With a history of over 130 years, ABB addresses utility companies, industry, transportation and infrastructure companies, with products, systems, software and services.
“Our history begins in the XIX century, with electrification and electric drives. We were part of the 2nd industrial revolution, we contributed to the 3rd industrial revolution, and now we have robots, electric car infrastructure, digitization and the ABB Ability platform, which means we are developing solutions for the 4th revolution. We are a company with a turnover of over 28 billion euros in 2019, with over 100,000 employees in over 100 countries and we have four main businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Electric Drives, Robotics and Automation”, said Constantin Ichimoaei, Executive Manager, ABB Romania, at the conference “Digitalization and Energy Efficiency in Industry – Iasi”, organized by Energynomics.
Future trends include urbanization, digitalization, integration of alternative energies and integration of new consumers. “Electric vehicles will account for over 55% of the total market by 2040. The electric mobility market is growing at a record pace. The reason why private customers choose electric vehicles is because they care for the environment, for their families. Lower battery prices and stricter emissions regulations also encourage a focus on electric vehicles”, he said.
The vehicles are bigger, they need more power and have greater autonomy – over 400km. At the same time, the charging times are getting shorter – charging in 10-20 minutes is already in testing.
As the grid does not allow the use of low voltage power, it is becoming increasingly important to use storage and multiple stations.
In the case of electric buses, charging can take place at the depot, overnight, at 25-150kW, within 6-8 hours. “A demand from one of the customers was to come with a complete solution, from the connection point to the charging point, including a prefabricated building. The complete solution means the chargers, all the equipment, the construction of the depot, including the digitization and operation part. This reference case is Hamburg Hochbahn, the first fully electric bus depot in Germany; it involved medium voltage connection with ABB transformers and low voltage cabinets. 44 150 kW cabinets were installed for charging the buses, managed through the ABB Ability platform. The 44 loader chargers serve 110 bus lines, which carry 213 million passengers annually”, he added, presenting the company’s solutions.
He also mentioned the solutions for charging “on the route”. Charging during daily operation, at scheduled stops or in at a rest stop, provides an ideal solution to ensure zero-emission public transport during the day, without an impact on the normal operation of the vehicle on the route. Charging time is usually between 3 and 6 minutes and requires an automated connection device and high power charging.
