Two industry reports, by ABB Electrification, share insights on the key digitalisation and sustainability trends that are shaping the energy transition.
From the progress global organisations are making on their digitalisation journeys to guidance on how to adopt circularity to reduce the total cost of ownership and improve sustainability by extending the lifetime of power distribution assets, ABB’s reports explored the key challenges facing the sector and outlined potential solutions.
Stuart Thompson, President of ABB Electrification Service said: “The global geopolitical landscape has failed to stabilise in 2023, with continuing volatility impacting financial markets, supply chains and energy security. At the same time, the UN is calling for urgent action to accelerate the climate transition before it’s too late.
“In response, businesses need to focus on reducing capex, improving operational productivity and maximising the assets they already have. In 2024, we expect this to result in an increased adoption of connected digital technologies, retrofitting and circularity. When done right, this can lead not only to cost and energy efficiencies, but also set business on an accelerated path to decarbonisation.”
Where are global industrial businesses on their digitalisation journeys?
The first report, ABB’s digitalisation white paper – See the full potential of digital, faster – provides an overview of where industrial organisations are in their digitalisation journey and how they can scale the adoption of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology. Based on research of more than 300 industrial decision makers across seven markets and nine industries, including utilities, data centers, renewable energy and transport infrastructure[i], 93 percent of organisations have started implementing IIoT technologies such as sensors and monitoring software to cut costs and improve operational and energy efficiency.
However, while many organisations have embarked on their digitalisation journey, the report revealed that the majority are still in the early stages. While 78 percent say IIoT is delivering business value, seven percent have not started their IIoT journey, 31 percent are just getting started, 41 percent are starting to scale and only 21 percent are mature. This means most businesses still stand to gain the long-term benefits of digitalisation, such as full visibility into operations and reduced energy consumption.
The report goes on to explain how organisations, including utilities and other industrial players, can overcome barriers to deployment and develop a comprehensive digitalisation roadmap to determine where technology should be deployed and in what functions to demonstrate the true value of IIoT.
Antonio Martinez-Reina, Utilities & Renewables Global Leader from ABB explained: “Rather than seeing digitalisation as adding complexity to a system which is already working, digitalisation must be embraced as a means to reducing complexity, minimising disruption and costs and ensuring greater visibility, interoperability and sustainable operations.
“Achieving digitalisation at scale requires sound planning and investment; and potentially targeting under-exploited areas for competitive advantage, such as being among the first in digitalising electrical systems.”
How circularity can improve sustainability and drive new levels of operational efficiency
The digitalisation of electrical infrastructure is explored further in ABB’s second report Tackling Throwaway Culture – a guide to embracing circular economics. This approach is particularly useful in extending the life of power distribution assets, which, when maintained, upgraded, and eventually decommissioned effectively, can deliver significant cost savings and help minimise environmental impact by avoiding emissions.
The guide offers a range of practical ideas for implementing circularity in asset management, from optimising predictive maintenance and condition monitoring to adopting a ‘component-only’ approach to retrofitting and upgrades, as well as covering decommissioning of systems, responsible end-of-life disposal and future market developments in the circular asset management space.
Thompson concluded: “Using circular economics to avoid operational emissions with circularity is an increasingly popular way of doing business sustainably for those managing power distribution assets. Thanks to advancements in technology and a more granular understanding of the role industries must play in circular economics, there is now a wealth of tools and techniques to make circularity easier to achieve. Our guide covers these and gives customer examples that demonstrate them in action.”
To find out more about the digitalization and sustainability trends shaping the energy transition and how to overcome barriers to deploying IIoT and implementing circularity, you can find the two reports here: Tackling Throwaway Culture [https://electrification-ebooks.abb.com/story/throwaway_culture/] and See the potential of digital faster [https://campaign-el.abb.com/see_the_full_potential_of_digital_faster].
[i] The nine industries are: Manufacturing; Process Manufacturing; Data Centers; Food & Beverage; Mining & Metals; Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals; Renewable Energy; Transport Infrastructure (Rail, Air, EV); Utilities.
