ABB’s 47-year-old electrification service manufacturing facility in Florence, South Carolina, now meets 80% of its electricity with power from a nearby solar array.
“We saw an opportunity to reduce our environmental impact while simultaneously improving our bottom line and resilience,” said Mateusz Zajac, Sustainability Leader for ABB Electrification Service. “Our Florence facility and its staff prove that sustainability initiatives and profitability can go hand in hand. In fact, these initiatives often enhance profitability while decoupling our growth from grid constraints.”
ABB staff have been adding energy efficiency measures at the Florence plant. In addition to the 840-kW solar system recently installed on three acres adjacent to the plant, ABB has diverted more than 90% of its operational waste from landfills, leveraging a waste-to-energy program that converts non-recyclable material into usable energy, which complements existing recycling initiatives that divert 100% of cardboard, wood and metals to recycling facilities.
The Florence facility also deployed the ABB Ability Nsight energy monitoring platform, which uses more than 20 real-time monitors to precisely identify wasted energy. Additionally, the facility has integrated ABB INTEGRA Supervisory Building Control to further automate and optimize energy-intensive systems.
“Our operations in Florence are a clear example of how older, hardworking industrial facilities can modernize in a practical and commercially smart way. Instead of pursuing full equipment replacements and large-scale renovations that can interrupt production and demand major capital investments, the team focused on targeted upgrades, often supported by data-based insights,” said Zajac. “This approach shows how a facility built for a different era can evolve into one that supports cleaner energy, stronger resilience and better long-term performance.”
The Florence facility is one of the latest to achieve ABB’s Mission to Zero milestone by meeting or exceeding minimum targets in energy efficiency as well as emissions and waste reductions. Through the program, sites combine ABB digital energy and building solutions with renewable energy as part of their journey to reach net-zero operations by 2050.
