ABB and MIIT-CCBCC cooperate to support enterprises increase energy efficiency and reduce emission

Beijing, December 9, 2009 – ABB, the leading power and technology group, signed a 3-year strategic framework agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to help the small and medium sized enterprises in China achieve energy efficiency and emission reduction target with systematic and consistent approach.

According to the agreement, the two parties will work closely through energy efficiency seminars, technology trainings, on site visit and consultancy, etc, to help SMEs gain systematic knowledge and technical knowhow to implement energy conservation and emission reduction. ABB will also help develop guidelines and propose technology solutions based on its rich worldwide experience in the energy efficiency field.

ABB Group Senior Vice President and ABB China Chairman Brice Koch said at today’s agreement signing ceremony, “the world is facing severe challenges due to the global climate change and energy shortage. While most have realized there are two ways to resolve the issue: developing renewable energies and applying energy efficiency technologies that exist already, we have to bear in mind that it’s more efficient and cheaper to take the second approach.”

“We have noticed China’s sincere commitment in curbing global climate change and energy challenge on many occasions including the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. And ABB, being a leader in the energy efficiency technology field, stands in a unique position to contribute to this by helping industries which consume more than 70% of the total energy in China”, said Mr Koch. “The cooperation with MIIT-CCBCC, offers an important way for us to demonstrate our values”, he added.

Yuan Pu, Director of MIIT-CCBCC, said, “our cooperation with ABB focuses on supporting SMEs, which make 99% of all companies in China. It will play an important part in supporting China’s overall energy reduction target if we can reduce the energy consumption by industries especially the heavy energy consuming ones such as mineral & metals, pulp & paper, oil & gas, petrochemical, manufacturing and power generation. The adoption of proven energy efficient technology and solutions is vital, and we are confident that such cooperation will add solid values to our energy efficiency effort across the country.”

Yuan Pu said that the strategic cooperation between CCBCC and ABB is an important part of CCBCC’s international cooperation on energy conservation and emission reduction for SMEs. He hopes ABB will provide these enterprises with advanced energy management concept and technology to help SMEs tackle issues they come across. “The cooperation will not only further promote the exchange and cooperation between ABB and the SMEs in China on energy conservation, but also spur the development of technologies,” added Yuan Pu.

Energy efficiency is one of the core businesses for ABB, representing more than 45% of its total revenue in 2008. ABB maintains consistent R&D investment in energy efficiency to keep a strong competitive edge, and 50% of its total R&D investment went into energy efficiency technologies and products in the recent years. ABB offers comprehensive solutions at each step along the entire energy value chain, helping to reduce overall energy losses by 20-30%.

ABB entered into strategic partnership with Guangdong Province as early as late 2006, and has so far delivered energy efficiency training to more than 1,000 enterprises in 6 cities in Guangdong and implemented many energy efficiency projects across different industries.

ABB believes that systematic energy diagnosis is a prerequisite for effective energy management, with the adoption of comprehensive and systematic measures central to the overall energy performance of industrial customers. Early this year, ABB finished its systematic energy diagnosis pilot project for Guangzhou Paper Group, one of the largest pulp and paper manufacturer in China, and identified 18 major energy saving opportunities which mean a potential cost saving of $1.3 to $2.7 million per year.

For the Heshuyuan power plant project in Meizhou in Guangdong, ABB offered a complete distributed control system (DCS), resulted in cutting its annual sulfur dioxide emission by 90%, which means 10,000 tons of SO2 per year. The project won the 2009 best environmental performance Award presented by “Asia Power” magazine. In another project – Shenzhen Metro line one, ABB successfully helped the customer reduce 30% energy per year, achieving the return of investment in less than 3 years.

Brice Koch noted, “Government plays a crucial role in promoting energy efficiency and encouraging enterprises to invest in advanced and effective energy saving technology.”

According to International Energy Agency, the more efficient use of energy has a greater potential to curb carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years than all other options combined. Investments in energy efficient technology can usually be recouped through lower energy costs in less than two years. Yet out of $112 billion invested in clean energy around the world in 2008, just $1.8 billion was spent on improving energy efficiency, according to a study by the UN Environment Program and New Energy Finance.

“The reluctance to invest in energy efficiency is surprising. One major obstacle is a lack of knowledge about energy efficient equipment in private households, companies or public authorities, which is further complicated by the variety of available options. Another is often a lack of incentives”, said Koch.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 15,000 employees, 27 joint ventures and wholly owned companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 60 cities.