Energy resilience: the foundation of a reliable energy system
Today’s energy industry faces unprecedented complexity. Demand is surging, driven by ever-expanding markets, increased electrification, big new players such as data centers, and the steady growth of the world’s population. Against this backdrop, the need for secure, reliable and affordable power is the critical factor that will ensure long-term social and economic stability.
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4min
2026-04-09
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<p>While the demand for energy continues to surge, companies must deliver secure, reliable and affordable power, maintain output and reduce emissions at the same time.</p>02
<p>Meeting this challenge requires a focus on both energy expansion and energy transformation, balancing rising demand with the need to decarbonize energy systems in ways that are practical, regional and scalable.</p>03
<p>ABB's automation and electrification solutions combined with digitalization are fundamental levers to deliver future energy ecosystems.</p>Why energy resilience matters
Energy security has become a national and corporate priority. But security is not simply a matter of building more capacity or signing long-term supply contracts. Energy resilience is the ability of energy systems to withstand disruptions, adapt to changing conditions, and continue delivering reliable power across industrial and grid environments.
Recent events make the point vividly. Multi-hour blackouts across Spain and Portugal brought critical services to a halt. The closure of Heathrow Airport, triggered by a single substation fire, grounded thousands of flights and cost the global economy hundreds of millions of pounds.
Energy resilience is built through multiple interconnected layers:
- Electrification infrastructure ensures stable power supply
- Automation systems manage operations in real time
- Digital platforms monitor performance and risks
- Predictive analytics anticipate disruptions and optimize energy use
ABB enables integration across all these layers.
The Shift from Energy Transition to Energy Expansion
In this episode of CERAWeek Podcast, Morten Wierod, CEO of ABB, joins Atul Arya to discuss how rising power demand is reshaping priorities for grids, infrastructure and industrial systems worldwide.
<p>The International Energy Agency recognizes that energy resilience drives innovation and investment in future-proof infrastructure. For companies and grid operators, it has become a strategic imperative and competitive advantage.</p> <p>Forward-looking companies recognize that resilient energy systems are strategic investments that deliver three key business outcomes.</p> <ul> <li><b>Outrun the competition</b> with superior operational performance and cost efficiency.</li> <li><b>Drive energy security</b>, by delivering a reliable, uninterrupted supply of power.</li> <li><b>Advance decarbonization</b> in a way that maintains profitability.</li> </ul> <p>Companies need to ensure that their operations are energy resilient. Energy resilience is not a single technology or solution. It is a strategic capability built across four interconnected dimensions:</p>
Efficiency
<p>reducing costs and improving performance across all operations, so that every unit of energy goes further.</p>Stability
<p>ensuring reliable power delivery through robust systems that can handle disruptions, outages, and fluctuating demand without faltering.</p>Expansion
<p>the capacity to meet growing demand and integrate diverse generation sources — gas, nuclear, hydropower, wind, and solar — so they work seamlessly together.</p>Transformation
<p>the progressive modernization of energy production, transmission, and consumption in a strategy of long-term decarbonization.</p>What ABB Is Seeing Across Global Industrial Energy Systems
In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, Stuart Thompson, President of ABB's Electrification Service Division, joins Neil C. Hughes to explore the intersection of industrial sustainability, energy security, and cutting-edge technology.
How companies build energy resilience
Without robust, automated, intelligent, and flexible grids and systems, energy resilience is impossible. These can handle bidirectional and variable power flows, move from reactive to predictive operations, and integrate diverse, increasingly local, and cleaner energy sources.
Modernizing grids is also key to closing the gap between how much electricity is generated and how much is consumed, with digitalization and stronger networks significantly reducing those losses.
In a resilient energy strategy companies put in place systems that can expand supply, and deliver ‘intelligent electrification’, to use energy more efficiently, and deliver power where and when it is needed.
ABB’s expertise enables energy resilience along the entire energy value chain
Our technology and solutions are designed to boost customers’ competitivity with innovative electrification and automation solutions that support resilient operations. Our expert teams work alongside customers to assess their current situation, and support the design, installation and transition of their networks.
ABB enables energy resilience by delivering electrification, automation, and digital solutions across the energy value chain.
Powering processes with reliable motors
Our highly efficient motors and generators are at the heart of the processes that keep society running. Engineered for high reliability, they reduce grid strain, improve energy efficiency, and support flexible operation through variable speed drives. Motor-driven systems offer IE6 and Top Industrial Efficiency standards, built-in protection from electrical disturbances, fast availability in the event of failure, and full compatibility with backup and distributed power sources.
Automation and electrification as force multipliers
Automation and electrification are the core enablers of improved operational performance and system-wide transformation. They allow industrial companies to extract more from existing assets, reduce waste, and integrate new energy sources with greater precision. In factories, even brief power interruptions can halt production. Our electrification and automation technologies enable power and process systems to work in concert - reacting instantly to grid events, automatically shedding non-essential loads to protect critical operations, and shifting energy-intensive tasks to periods of lower cost. The result is not just resilience; it is energy as a source of competitive advantage and, in some cases, profit.
Digital intelligence as a multiplier
Digital and AI-powered tools amplify the benefits of automation by giving operators up-to-the-minute data on system performance, efficiency, and risk. This real-time intelligence transforms energy management from a reactive discipline into a predictive one - enabling operators to anticipate issues before they escalate and optimise performance continuously.
Our digital and AI solutions are central to this mission. As an example our Genix Industrial Analytics and AI Suite is able to integrate data across operational, engineering, and IT systems, which can improve workplace productivity by up to 80%.
Grid-scale resilience in action
Today's grid faces different and complex challenges. The electrification mega-trend is driving unprecedented demand across multiple sectors simultaneously. The solution isn't just about expanding traditional grid infrastructure, it's about reimagining how electricity networks operate.
As grids become more renewables-dependent, synchronous condensers have moved from niche technology to strategic resilience asset. They provide the physical grid stability — inertia, fault current, reactive power — that software and batteries alone cannot replicate.
ABB was recently selected by VoltaGrid to enhance grid stability and data center power supply in the United States to support AI growth. As part of the agreement, we are supplying 27 synchronous condensers and prefabricated eHouse units to enable stable electricity generation.
The way forward
Embedding energy resilience is a game- changer for innovative business leaders. It reframes a company’s energy transition from a cost center to a driver of competitive advantage. With our investments in resilient energy systems we are not only helping industries manage risk, we are also building a solid operational foundation for growth, innovation, and productivity. This is a strategic business lever to help companies outrun.