Technology leader ABB recently introduced its medium-voltage (MV) sensors in the country. Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines Alain Gaschen attended the product’s trade launch, which also saw some of the top local utility companies in attendance.
The ambassador noted that with the opening of the economy post-pandemic, Swiss companies have shown an increased interest in the Philippine market and that the ABB product launch is proof of this movement.
Lukas Cesky, Product Specialist, MV instrument transformers and sensors, ABB Czech Republic; Roman Gvritishvili, Product Marketing Manager, ABB Czech Republic; Harlem Tsai, Digital Substation Product – Global Product Marketing Manager (SAS region), ABB Finland; and Nilesh Bauskar, Senior Marketing Manager – International Marketing, Indoor and Outdoor Products, Distribution Solutions, ABB India presented the advantages of ABB products during the event.
After the trade launch, a media roundtable followed with Cesky and Gvritishvili answering queries from members of the Philippine press.
ABB MV Sensors Features and Benefits
According to Cesky, ABB’s advanced sensors are helping customers to deliver a safe and sustainable power supply 24/7. It has an easy and fast engineering process, short delivery time, flexibility, and reliability.
ABB’s MV sensors are also designed for applications which provide increasing levels of remote control and communication, key to helping industries and utilities to integrate higher levels of renewable energy resources to reduce emissions and cut energy costs.
Addressing the Rising Demand for MV Sensors
Demand for the product has doubled since 2018 and is expected to increase significantly over the next five years. This prompted the company to invest 1.1 million USD in a new, state-of-the-art sensor production line at its Brno Instrument Transformers and Sensors factory in the Czech Republic.
At 15,000 sq. meters, Brno is already the world’s largest facility of its kind. The new production line will ramp up the scale and pace of Medium Voltage (MV) sensor production by almost 100 percent, to reach 100,000 units per annum by 2026.
Sensors from the Brno factory have been used in installations around the globe, including a recent project where 12,000 sensors were installed to raise the energy efficiency and stability of Northern Cairo’s electricity grid. They are ideal for replacing older instrument transformers, as they are smaller in size and safer to use.
On the back of growing demand for digital switchgear and the broader push to integrate more renewable energy resources, the new automated production line at Brno will ramp up capacity to produce a record-breaking number of sensors every year.
Record demand is being driven by the increasing use of MV switchgear. MV switchgear from ABB’s other production plant in Brno has been used in installations around the globe, from the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa which towers 828 meters over Dubai, to the depths of the London Underground.
In operation for 135 years and employing nearly 2000 people, the vast ABB Brno plant comprises seven separate units across two sites. This includes the Instrument Transformers and Sensors factory and the largest Medium Voltage Switchgear factory in Europe.
