ABB and Rolls-Royce announce global microgrids cooperation

ABB and Rolls-Royce have announced a global partnership on microgrid technology and advanced automation. Together the two companies plan to offer an innovative, energy-efficient microgrid solution for utilities, commercial and industrial entities.

A microgrid is a small-scale electric grid that combines power from distributed energy generation sources such as combined heat and power plants, diesel- and gas-powered gensets and renewable sources with batteries. The microgrid provides the overall control to coordinate these resources to meet the requirements of industrial, residential or consumer loads. Microgrids can either function off-grid, or connected to the main power grid. The ability of microgrids to seamlessly separate themselves from the main grid, in the event of a potential grid fault or emergency, is an increasingly important feature.

Reliable power supply — even during harsh weather conditions and times of peak consumption — is critical for economic growth. Integrating renewable energy is a sustainable solution to support uninterrupted power as well as encourage clean energy use. Microgrid solutions benefit utilities, industries and commercial sites that are looking for reliable power supply as well as cost and carbon emission reduction. Microgrids enable resilient power supply even with high penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Digital automation and control systems intelligently coordinate distributed energy resources and loads for the microgrid to function efficiently.

Rolls-Royce offers its MTU Onsite Energy brand power system solutions: from mission-critical, standby and continuous power to combined generation of heat and power, and microgrids.

“Due to the transformation towards decarbonisation, customers need to pursue sustainable power options that also deliver utmost profitability,” said Andreas Schell, CEO, Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “For this, we rely primarily on microgrids, which are autonomous energy supply systems that are efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly.

“Combining our integrated MTU diesel and gas genset system technology and our control solutions with ABB’s modular microgrid solution, control capability and remote service will offer customers the combined strengths of the two world leaders in technology.”

“ABB Ability e-mesh can ensure a stable power grid, even with a high share of renewable energy from various sources, working smoothly together with already installed gas or diesel engines,” said Massimo Danieli, head of ABB’s grid automation business line within the company’s Power Grids business. “ABB has a vast number of microgrid installations globally and through our partnership with Rolls-Royce Power Systems, we will further support the growing interest for microgrid solutions globally.

The ABB Ability e-mesh solution will provide power generation asset owners a vertically integrated, unified view of their distributed energy resources and renewable power generation that is quick to deploy and that reduces operational costs. Cloud operations, site and fleet optimisation, weather and load forecast and machine learning algorithms offer greater insights for decision-making, such as knowing where to increase investments on maintenance or how to increase revenue streams to operate assets more profitably.

Image: Rolls-Royce Power Systems