Ericsson, E.ON and ABB enter cross-industry collaboration to develop smart energy solutions

E.ON, ABB have signed a cooperation agreement in Sweden to develop innovative products and services to deliver smart energy solutions for a number of industries, to help businesses reduce energy and operation costs and improve consumers’ comfort and productivity. The intelligent products created within the framework of the partnership will be launched and introduced to the market through Brunnshög Energi AB, E.ON’s start-up innovation company.

Together, ABB, a power and automation specialist; the energy company E.ON; and Ericsson, the communication and technology services provider, will focus initially on four targeted areas: commercial real estate, transportation, solar energy production and data centers. The collaboration focuses on meeting customer needs identified in Brunnshög, an area in Lund, Sweden with the vision to create a world leading research and innovation environment and a European model for sustainable urban planning.

Fredrik Rosenqvist, Director Business Innovation, E.ON, says: “With E.ON’s new strategy Improving People’s Lives, we put the customer in focus and help drive the transition towards a sustainable society. ABB and Ericsson are two strong partners and together we have the opportunity to develop new ideas and products that are fully in line with the rapid development in the rest of the world. I am convinced that it will be important for the transition that is happening right now towards more sustainable and customer-focused energy solutions. This transition requires more cross-border partnerships with academia and leading innovative companies.”

The aim of the partnership is to work together to increase the pace of innovation to offer solutions that improve energy and operational efficiency in the selected target areas. At the center of this collaboration is data gathering, analysis and dissemination in a way that benefits both business and consumer stakeholders. 

The initial pilot project is already underway focusing on the commercial real estate area to reduce operating costs through improved energy efficiency while improving the comfort and productivity of building occupants. ABB’s integrated building automation platform is delivering building energy management functions, as well as gathering building data, which is securely providing meaningful data to Ericsson’s cloud-based service enablement platform. E.ON will use this data to provide a variety of apps and services for building operators and occupants allowing for better transparency, analysis and control to improve their daily activities.

Johan Söderström, CEO of ABB Sweden, says: “ABB’s Next Level strategy emphasizes the importance of partnership to achieve sustainable growth. Our technology strategy focuses on the benefits of the application of the Internet of Things, Services and People. We see great potential for creating smart solutions together with Ericsson and E.ON for both commercial and domestic users. Brunnshög is a hub for leading edge research, creating a platform for innovation in a number of fields.”

In the transport sector, the collaboration will work to meet the future mobility needs of people and goods. By combining connected vehicle and various forms of collected data analysis, new innovative business ideas and scalable models for sustainable transport will be developed.

In the solar energy production area, the parties are looking at solutions to simplify production to make it more commercially attractive to produce solar energy. In the data center area, the parties are working on complete solutions for cost optimization, improved performance and smart power utilization with the aim of reduced energy consumption and environmental impact as a result.

Charlotta Sund, Head of Region Northern Europe and Central Asia at Ericsson, says: “Ericsson believes in the all-transforming power of ICT and we see our goal in helping other industries to grasp new opportunities that the Networked Society offers to deliver economic and social benefits. This partnership supports Ericsson’s vision and strategy. We already have a partnership with E.ON on smart metering and together with E.ON and ABB we will enable new markets.”