Even before outbreak of the current energy crisis, company ABB was already paying plenty of attention to new solutions that enable the intelligent use of energy resources that are currently available
It is not enough today to merely increase energy capacities; the world must turn towards improving energy efficiency – stresses ABB Motion Local Business Area Manager Milan Jevremović, while revealing the ways in which Serbia and the world could ensure a stable supply of electricity.
How do you, at ABB, view the current energy crisis? Do you have any new, innovative solutions that could help?
– The biggest and cheapest energy resource that the world has is the potential to make savings, i.e., the ability to use existing resources and capacities in an efficient manner. Research shows that improving energy efficiency could perhaps save more than 10 per cent of all electricity consumed.
The innovative solutions that ABB offers enable available resources to be used intelligently while at the same time reducing the CO2 footprint. As an example, it is known that using coal of a consistent quality results in better combustion in furnaces, increased efficiency and reduced emissions of harmful gases. That’s why company EPS [Elektroprivreda Srbije], together with ABB’s engineering team, carried out the project “Monitoring and management of coal quality” for the needs of the Nikola Tesla Thermal Power Plant. Testifying that it isn’t necessary to work to completely eradicate fossil fuels is the fact that some developed European countries are considering restarting coalbased electricity production. It wouldn’t be wise for Serbia to abandon this energy source, of which it has ample supplies, until it secures new resources or until we build some new hydropotentials.
While we’re on the subject of hydropotentials, a question that imposes itself is whether we would be helped by another project like the Bajina Bašta Reversible Hydropower Plant.
– Investing in additional hydropotential is a good solution for our country, which is why EPS is already working on that in a big way. Plans are being developed for new reversible hydropower plants that are more useful than standard impoundment or run-of-river power plants, because they allow energy to be stored and used when required by the system. In this way, RHP Bajina Bašta is very helpful to our energy system.
ABB’s new and innovative solutions enable the reducing of the CO2 footprint and the intelligent use of available resources
The project to improve the work of this reversible power plant, which ABB participated in to a significant extent, contributed to the entire plant working even more efficiently, to it having increased operational readiness and to it being able to provide additional megawatts. ABB used new technologies to help more efficiently use the potential of RHP Bajina Bašta and extract additional energy from existing resources.
Almost all socially responsible companies are striving to make their operations more energy efficient, and ABB is here to help in this aspect. In which ways do you do so?
– We have been dealing with this issue for 15 / 20 years, and the idea of our “Energy Efficiency Movement” campaign is to create among people an awareness of the importance of energy efficiency. Our aim is for everyone – governments, state institutions, responsible companies, universities and individuals – to agree that our shared goal is to reduce negative environmental impacts through the use of modern technologies. Considering that around 45 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption comprises electric motors and that the number of electric motors is set to double by 2040, we identify great potential for savings in this area.
The EU is introducing new standards to prevent the use of electric motors/drives and devices that are not energy efficient. No one will impose that regulation on Serbia, as it is not an EU member state, but – given current prices of electricity – a large number of companies that operate in Serbia recognise the potential to make savings and are deciding to invest in more energy efficient drives.