Power firms cut waste and modernize systems to meet surging demand

Companies are positioning their commercial offerings for the huge demand growth of the coming decades. Power-focused engineering firms are increasingly trying to cut down waste and optimize current systems as they position their commercial offerings for the huge demand growth of the coming decades. ABB has in recent weeks rolled out a portfolio of products aimed at addressing the needs of AI data centers, while Schneider Electric acquired a US industrial software firm for $22.6 billion. Some of these solutions are not entirely new, but the energy demand surge from AI data centers, industrial electrification, and the need for more climate-resilient infrastructure is creating momentum to improve current systems. “There is an opportunity to utilize existing assets more than we are today,” Schneider Electric’s CEO of digital grid Ruben Llanes told Semafor. ABB’s DC-powered data center solutions have been in development for over two decades, electrification president Giampiero Frisio said, but “the business and the market were not ready to do it” before.