ABB has surpassed a 10-gigawatt (GW) milestone in delivering its automation solution for renewable energy plants in India. Starting with a 100-MW project about seven years ago, ABB has strengthened its footprint in the renewable energy industry with the milestone, which is a result of over 300 renewable energy projects across India utilizing ABB’s IoT-based PLC solution.
ABB’s PLC-based SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system is an automation control solution, which helps gather and analyze real-time data to run the plant optimally and enable low maintenance.
With this, operators are also able to easily monitor and analyze key parameters of the plant and get complete visibility of plant operations. Delivered as part of ABB’s Drive Products offering, the utility-scale SCADA solution helps reduce the cost and risk of investment in operating renewable energy plants.
As energy demand continues to grow in India, the country is rapidly increasing its share of renewable energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in line with its target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
The country aims to reach 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. As renewable energy plants can achieve carbon reduction of over 24 million tons per year on an average, the ABB solution is playing a key role in catalyzing the country’s energy transition with renewables, in line with its purpose to enable low-carbon societies.
“We are proud to support the country’s push towards clean energy transition. As India accelerates its transition to a clean energy mix, technology is playing a crucial role in optimizing the capture of renewable energy and ensuring the seamless operation of renewable energy plants. Our solution remains at the centre of this, helping enable efficient operations of hybrid plants, including solar, wind and battery energy storage system (BESS),” said AR Madhusudan, President, Drive Products, ABB India. Madhusudan added, “Our journey to the 10-GW milestone also supports India’s ambitious goals of a sustainable and resilient energy ecosystem”.
Renewable applications often require complex safety calculations driven by the need to process vast amounts of information to safely supervise the permissible range for temperature, pressure, and more. BESS plays a critical role in balancing the intermittent availability of renewable energy with the required power demand via power storage, ensuring consistent power supply.
Simultaneously, there is a need to safely monitor and control these complex renewable processes. ABB’s cybersecure SCADA system utilizes its powerful AC500 PLC to monitor key parameters and regulate plant operations in compliance with Indian grid code guidelines. It also helps generate customized reports with required analytics, catering to the diverse needs of renewable energy plants, including hybrid plants consisting of wind, solar and BESS.
The solar and wind sectors remain key drivers of new capacity addition in the Indian renewable energy industry. As of July 31, 2024, the total installed capacity of solar power stood at about 87 GW, while the total wind power capacity was about 47 GW, according to data from the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. As per the press release, ABB has a strong footprint in the solar segment and has partnered with major EPC firms that are building projects across India.
