ABB recently launched Emax 2, the first low-voltage circuit breaker with integrated energy management functions. Replacing existing traditional breakers with the Emax 2 breaker has the potential to achieve annual savings of 5.8 million megawatt-hours, a release by ABB said.
Breakers like the Emax 2 are used where protection and control of large amounts of energy are used in a low-voltage environment like industrial and commercial buildings, data centers or ships. Due to the energy savings, the Emax 2 breaker will typically pay for itself within a year, the release noted.
The breaker contains a protection trip relay with an integrated power controller that measures and evaluates energy consumption, then manages the loads to maintain or reduce the peak power usage as determined by the user. This will also help prevent blackouts since the root cause is often peak demand exceeding supply.
The breaker also has a communication module that allows it to share vital consumption and system reliability data directly with smart grid and other protocols.
The development of the new Emax 2 breaker took several years and was led by ABB’s development center in Bergamo, Italy.