ABB has formed a partnership with LevelTen Energy and taken a minority investment in the clean energy marketplace, giving its industrial customers access to renewable energy procurement alongside electrification, energy management and optimisation services.

LevelTen has facilitated more than 20GW of clean energy transactions across more than 35 markets in North America and Europe, working with customers including hyperscalers, commercial and industrial companies and utilities. Financial details of ABB’s investment have not been disclosed.

The partnership is intended to strengthen ABB’s energy and carbon advisory services by bringing together its expertise in electrification, digital solutions and energy management with LevelTen’s clean energy procurement platform.

For food and drink manufacturers, the move could be significant as energy remains a major operational and decarbonisation challenge. Processing sites often combine continuous or long production runs with substantial electricity demand from refrigeration, compressed air, pumps, motors, heating, cooling and increasingly automated production equipment. Manufacturers are therefore under pressure to reduce emissions without compromising energy security, production uptime or competitiveness.

Until now, the clean energy transition has often involved a combination of onsite generation, energy efficiency and purchasing renewable electricity. However, securing renewable power at scale through long-term agreements such as power purchase agreements (PPAs) can introduce a further layer of complexity, requiring manufacturers to assess projects, contract structures, pricing, market exposure and the environmental credentials associated with the electricity being purchased.

ABB’s partnership with LevelTen is designed to bring that procurement capability into a wider energy management proposition.

“Our customers are under real pressure to reduce their carbon footprint while managing energy costs and maintaining reliable, 24/7 operations,” said Stuart Thompson, president of ABB’s Electrification Service division. “One important piece missing from the solutions we provide today: a straightforward way to secure long-term clean energy at the right price.”

The combination could allow manufacturers to approach energy transition as a connected system rather than a series of individual projects. A food processing business, for example, could combine electrification and energy-efficiency measures with onsite renewable generation, battery storage and energy management, while using renewable energy procurement to address electricity demand that cannot be met locally.

That becomes increasingly important as businesses face more demanding expectations around the timing and location of renewable electricity generation. Moving beyond annual matching of renewable electricity consumption towards more granular approaches can require manufacturers to understand when electricity is being generated, where it is coming from and how it aligns with operational demand.

Technologies such as battery energy storage, microgrids and advanced energy management systems can help businesses respond to those requirements by increasing flexibility and allowing energy use and generation to be managed more dynamically. ABB already operates across these areas, while LevelTen brings expertise in clean energy contracting and environmental attribute certificate trading.

The potential benefit for food and drink manufacturers is the ability to connect procurement decisions with the physical energy infrastructure and digital systems operating inside the factory.

This could become increasingly relevant as manufacturers electrify processes previously dependent on fossil fuels. Electrification of heat, for instance, can increase electricity demand at the same time as businesses are seeking to reduce emissions. Without a corresponding strategy for sourcing and managing that electricity, electrification can shift rather than eliminate some of the environmental and cost pressures associated with production.

ABB says the partnership will allow it to extend its energy and carbon advisory services from planning and implementation into renewable energy procurement, optimisation and ongoing reporting.

“Through the partnership, ABB will be able to extend its growing energy and carbon advisory services portfolio with renewable energy procurement capabilities, helping customers move from planning and implementation to ongoing optimisation and reporting,” Thompson said.

The arrangement could also create opportunities around lifecycle services. ABB will gain access to LevelTen’s network of clean energy developers and projects, potentially enabling it to connect customers with new renewable energy opportunities while providing monitoring and optimisation services once projects are operational.

For LevelTen, ABB brings established relationships with manufacturing, industrial and commercial customers, together with a global presence that could help extend the reach of its clean energy marketplace.

Bryce Smith, CEO of LevelTen Energy, said the partnership would create new clean energy solutions and allow ABB’s customers to access clean power, capacity and portfolio management tools.

The investment is part of a broader expansion of ABB’s capabilities around energy procurement, advisory and energy and carbon services. It follows the company’s investment in Gridcog, a digital platform focused on energy project development and optimisation.

The latest investment was made through ABB Electrification Ventures, the venture capital arm of ABB’s Electrification business. ABB Electrification Ventures has invested more than $110m in 18 start-ups since 2021, while ABB Ventures has invested more than $500m in start-ups since its formation in 2010.