100 countries and employs about 140,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 19,000 employees, 39 local companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 126 cities.
For more information on ABB, please visit http://new.abb.com/cn, Sina Weibo: @ABB China, Official WeChat Account: abb_in_china, Official WeChat QR Code:
