As the world's largest electricity producer, China generated 5,369 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2013, representing 57 percent of the power generated in Asia. Losses in China's electrical transmission and distribution (T&D) system are 6.6 percent of total generated power, and from 40 to 50 percent of the total electricity losses in the T&D system are caused by inefficient distribution transformers.
As a result, simply increasing the number of efficient distribution transformers in China's T&D network has the potential to significantly improve energy efficiency and power savings in the country. According to the International Energy Agency, energy efficiency is the largest potential contributor to carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions over the coming decades.
ABB has a long-term cooperation agreement with the Zhuji Dongbai Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of switchgear and compact secondary substations (CSS) in the city of Zhuji, in Zhejiang, southeast China. For example, the annual electricity savings provided by energy-efficient ABB distribution transformers in systems delivered to utility and industrial end-users by this OEM is 326,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh), while CO2 emissions are reduced by 159 metric tons annually.
Saving energy, lowering emissions
The energy-efficient ABB 400-630 kilovolt ampere (kVA) distribution transformers selected by the Zhuji-based manufacturer deliver no-load losses that are 30 percent lower and load losses 15 percent lower than less efficient transformer products.
Reducing those losses allows the OEM's customers to save considerable sums over two decades for each energy-efficient 630 kVA ABB unit installed in their CSS installations. Each energy-efficient unit also reduces CO2 emissions by just over 40 metric tons over that time span, which is equivalent to the CO2 annual absorption capacity of 92 trees.
"ABB has reaffirmed its commitment to developing energy-efficient transformers as part of its Next Level strategy supporting a sustainable world," said Markus Heimbach, Transformers Managing Director, ABB. "Furthermore there are clear financial advantages in choosing a transformer with optimized efficiency and lower energy losses. Investment in energy efficiency is always valuable, both for our customers and their customers, and ultimately to help build a more sustainable world."
