ABB’s 45,000 sq m facility in Dalmine, Italy, is proving that green factories don’t necessarily have to be new build factories, as investments in energy efficient technology and digitalization enabled the historical Medium Voltage (MV) circuit breaker and switchgear manufacturing site achieve Mission to Zero status.
Mission to Zero is part of ABB’s journey toward carbon neutrality by 2030, and a key part of how it is delivering a cleaner, greener supply chain for its customers. The program aims to create examples of ABB low-carbon production sites and a blueprint that can be replicated by partners and customers around the world, in both new and existing facilities. Mission to Zero includes a range of measures to improve sustainability across a site’s operations, from reducing CO2 emissions to conserving resources and providing visibility and measurable insights for customers looking to hit their own sustainability goals.
Alessandro Palin, President of ABB Distribution Solutions said: “Our customers want to make their supply chains cleaner and greener and are increasingly looking to us for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Dalmine creates a blueprint for customers to replicate. It is a positive example of how innovative tech and digitalization can cut carbon emissions by 25 percent – a remarkable achievement. At ABB we want to collaborate with our customers to reduce their annual CO2 emissions by more than 100 mega tons by 2030: almost as much as if 30 million combustion cars disappeared from our planet. By reducing carbon emissions and eliminating waste throughout our supply chain, we will support customers to realize their own sustainability ambitions.”
Built in 1979, the Dalmine site is already supplied with 100 percent green energy from renewable sources certified by Enel Green Power, but to achieve Mission to Zero status, three buildings at the factory were fitted with 4,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels. The panels generate peak power of 900 kWp, to provide around 20 percent of the factory’s energy needs and help to balance peaks in demand from air conditioning during the summer months. ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager now monitors energy consumption to identify inefficiencies and highlight energy saving opportunities: for example, outdoor lighting has been replaced with high efficiency LED lamps, reducing energy consumption by 76,000 kWh per year, which is the energy needed to recharge the growing fleet of electric vehicles.
To embed a circular economy approach, the site’s dedicated Product Sustainability team analyze and certify products with Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). As well as supporting customers to be more resource efficient, Dalmine has also improved its own resource conservation through initiatives such as the reuse of plastic crates for transporting components between ABB factories in Europe and the use of recycled plastic for packaging.
Following upgrades with the latest in sustainable technology, Dalmine has reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 2,200 tons in the last two years – the equivalent of the emissions generated by a car that travels 360 laps of the Earth along the equator.
Dalmine joins ABB sites in China, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands as a Mission to Zero facility, with more sites to follow throughout 2022 and beyond.
For more information about ABB’s Mission to Zero program visit https://new.abb.com/mission-to-zero
