ABB Touts Grid Efficiency in BRT Report

    NORWALK, Conn., June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ABB, the leading
 power and automation technology group, issued a statement today drawing
 attention to portions of a report released by the Business Roundtable that
 deal with energy efficiency, particularly in the electric power system.
     "We are proud not only to have served as the power transmission and
 distribution sector lead on the BRT's report, but also to be implementing
 some of its key priorities with regard to energy efficiency," says Dinesh
 Paliwal, President of Global Markets and Technology at ABB.
     The report, entitled "More Diverse, More Domestic, More Efficient: A
 Vision for America's Energy Future," outlines a strategy aimed at improving
 the nation's energy supply to support economic, strategic and environmental
 priorities. Working with competitors, ABB led an industry task force to
 examine technology solutions to improve the nation's energy efficiency,
 reduce consumption, and increase domestic energy dependence.
     The final recommendations incorporated in the report are being adopted
 by the 160 major BRT companies and promoted to the government. Some of the
 key points include:
     -- Expanding the transmission and distribution system to enable optimal
        generation resource utilization and reduce transmission congestion
        (allowing access to clean fuel sources such as wind power, nuclear,
        and new clean-coal plants)
     -- Optimizing power grid design with new or advanced technologies to save
        energy, reduce stress on the grid, and improve reliability.
     -- Installation of highly efficient motors, drives and transformers in the
        transmission and distribution system and industrial manufacturing
        plants
     -- Encouraging smart metering and other demand-side management (DSM)
        strategies that use electricity pricing to reduce peak period
        demand on the grid
     -- Improving the efficiency of the nation's power plant fleet by a
        combination of efficiency upgrades at existing units and construction
        of new advanced technology generating facilities to replace inefficient
        existing units and meet growth in demand
     -- Accelerating deployment of wind and solar-thermal generation
     ABB is already working to realize these objectives. The company's
 variable speed drives in use today, for example, already avoid the emission
 of nearly 100 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. ABB's Flexible AC
 Transmission System (FACTS) devices are being used to replace aging urban
 power plants, and the company is the world leader in high-voltage direct
 current transmission technology that cuts transmission-related power losses
 in half.
     ABB ( http://www.abb.com ) is a leader in power and automation
 technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve
 performance
     while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies
 operates in around 100 countries and employs about 109,000 people.
 
 

SOURCE ABB