ABB Motion has acquired a minority stake in WindESCo through its venture capital unit ABB Technology Ventures (ATV).
Leveraging solutions, the investment in the analytics software provider will strengthen ABB’s position as a key enabler of a low carbon society and its position in the renewable power generation sector, the company said.
It will allow the outfit to continuously the performance and reliability of improve wind turbines, offer end-to-end solutions to wind customers and open a new market channel for its digital offering, it added.
Financial details of the investment were not disclosed but the deal represents a partial exit for Boston-based sustainability-focused investment firm Wave Equity Partners, which led the company’s US$10m Series B round back in April 2020.
Wave Equity Partner will continue with a minority stake in the company, it said.
ABB is a leading independent supplier of wind converters for medium voltage and low voltage machines.
WindESCo has developed a market leading OEM agnostic asset performance monitoring software to detect anomalies in wind turbines, propose corrective actions and measure their results.
The company has also developed a wake optimisation solution that leverages data across a wind plant to optimise plant output.
With their combined offering, ABB and WindESCo can now offer a complete solution approach to customers, ABB said.
WindESCo will be able to leverage ABB’s electrical domain expertise to further strengthen its software offering, while ABB closes a gap in its wind portfolio by adding a digital offering to the already digitally enabled wind converters.
President of the system drives division at ABB Motion Chris Poynter said: “This strategic venture capital investment allows us to strengthen our market position supporting the energy transition and continue to shift our portfolio of customer solutions towards renewables and decarbonization.
“It will complement ABB’s wind portfolio with a strong digital offering by WindESCo, that enables both companies to leverage their strong presence in the growing wind market.
“This win-win transaction will offer a holistic solution approach to our customer bases, and it will expand the service offering by ABB Motion.
“We look forward to developing new synergies with the talented team at WindESCo.”
Chief executive and founder of WindESCo Mo Dua added: “There is tremendous value locked in the wind turbine converter data.
“While most of the solutions have focused on the mechanical systems, there are no solutions having a meaningful impact on the electrical system.
“The equity investment by ABB and our technical collaboration will allow WindESCo to expand its offering to the wind turbine electrical system with the goal of being the leading comprehensive asset performance monitoring solution provider for the wind industry.
“We are glad ABB chose WindESCo as their digitization partner.”