ABB Relaunches Spanish Factory to Fix Europe’s Aging Hydro Power Plants

A Strategic Return to Hydro Heritage

To help support the green energy targets for Europe, ABB has welcomed its new hydroelectric power generator overhauling line with open arms.
The new facility is located within the company's Ring Motor factory in Bilbao, Spain.
This site has a rich past; it used to be world-renowned for its expertise and production of comparable hydropower technologies.
What that means to European customers is brand-new factory facilities right next to theirs.
Consequently, this localized capability will allow them to easily add equipment at critical points in the lifecycle, ultimately enhancing their critical power plant operational safety, performance, and efficiency.

Meeting the Demand for Modernization

The European hydropower sector is already poised at a crossroads.
As hydroelectric power provides a fundamental service—up to 20 percent of the continent's electricity with around 260 gigawatts of installed capacity—it is rapidly aging.
Most of the facilities' generators, such as hydroelectric dams, are reaching the end of their 30-year service life.
In return, many facilities are showing clear symptoms of reduced performance, varying efficiency, and rising maintenance costs.
Modernization projects, therefore, including full refurbishment and upgradation, are in extremely high demand.
ABB intends to heartily help the industry with this latest move and has already received initial orders from Spain and Norway.

Revitalizing Assets with Cutting-Edge Technology

ABB staff will apply new materials and state-of-the-art technologies to reduce power losses from each generator by a considerable margin, making them much more efficient than the old ones.
To cite an example, completely new stators will be designed, manufactured, and delivered directly from the factory in Bilbao.
Furthermore, these new components will incorporate advanced production processes and state-of-the-art technology like the tried-and-tested Micadur insulation system for the stator bars.
This project will heavily capitalize on the factory's rich history, given that more than 240 hydroelectrical generators were produced on this very same plant floor over a 90-year period.
This new re-manufacturing line will run efficiently alongside the factory's existing production of ring motors for application in mining.

The Advantage of Localized Excellence

"We are happy to launch this support for the hydroelectric industry from our ABB Ring Motors plant—a opportunity defined by continuous customer contact," said Mikel Torre, managing director of ABB Ring Motors Spain.
While globalized supply chains and near-shoring protocols matter more to the world than ever, ABB is confident that it can provide quick logistics, project timeline guarantee, and better quality of service.
This assurance is based on a record of manufacturing dominance that is nothing short of impressive.
ABB is eager to make new customer links and with this domestic support is confident that customers can safely choose to upgrade old infrastructure here in Europe, thereby guaranteeing energy production for many decades ahead.