China's green energy plan opens new doors for ABB

The ongoing energy transformation in China and its carbon neutrality pledge present opportunities for multinational corporations such as ABB Group, and the Swiss technology company will continue investing in the country's clean energy and smart manufacturing sectors to support Beijing's carbon neutrality ambitions, said a senior executive.

Gu Chunyuan, chairman of ABB (China) Ltd, said China's carbon neutrality targets will reshape its economy, and energy ecosystems, technology innovation on renewable energy, productivity and energy saving will be the key to reach its goals in a sustainable and efficient way.

"Under the guidance of China's dual carbon target, we will further accelerate our pace of local innovation and make bigger contribution in China's remarkable journey of green development and industry transformation, together with our customers, partners, local community and government," said Gu.

"ABB has continuously invested in China over the past decades and has established full localized research and development capability," he said, adding China has recognized the importance of efficient electric motors as a matter of policy, with a new national standard requiring vehicles to have a minimum efficiency level of new standard coming into effect on June 1, 2021.

From 2010 to 2020, ABB has delivered over 10 million drives and high efficiency vehicles to Chinese customers, helping achieve accumulated energy savings of more than 475 billion kWh.

Gu said China robotics market will continue to grow fast due to mega trends like rising consumer demand for customized products, shortages of qualified labor and the need to become more resilient, uncertainty in demand, driven by COVID-19 and other factors.

According to the data from the 2020 World Robotics Report released by the International Federation of Robotics, China's manufacturing industry ranked 15th in the world in terms of robot density in 2019, with 187 robots per 10,000 workers (or a density of 187), showing great potential for further development.

With $150 million of investment, the group will put its new robotic factory into operation in Shanghai in the first quarter of 2022. It will be the most advanced, automated and flexible factory in the robotics industry worldwide – a center where robots make robots.

China's carbon neutrality pledge highlights the importance of decarbonization in China's energy industry, said Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Beijing-based Institute of Industrial Economics, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Many international corporations have been stepping up efforts to align their core businesses with Chinese market demand, and the pledge is also becoming a strategic focus for more Chinese as well as multinational companies, he said.