This week ABB has unveiled its new Plant Optimization Methodology for battery manufacturing at The Battery Show, North America and presented how greenfield battery sites can jumpstart global operations.

With major automakers committing more than $500 billion towards electric vehicle production, and many planning to exclusively offer e-vehicles by 2035, there has been a huge growth in demand for lithium-ion batteries. However, battery manufacturers are struggling to keep pace while ensuring their production remains profitable, efficient, and safe – without sacrificing quality.

ABB’s modular, repeatable methodology uniquely combines electrification, instrumentation, control and digital (EICD) technology, the ABB Ability™ Adaptive Execution project execution approach and ongoing operational support into a single source solution to deliver an agile offering that enables new plants to achieve fastest time to market.

The methodology leverages the value of early collaboration, through ABB’s Adaptive Execution, to optimize plant design and performance by helping to minimize greenfield site project changes. In doing so, it compresses manufacturing schedules, reduces start up hours and delivers CAPEX and OPEX savings.

Unlike traditional approaches, which can have multiple vendors and interfaces, on-site integration and complex installation, ABB seamlessly integrates EICD technology with centralized collaboration and streamlined processes to optimize operations. Standardization from concept stage through to end product provides the flexibility required to reduce interface complexity and enable a fully optimized approach to battery manufacturing.

Demand has increased through consumer trends, including the proliferation of smartphone and other mobile devices, distributed energy storage and automobile manufacturers’ response to the growing adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles. Recent government mandates, such as EU and US efforts to keep battery manufacturing local, are placing additional pressure on manufacturers already facing the challenges of managing costs and ensuring safety and environmental responsibility.

“Our approach aims to support the production increases in gigawatt factories around the world to reduce the bottleneck in this fast-growing sector,” said Staffan Sodergard, Global Product Line Manager for Battery Manufacturing at ABB. “This is a very exciting, emerging space that holds tremendous potential to scale up to meet demand and, ultimately, enable a low-carbon society.”

ABB is already working with Northvolt, one of Europe’s leading battery manufacturers, to develop a sustainable manufacturing base that responds to the needs of an electric world and eliminates the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. Northvolt Ett – one of Europe’s largest gigafactories – will have a production capacity of 60 gigawatt hours (GWh), which would supply batteries for approximately one million electric vehicles annually.