Digital solution upgrades aging electrical assets

ABB is investing in Danish startup OKTO GRID to advance the development of technology that will extend the useful life of aging electrical assets in order to meet growing demand for reliable and stable power. The partnership supports the goal of both companies to accelerate the energy transition.

OKTO GRID has developed a pilot solution that digitalises electrical infrastructure to enable real-time, remote condition and performance monitoring to prolong the working life of electrical assets by another 40 years, in addition to reducing the equipment’s total carbon emissions. As part of the collaboration, ABB will provide its electrification, digitalisation and industry knowledge to support the development of OKTO GRID’s solution and accelerate commercial readiness.

“The world is becoming increasingly electrified, which requires an upgrade of our existing electricity infrastructure,” said Golam Sadeghnia, CEO of OKTO GRID. “OKTO GRID is on a mission to digitalise transformers to handle new energy sources and rising energy consumption.

“Our solution, which works independently of transformer type, make and age of the transformer, is mounted without downtime or any tooling required. To the best of our knowledge, we are unique in the market with this combination. Partnering with ABB will be key to accelerating market adoption, given ABB’s global footprint, technology leadership and domain expertise,” Sadeghnia said.

“I am confident that ABB’s investment in OKTO GRID, when combined with our technology and in-depth industry insights, will help industry leapfrog the much-needed upgrade to aging electrical grids to meet the demands for higher power performance, reliability and availability,” said Stuart Thompson, Electrification Service Division President, ABB. “This partnership with OKTO GRID exemplifies our approach to collaborating with innovative startups who have the shared goal of developing technology that drives smart, safe and sustainable outcomes for our customers.”

The minority investment in OKTO GRID is ABB’s 11th venture capital investment of 2022, managed through its venture capital unit, ABB Technology Ventures (ATV). Since its formation in 2009, ATV has invested around $300 million in startups that are synergetic with its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio.

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