ABB has used smart building technology at its Brazilian plant to enable more energy-efficient manufacturing of smart building components.

The Swedish engineering giant has achieved annual energy savings of 530MWh and a reduction of 160 tons of CO₂e emissions at its Belo manufacturing facility in Contagem, south-east Brazil. The savings follow the implementation of sustainability initiatives including the installation of solar panels, solar water heaters, LED lamps and skylights, and frequency inverters.

The facility has also deployed ABB’s AbilityEnergy Manager (new.abb.com/low-voltage/products/smart-power-digital-solutions/abb-ability-energy-manager) for metering, control and optimisation of energy consumption.

ABB’s Belo plant started operations in 1975 and produces 42,000 poles a day for the manufacturing of Nema residential circuit breakers. These miniature circuit breakers protect homes from the potential risks caused by overcurrent or short circuit events. The site is part of the ABB Mission to Zero programme (new.abb.com/mission-to-zero), which supports the company’s commitment to cut GHG emissions by 2050. Driven by local teams, sites focus on improving efficiencies through energy generation, management and storage using ABB’s technologies and third-party integration.

This initiative builds on a CO₂e emissions reduction of over 128 tons in 2023 due to green energy purchases. A further reduction of 34 tonnes was achieved following the installation of solar panels, upgrading HVAC equipment, and the installation of frequency inverters on equipment in the moulding and stamping areas.

Energy consumption was reduced by approximately 420MWh a year by adding energy frequency inverters in two main production areas with high energy use. The installation of solar panels is estimated to have contributed approximately 220MWh of on-site generated renewable energy a year. The Ability Energy Manager provides insight data to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption further and optimise energy efficiency in the process given the demand at different points and times. The ongoing implementation of an energy management system according to ISO 50001 should further drive energy-efficiency actions at the site.

“The ABB Mission to Zero approach at Belo is another example of our aim to enable a lower-carbon society and our commitment to accelerate the transition to more sustainable manufacturing while empowering our customers to optimise, electrify and decarbonise their operations,” said Mike Mustapha, president of ABB’s smart buildings division. “Significant reductions in energy consumption and CO₂e emissions have been achieved within a year of implementing changes. The highly motivated team at the facility went beyond efficient energy management to ensure that the site delivers zero production waste to landfill by the end of the year.”

The Belo team is targeting further energy savings in 2024 by adding more solar panels to meet 30 per cent of the site’s energy demand as well as installing inverters for compressor and pump machines and replacing existing forklift vehicles with electric ones.

Building on over 140 years of experience, ABB (www.abb.com) has more than 105,000 employees.