Sustainable transport: ABB technologies increase transport capabilities and cut emissions

Reliable transport infrastructure is vital for a booming country such as India. ABB is providing a wide variety of energy efficient automation and power products and solutions, and harnessing renewable sources of energy, to strengthen transport infrastructure.

When the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and ABB’s CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer, met in Delhi in 2016, their talks included the government’s plans to strengthen and broaden the use of renewable sources of energy, as well as energy efficiency in industry, and plans to encourage electric mobility for India’s millions of auto-rickshaws.

“We see particular potential for ABB’s technologies in renewables penetration and microgrids, as well as for energy efficient motors and drives for industry since India still uses 30 percent more energy per unit of output than industrialized countries. Given the government’s ambitious plans to have all auto-rickshaws running on electricity in the future, we will look closely at charging solutions for e-rickshaws,” said Spiesshofer after the meeting.

ABB is already involved in making different areas of the transport system more sustainable. For example, ABB solar inverters have helped to make Cochin airport in Kerala the world’s first fully solar powered airport, and have supported Delhi and Hyderabad airports so that they can run partially on solar power.

The metro systems in some of India’s largest cities utilize ABB technology to help convey millions of passengers every day.

For Delhi’s showcase metro system, ABB provided an extensive array of products and systems, including traction, receiving and auxiliary substations with compact gas- and air-insulated switchgear, efficient and low noise level traction transformers, motors, integrated building and asset management solutions and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. All this technology facilitates the smooth operation of the metro, as well as enhancing performance and cutting costs.

Delhi is not the only Indian city for which ABB is providing its rail technology, with the metro networks in Jaipur, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata also deploying its solutions.

The benefits of ABB technology were highlighted near the end of 2016 when ABB won an order to provide 1,600 traction transformers for 800 new electric freight locomotives in India. The new locomotives will expand Indian Railways’ capacity, easing congestion on busy routes for both freight and passenger services. The transformers will be manufactured locally in ABB’s Vadodara facility in the western state of Gujarat, supporting the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative to encourage manufacturing in the country.

Traction transformers feed power at safe voltages to essential train functions like traction, brakes, lighting, heating and ventilation, as well as passenger information, signaling and communication. Used by rail operators around the globe, ABB traction transformers are manufactured at its plants in India, China and Switzerland.