ABB has gone on to open a new injection molding manufacturing plant worth €20 million near Ghent in Belgium so as to meet the growing demand for smart, safe, as well as sustainable electrification solutions across Europe.
It is well to be noted that the modern plant has been developed keeping in view the upgraded energy efficiency needs by way of the installation of new injection molding machines, digital technologies, along with automation solutions, and it happens to replace an existing facility that joined ABB as part of an acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions, which took place way back in 2018.
The site is going to produce distribution enclosures that go on to serve as protective housings when it comes to electrical distribution components like fuses, switches, circuit breakers, as well as meters, thereby making sure of safe distribution, control, and also metering of electricity through range of buildings, be they commercial, residential, as well as industrial.
It is worth noting that the global electrical enclosure market is anticipated to surge from $7.42bn in 2024 to $13.15bn by 20321 because of the increase in demand when it comes to new buildings, modernization of the present buildings as well as a more effective and dependable electrical system, along with the advances in the distribution of electricity.
This new site happens to be a part of the Misson to Zero™ initiative of ABB for decreasing GHG- Green House Gas emissions across the ABB sites and, at the same time also supporting customers to go ahead and decrease their emissions too by way of a decarbonization pathway which they can walk on.
This new initiative is all set to decrease CO2 emissions by over 6700 tonnes and also consumption of energy by more than 9400 MWh per year as compared to what was seen in 2019 in the previous facility.
These steps are all set to result in almost €2.5 million when it comes to energy cost reductions every year. At the new initiative, which happens to be equipped with energy-efficient machinery, it is anticipated that 10% of the energy that’s needed within the site will get generated by way of 1330 rooftop solar roof panels, and the remaining will be sourced through green energy supplies that are certified. There are provisions for heat pumps, cooling water circuits, EV chargers, LED lighting, and also new air ventilation plant, all of which are going to contribute towards energy and carbon emissions decrease.
It is worth noting that the Evergem site is going to continuously track and, at the same time, also make utmost energy usage, thereby leveraging ABB’s own digital solutions like the ABB Ability™ Building Analyzer which happens to monitor building data as well as utilities and that too in real-time and hence providing actionable insights so as to optimize the efficiency of energy.
This, teamed with the usage of green energy as well as heat pumps, goes on to facilitate a decrease in the consumption of energy as well as CO2 emissions. More digital technologies, like building management systems, are going to be brought-in in the months to come so as to further help with energy efficiency achievement.
According to the President of ABB Electrification’s Smart Buildings division, Mike Mustapha, the Mission to Zero™ approach when it comes to Evergem happens to be quite a prominent example of their objective of offering a lower-carbon society and also their bent for speeding up the shift towards much more sustainable manufacturing. The advanced site happens to be designed keeping in mind future demand and not just the needs of the present. All this is going to be like a training ground, both for people as well as customers.
In order to help have a low-carbon society, ABB happens to be taking rigorous net-zero targets, which are in sync with the Net-Zero Standard of the Science Based Targets initiative- SBTi.
