The energy transition is no longer simply about adding more renewable generation.

For businesses trying to decarbonize, the challenge is becoming much more complex: how do you secure clean electricity, manage costs, maintain reliable operations and navigate an increasingly complicated energy market, all at the same time?

Many organizations have already invested in energy efficiency, onsite renewable generation and other technologies. But as they look to decarbonize at greater scale, they increasingly need to bring together capabilities that no single organization can provide.

This is where partnerships become critical.

The energy transition will require companies to connect different technologies, areas of expertise and market capabilities rather than trying to solve every challenge independently.

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Decarbonization is becoming an ecosystem challenge

A business might have solar generation on site, battery storage to manage demand, a microgrid to improve resilience and an energy management system to optimize how everything works together.

But what happens when onsite generation isn’t enough?

Increasingly, businesses are also looking to long-term renewable energy agreements to secure clean power at scale. These can be complex to navigate, particularly as expectations around when and where clean energy is generated and consumed become more stringent.

The result is a broader challenge that spans engineering, energy procurement, digitalization and market expertise.

“Our customers are under real pressure to reduce their carbon footprint while managing energy costs and maintaining reliable, 24/7 operations.”
Stuart Thompson

Bringing different capabilities together

Different organizations bring different capabilities to the table. One may understand electrical infrastructure and energy management. Another may have deep expertise in clean energy markets and procurement. Bringing those capabilities together can help customers tackle a problem that would be difficult to solve through a single technology or service.

ABB’s partnership with LevelTen Energy is one example.

LevelTen, the world’s largest marketplace for clean energy transactions, operates a clean energy marketplace and has facilitated more than 20 GW of clean energy transactions across more than 35 markets in North America and Europe. ABB brings expertise in electrification, digital solutions, energy management and advisory services.

Together, these capabilities can help customers connect clean energy procurement with the systems that manage and optimize energy once it reaches their operations.

The same principle applies beyond clean energy procurement. ABB’s partnership with Gridcog combines Gridcog’s digital platform for modeling complex energy projects, including microgrids and distributed energy resources, with ABB’s energy advisory and engineering expertise. Together, the companies can help businesses move from concept to implementation with greater visibility into both financial and carbon impact.

The value of the partnership goes beyond what either company provides individually.

In both cases, the value of the partnership goes beyond what either company provides individually. ABB gains access to a wider ecosystem of clean energy developers and projects through LevelTen, while its work with Gridcog adds digital modeling capabilities to its energy advisory and engineering expertise.

But the ultimate measure of any partnership should be what it makes possible for customers.

If collaboration can help businesses secure cleaner energy, integrate it into their operations, manage it more effectively and demonstrate progress toward their decarbonization goals, then it becomes more than a commercial relationship.

It becomes part of the infrastructure of the energy transition.

The energy transition needs connected thinking

The energy transition is becoming more connected by the day.

Electricity generation, infrastructure, digital systems, energy markets and industrial operations can no longer be considered entirely separate.

The ability to connect these pieces will increasingly determine how effectively businesses can navigate the energy transition.

That is the real opportunity in partnerships: not simply doing more together, but making new things possible together.

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As the energy transition moves from ambition to implementation, which partnerships do we need to build that don’t exist today?

The next breakthrough may not come from a single technology. It may come from connecting the right capabilities in a new way.

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Global electricity demand is growing more than twice as fast as overall energy demand*, driven by industrial electrification and expanding infrastructure. This isn’t a temporary surge. It is a structural shift.

But meeting that demand while reducing emissions isn’t simply a question of producing more clean energy.

The bigger challenge is how we design and manage the systems that use it.

Traditional energy systems were built around a relatively simple model: produce more, distribute more, consume more. That model needs to evolve as businesses face growing demands for speed, flexibility, efficiency and lower emissions.

So, what does a future-ready industrial energy system actually look like?

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Start with visibility

Before organizations can redesign their energy systems, they need to understand how those systems are performing today.

Digital energy management can capture data across systems, loads and operations, turning energy consumption and waste into measurable insights.

This matters because you can’t optimize what you can’t see.

Organizations implementing comprehensive energy management platforms typically achieve 15–25% reductions in energy costs. That’s when sustainability stops being a goal and starts being a result.

This visibility is the foundation for architectural redesign. Without it, even advanced energy technology will underperform.

Rethinking industrial energy architecture

Visibility reveals the problem. Architecture redesign solves it. Rather than focusing solely on renewable energy sources, successful transformation requires three interconnected elements:

1. Distributed Generation : producing power closer to where it is consumed through rooftop solar, on-site storage, and microgrids that provide controllable, resilient power.

2. Connected Systems : integrating EV charging, building management, industrial processes, and power distribution so they work in harmony rather than isolation, eliminating redundancy and reducing peak demand.

3. Intelligent Grid Integration : using digital control to continuously match supply and demand, reducing waste, and improving reliability as renewable sources introduce variability.

Together, these elements create energy architecture capable of meeting rising industrial demand while supporting decarbonization.

Businesses implementing this architecture reduce emissions, improve efficiency, reduce energy cost exposure, and maintain control as they scale.

Decarbonization as a core business strategy

Organizations leading the energy transition recognize decarbonization not as a cost or obligation, but as a driver of competitive advantage.

When embedded into core business strategy, it becomes an operational priority that improves efficiency, builds resilience, encourages innovation, and differentiates performance.

The energy systems we build today will shape not only our environmental impact, but also our operational efficiency, cost structure, and ability to adapt.

The question is no longer whether we need to change.

The question is how boldly, and how quickly, we redesign the architecture that powers everything we do.

* Source: IEA - Global electricity demand grew more than twice as fast as overall energy demand in 2025.

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What do you think is the biggest barrier to redesigning industrial energy systems today?

Is it visibility, infrastructure, investment, technology, regulation, or something else?

Share your perspective in the comments below.

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When people visit a historic building, they notice the architecture.

They admire the craftsmanship, the exhibitions and the history preserved inside its walls.

What they almost never think about is the electrical system.

Yet behind every museum, government building and historic landmark sits infrastructure that was never designed for today’s demands. Electrical loads have increased, safety standards have evolved, and expectations for reliability are higher than ever.

Eventually, every historic building faces the same question:

The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building offers a fascinating example. As one of Washington D.C.'s oldest public buildings, it recently underwent an electrical modernization as part of a broader renovation designed to prepare it for the future while preserving its heritage.

Why historic buildings are different

Modernizing electrical infrastructure isn’t as simple as replacing old equipment.

Historic buildings introduce challenges that many modern facilities don’t: space is often limited; original layouts must be preserved; downtime is difficult to accommodate.

And every change must respect decades, or sometimes even centuries, of architectural heritage.

Unlike new construction, engineers are working around an existing building rather than designing one from scratch.

The invisible backbone

Most visitors assume reliable power simply happens.

In reality, it depends on equipment quietly performing thousands of operations every day.

Circuit breakers.

Switchgear.

Protection systems.

Monitoring technologies.

They’re rarely seen, but they enable everything visitors do notice - from lighting and climate control to exhibitions and security systems.

At the Smithsonian, the modernization extended beyond replacing aging equipment. New protection technologies, enhanced safety features and integrated monitoring now give operators greater visibility into the health of the electrical system, helping identify potential issues before they become failures.

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Reliability becomes even more important during major events

Although the original project supported the Smithsonian ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary celebrations, the lesson is much broader.

Any venue expecting large numbers of visitors faces the same challenge.

For museums, airports, universities, sports arenas and convention centers, reliable electricity becomes part of the visitor experience, even if nobody notices it’s there.

The most successful infrastructure upgrades are often invisible. Visitors simply experience a building that works exactly as it should.

Looking beyond today’s requirements

One of the biggest misconceptions about infrastructure modernization is that it’s only about replacing ageing equipment.

In reality, it’s about preparing buildings for decades of future use.

Modern electrical systems don’t just improve reliability.

They provide better visibility through continuous monitoring, improve safety for maintenance teams and create a foundation that can adapt as buildings evolve.

For historic buildings, that balance is especially important.

The goal isn’t to change history. It’s to ensure history continues to operate safely for future generations.

Join the conversation

Many of the world’s most iconic buildings are operating with ageing electrical infrastructure.

Where do you think the biggest modernization challenges lie? Historic landmarks, healthcare facilities, transport hubs, universities or somewhere else?

Share your perspective in the comments below.

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When a storm knocks out power across a region, most of us notice only one thing: whether the lights stay on.

Many people have heard of microgrids - localized energy systems that can keep electricity flowing even when the main grid fails.
But how do they actually do it?

Behind every microgrid are thousands of decisions happening in fractions of a second. Solar panels suddenly producing less electricity as clouds roll in. Batteries deciding whether to charge or discharge. Backup generators starting. Every device responding to changing conditions while somehow staying perfectly synchronized.

Making all of that happen is one of the biggest technical challenges in modern electrification.

It’s also what brings us to ABB’s U.S. Corporate Research Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Inside the lab, scientists and engineers spend their days solving complex problems that most people never think about. Microgrids are far more complex than they first appear.

Here are three things that might surprise you.

1. Every microgrid is different

If you’ve seen one microgrid, you’ve seen...one microgrid.

Every microgrid is built around a unique combination of energy sources, storage technologies, electrical equipment and customer needs.

A remote community integrating solar and batteries has very different requirements from a manufacturing plant that cannot afford even a second of downtime. A data center balancing massive electrical loads behaves differently from a university campus generating part of its own energy.

Local regulations, utility requirements, communication architectures and even cable layouts vary from one installation to another.

That means there is no universal configuration.

Before a single piece of equipment is installed, engineers create detailed digital models of each microgrid and simulate thousands of operating conditions—from sudden demand spikes to renewable energy fluctuations and grid disturbances—to understand how the system will behave.

2. A microgrid has to work as a single unit

Designing the individual components is only half the job.

The real challenge is making them behave as one.

Imagine an orchestra at the height of a performance. Every musician enters at precisely the right moment. Some play louder, others softer. Some stop while others begin. The audience doesn’t notice the coordination - they simply hear beautiful music.

A microgrid works the same way.

Solar panels, batteries, generators and the utility grid are constantly exchanging energy. Production changes. Demand changes. Equipment switches on and off. Yet the entire system must remain perfectly balanced.

That coordination happens continuously, with control systems making decisions down to the hundredths of milliseconds level to keep electricity flowing reliably.

When everything works together, the complexity becomes invisible. And that’s exactly how it should be.

3. Microgrids need to react before you even notice

Most electrical faults develop incredibly fast.

When a tree falls on a power line or equipment unexpectedly fails, a microgrid must respond with speed and precision.

Protection systems must detect the problem, isolate only the affected part of the network and keep the rest of the system operating safely. Disconnect too much, and customers lose power unnecessarily. React too slowly, and equipment can be damaged or the entire microgrid can become unstable.

The challenge becomes even greater as modern microgrids combine conventional AC networks with DC architectures, battery storage and renewable energy sources, all interacting in increasingly complex ways.

So how do you trust something this complex to work?

Designing a microgrid is one thing. Proving that it will perform reliably under thousands of different conditions is another.

That’s exactly what ABB’s research scientists in Raleigh, North Carolina spend their days doing, using a range of testing methods.

One of those methods is simulation. Our teams build detailed digital models of entire microgrids and expose them to countless operating scenarios—from changing weather and fluctuating renewable generation to sudden changes in demand or faults on the network. Simulations allow researchers to understand how a system will behave long before it’s built.

Another is Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing, where real controllers and protection devices are connected to a real-time digital model of a power system. To the equipment, the simulated network behaves exactly like a real one, allowing engineers to validate new control strategies, uncover unexpected interactions and refine system performance without putting critical infrastructure at risk.

Researchers also carry out power protection testing, validating protection technologies under realistic electrical conditions, recreating disturbances and fault scenarios to verify that systems respond as intended.

Sometimes the simulations reveal problems.
Sometimes prototypes don’t behave as expected.
Sometimes years of work lead to solutions that quietly become part of systems bringing reliable power to hospitals, factories or communities around the world.

For our customers, that confidence is essential. Organizations are striving to strengthen energy resilience and integrate more renewable energy into their operations, so they need to know these increasingly complex systems will perform.

Join the conversation

As electricity networks become more complex and resilient, what role do you think microgrids will play in the future of energy?

Share your thoughts in the comments below, and subscribe to Electrification Edge for more expert perspectives on the technologies shaping the future of electrification.

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In early 2026, when our film crew travelled to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland - just below the Arctic Circle - filming outdoors came with a strict limit. They could only shoot outdoors in 20-minute bursts. Then everyone had to move inside.

Below -18°C, cameras stop working optimally. People aren’t much different.

But while the crew could warm up between takes, the power grid doesn’t get that luxury.

When a transformer fails in Lapland in midwinter, the window to fix it closes fast. The ~60,000 Rovaniemi inhabitants rely on reliable electricity every hour of every day. In the Arctic, losing power isn’t simply inconvenient. It can become dangerous very quickly.

“Reliable electricity means people won’t freeze.”

Tuomas Kokkonen, Service Sales Specialist, ABB

Extreme weather may make Lapland unique, but the challenges facing its electricity network are becoming increasingly familiar around the world.

Electricity demand is rising. Infrastructure is ageing. Networks are expected to be more resilient than ever before.

In the Arctic, those pressures are simply impossible to ignore.

Winter changes everything

Juhani Ahola has spent more than a decade managing substations for Rovakaira, a utility serving three municipalities across northern Lapland.

Born and raised in Rovaniemi, he knows exactly what winter demands.

Ice builds on power lines. Trees collapse under the weight of snow. Repair crews can spend hours travelling through darkness and storms to reach faults, while homes and businesses wait for power to return.

At the same time, the loads those lines are carrying keep growing. Heat pumps are replacing older systems, EV charging is expanding, and tourism continues to climb.

One place that feels the impact immediately is Santa Claus Village, which welcomed almost 790,000 visitors last year. Antti Nikander, who coordinates operations for Santa Claus Village says:

“We’ve had power outages in the area, and then we are basically completely unable to operate. Practically everything depends on electricity.”

Heating. Lighting. Payment systems. Guest safety. When the power stops, everything stops.

Seeing problems before they happen

For Neve, Rovaniemi’s multi-utility provider, preparation is just as important as response.

Instead of relying solely on scheduled inspections, engineers now continuously monitor the health of critical transformers.

Compact sensors track temperature, vibration and electrical discharge in real time, allowing engineers to identify warning signs long before equipment fails.

That shift changes everything.

Instead of responding to unexpected outages in the middle of winter, maintenance can be planned before a fault becomes a crisis.

As Erkki Pietilä, who manages electrical and automation operations at Neve, explains: “If something abnormal happens, it’s noticed early enough so we can intervene.”

The takeaway

Reliable power isn’t built when something goes wrong.

It’s built long before that, through continuous monitoring, smarter maintenance and better visibility into the health of critical infrastructure.

The lessons from Lapland aren’t just about surviving winter. They’re about building electricity networks that are ready for whatever comes next.

Join the conversation

What do you think will be the biggest challenge for electricity networks over the next decade?

We’d love to hear your perspective in the comments.

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Renewables already generate around 30% of the world’s electricity (IEA), and to stay on track with global climate goals, installed renewable capacity will need to triple by 2030. Yet despite record growth in 2024, deployment still isn’t happening quickly enough to meet that target.

So why are organizations still hesitating?

For many, the barriers aren’t technical. They’re rooted in long-standing assumptions: that renewables aren’t reliable enough, retrofitting is too disruptive, or the return on investment simply isn’t there.

In reality, many of those assumptions no longer reflect what’s happening on the ground.

In this edition of Electrification Edge, we examine five of the most common myths surrounding renewable energy and explore how organizations around the world are overcoming them through practical engineering, smart technology and innovative thinking.

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Myth 1: “Renewables can’t be reliable at scale.”

One of Finland’s solar parks says they can.

THE FACTS: EPV Energy turned a former peat production site into a powerhouse: the Heinineva solar park. With 123,000 solar panels, it is one of Finland’s largest solar installations - generating industrial-scale renewable energy reliably and continuously. At its peak, it will produce enough electricity to power 20,000 EVs.

WHAT THIS MEANS: Advanced automation makes large-scale solar parks reliable and grid-compatible at scale.

Myth 2: “You can’t add renewables to existing facilities without disrupting operations.”

A US factory shows it’s possible - and achieves $70,000 in projected annual savings.

THE FACTS: ABB modernized its 47-year-old Electrification Service manufacturing facility in South Carolina to integrate renewable energy without interrupting production. A three-acre solar array was added that now generates approximately 1.5 million kWh of on-site renewable power annually - supplying roughly 80% of the facility’s electricity demand.

The upgrade improved energy resilience and is expected to generate around $70,000 in annual savings.

WHAT THIS MEANS: Retrofitting existing facilities can increase both energy-independence and business value – without disruption.

Myth 3: “ Regulatory compliance makes renewable projects too complicated to be worth it.”

A solar park in Germany shows compliance and cost-efficiency can go hand in hand.

THE FACTS: To connect the Gundelsheim solar park to the grid, EnBW needed to meet strict German regulatory and environmental standards. A new integrated power conversion and distribution approach reduced secondary switchgear requirements by 50–75% and delivered a 15% cost advantage.

WHAT THIS MEANS: Regulatory complexity doesn’t have to drive up costs, as long as the solution is designed to meet local standards from the start.

Myth 4: “Small-scale renewables don’t deliver real ROI.”

A school in Spain shows they can - with payback in just 4.5 years.

THE FACTS: A Spanish school upgraded its energy infrastructure with a renewable energy system that achieved a 4.5-year payback period. The project reduced operating costs and emissions while also supporting environmental education.

WHAT THIS MEANS: Even small-scale solar projects can deliver strong financial returns.

Myth 5: “Renewables require ideal locations to be implemented effectively.”

A Chinese solar park at 4,400 meters proves extreme altitude is no barrier—generating nearly 2 billion kWh annually.

THE FACTS: The Yalong River Chabulang solar park operates at an average altitude of 4,400 metres in harsh environmental conditions. With a switchgear and distribution solution specifically designed for high-altitude environments, the facility is expected to generate 1.944 billion kWh annually—equivalent to saving 600,000 tons of coal and reducing CO2 emissions by 1.55 million tons.

WHAT THIS MEANS: The right engineering approach enables renewable projects to thrive in challenging locations—expanding clean energy production beyond traditional ideal sites.

What do you think?

Which of these misconceptions do you encounter most often?

Are there other barriers preventing renewable energy adoption that you’d like us to explore in a future edition?

Leave a comment below, and subscribe for future content.

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From the growth of AI to the energy transition, grid modernization and industrial decarbonization, the conversations shaping our industry are becoming more complex than ever.

Electrification Edge is our space to explore them.

Here, you’ll find expert perspectives, practical insights and informed commentary from the people working at the forefront of electrification. We’ll look beyond the headlines to explain what is changing, why it matters, and what it could mean for businesses, industries and the energy systems of tomorrow.

This is a place to explore emerging trends and make complex topics easier to understand through the expertise of ABB’s engineers, technical specialists and industry leaders.

We’ll cover topics including:

• The energy transition and electrification

• Grid resilience and infrastructure

• Sustainability and decarbonization

• Emerging technologies and innovation

Whether you’re an engineer, policymaker, business leader or simply interested in the future of energy, we hope Electrification Edge becomes a valuable resource that helps you stay informed.

Thank you for joining us at the start of this journey.

Subscribe to receive future content from us, and if there’s a topic you’d like us to explore, we’d love to hear from you.

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