ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, announced it has been named by Greentech Media as one of "The Networked Grid Top 10 Smart Grid Vendors for 2013." This recognition is based on a new report published by GTM Research on today's smart grid landscape involving the top 150 smart grid-related companies, entitled, "The Networked Grid 150: The End-to-End Smart Grid Vendor Ecosystem Report and Rankings 2013." Rankings involved assessments across three primary domains, according to GTM Research: smart grid solution, market dominance, and growth and sustainability. According to the report's taxonomy, ABB had a particularly strong presence in the Distribution Automation and Transmission sectors. ABB also had a strong presence in Network Operations - including IT/OT convergence and distribution management systems - through Ventyx; in Communications through Tropos Networks; and with electric vehicle charging infrastructure through its investment in partner ECOtality. "Utilities today recognize the importance of improving operational effectiveness on the grid, especially in light of an aging infrastructure, changing demands on the grid from reliability and efficiency initiatives, the growth in distributed energy resources, and the need for grid resiliency and situational awareness to respond to major storms like Sandy," said Gary Rackliffe, ABB vice president of smart grids, North America. "ABB has over 100 years of experience in building a ‘smarter grid' and in helping utilities solve these problems with greater reliability, efficiency and sustainability, while still helping them meet the bottom line. We appreciate this recognition and look forward to continuing the discussion about operational effectiveness." According to the report: "…ABB is one of the industrial titans in power and automation technologies … offering solutions for transmission and distribution hardware, software, and communications, as well as utility control and enterprise systems through its Ventyx brand.…ABB has an extensive knowledge base pertaining to the technology that enables the transition to more intelligent planning, management, and control of electrical grids. Continued research into power semiconductors, grid automation technologies, and grid communication standards will help ABB to maintain a leading presence in the evolving smart grid market. ABB is expanding its solutions within energy storage, network management, medium- and low-voltage grid hardware, FACTS/HVDC, asset management, and communications." ABB
