GLOBAL • RENEWABLES Announcing a $300 million, five-year investment programme in renewable and distributed energy, ABB has re-emerged as a major player in power generation only weeks after divesting its stake in ABB Alstom Power.
Within the next five years, the company said, it expects its share of the renewables market to reach $1 billion. The bulk of the R&D investment will be focused on control systems and information technology, although the company also plans to develop a range of different generation systems. These include wind power using the Windformer development (see panel below), photovoltaic energy and microturbines in a venture with Volvo. In conjunction with Du Pont, ABB also intends to develop fuel cells.
In line with ABB’s move into distributed generation the company has won a $100 million order for small combined heat and power systems. The contract, from Scottish and Southern Energy, will see 10 facilities installed over the next 18 months. ABB will also maintain the plants for 17 years, some of which are to be used in greenhouse applications.