ABB & Oktogrid Bring Digital Transformer Sensor To Market

ABB Electrification Service in collaboration with Danish start-up Oktogrid has brought a groundbreaking solution for power transformers to market. 

The ABB Ability™ Asset Manager for Transformers (TRAFCOM) will enable industries like manufacturing to quickly modernise outdated electrical grids, prepping them to better handle the great green energy transition. 

This transition comes with increased power demand, requiring greater performance, availability and reliance from the grid.

TRAFCOM addresses these needs through its next generator sensor that monitors transformer performance, working independently of their type, make and age. 

With real-time monitoring capabilities within a single, unified interface, TRAFCOM is an end-to-end asset management system that not only tracks transformer performance but also helps to improve it.

The sensor comes with an abundance of useful features, like it's ability to transmit transformer data to the cloud almost immediately, reducing the need for maintenance downtime.

It can also be mounted magnetically to the transformer within fifteen minutes, requiring no tooling or screws for installation.

Cost is a big concern when it comes to the sensory monitoring of electric network transformers.

Typically this is an expensive, time-consuming and complicated process that many manufacturers skip out of necessity. 

Now, ABB and Oktogrid's solution provides an easy and affordable option to manufacturers, as Mahmoud Abdelkhalek, Global Product Manager at ABB Electrification Service indicates. 

"We know there are many electrical network transformers out there, which have never been monitored in 15-20 years, due to the high costs and complexity of installing sensoring technology," he says. 

"ABB Ability™ Asset Manager for Transformers overcomes these barriers as a simple and cost-effective way to modernise the grid.”

The depth of analysis TRAFCOM offers is also greater than other sensors on the market.

It measures four key dimensions of the transformer performance, to enhance manufacturers understanding of its performance. 

TRAFCOM's cloud-based monitoring solution enables manufacturers to understand a transformer's condition in real-time, giving them the power to anticipate and avoid failures, detect anomalies early and engage in predictive maintenance. 

"Rising energy consumption and the need to generate more cost-effective power stresses the electricity network and brings increased risk, but understanding how the transformer is performing means that plant and operational managers can plan and improve their processes with confidence.” Mahmoud adds. 

By embracing this digitalisation of their transformers, manufacturers also experience a host of other benefits. 

These include reducing carbon emissions, delivering higher power performance, availability and stability and optimising the efficiency of aging equipment.

"As industries double-down on their sustainability mandates, greater measurement capabilities are required to inform and shape their decarbonisation strategies," says Golam Sadeghnia, CEO of Oktogrid,

"Through our partnership with ABB, we’ve been able to create a solution that eliminates this transparency gap as we take pivotal steps toward a sustainable and resilient energy future."

ABB & Oktogrid: an ongoing partnership 

This is not the first instance of collaboration between ABB and Oktogrid.

In 2023 both organisations partnered to develop a pilot solution to extend the useful life of ageing electrical assets. 

The solution digitalises electrical infrastructure with real-time and remote performance monitoring, which promises to prolong the working life of equipment by another 40 years. 

This optimisation also reduces the equipment's total carbon emissions and enhances reliable power supplies.

ABB has provided its wealth of industry, electrification and digitalisation knowledge to accelerate the pilot solution's commercial readiness.

“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,” says Stuart Thompson, Electrification Service Division President, ABB.

“This partnership with OKTO GRID exemplifies our approach to collaborating with innovative start-ups who have the shared goal of developing technology that drives smart, safe and sustainable outcomes for our customers.”

Today this partnership continues through TRAFCOM, which is set to be officially unveiled to industry very soon. 

When will we see the transformer?

The digital transformer sensor is set to be exhibited later this month at Enlit Europe 2024, held from the 22 to 24 October.

Enlit Europe is the continent's premier event on sustainable energy, decarbonisation and the broader energy transition. 

ABB is a Platinum Partner of the event, and it's Electrification Service Division will exhibit TRAFCOM along with a diversity of other energy management services and products at the ABB booth. 

As adoption of TRAFCOM sensors increases amongst ABB customers, with one of continental Europe’s largest hospitals and a leading multinational group of steel companies installing them, this solution is sure to shake up the future of sustainable energy manufacturing.

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