SPECIALIST INSIGHT
Having lived in both India and Europe, how would you compare the modernisation of the energy industry between these regions? What lessons can India and others learn from Finland’ s approach?
The modernisation of the energy industry in India and Europe follows different trajectories due to factors like policy frameworks, infrastructure maturity and energy demands. In Europe, the focus is on renewables such as wind, solar, hydro and nuclear energy. Advanced grid digitalisation and widespread smart metering have been heavily implemented, along with aggressive carbon neutrality targets. For example, Finland aims for carbon neutrality by 2035 and has significant investment in energy storage, demand response systems, hydrogen and battery technology.
India must serve 1.5 billion people, with significant regional disparities.
India, on the other hand, is rapidly expanding its renewable energy capacity, targeting 500 GW by 2030, with a strong focus on solar power. India has some of the world’ s largest solar parks, particularly in the south, where there are around 300 sunny days per year. However, challenges remain in modernising legacy grid systems. Investment in EV infrastructure and battery storage is still in the early stages, and the high energy demand means reliance on a mix of renewables and traditional coal remains essential.
What is the energy poverty situation in India?
India must serve 1.5 billion people, with significant regional disparities. Some states have strong energy production, while others struggle with access to basic energy needs.
If you could offer one solution to states falling behind, what would it be?
India must accelerate battery storage development and invest more in solar and other non-conventional energy sources. Policy
Kumar Subramanian, Head of the Edge Gateway Programme at ABB Group, sat down with Ellen Flannery, Editor of Intelligent Build. tech, to discuss the modernisation of the energy industry across regions, ABB’ s key priorities for 2025 and the role of Digital Transformation in sustainability and cybersecurity. He shares insights on India’ s energy challenges, ABB’ s commitment to electrification and decarbonisation and how cutting-edge technology is shaping the future of smart grids and industrial IoT. reforms should incentivise solar adoption, offering greater subsidies and financial support to individuals and businesses investing in renewable energy.
From your perspective, what are ABB’ s top three priorities for 2025, particularly in electrification, sustainability and Digital Transformation?
ABB is committed to enhancing electrification solutions to support a sustainable and resource-efficient future. Our three key priorities are:
1. Electrification and e-mobility – ABB continues to expand its e-mobility solutions, including its involvement in Formula E, to drive sustainable transportation
2. Sustainability and decarbonisation – We focus on solutions that reduce carbon emissions and promote cleaner energy
3. Digital Transformation for energy efficiency – We leverage advanced digital solutions, AI and IoT to optimise operational and energy efficiency, providing value to customers and improving sustainability.
With the increasing connectivity of smart grids and industrial IoT, what are some cybersecurity risks in a more interconnected energy ecosystem, and how is ABB addressing them?
With Internet connectivity comes risks such as ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure, supply chain attacks and remote access exploits. Data integrity and human error also pose significant threats.
ABB addresses these challenges through several initiatives:
• Customer Identity and Access Management( CIAM) – We use federated identity management, ensuring secure authentication for customers without creating additional accounts
• Secure industrial control systems – Our advanced control systems, such as the 800xA, prevent unauthorised access to energy control networks
• ABB ability cybersecurity services – We enforce a minimum cybersecurity standard( NCSR 2.0) across all Internetexposed products
• AI-driven threat detection and incident response – We are developing AI-powered solutions for identifying and mitigating threats
• Regulatory compliance – ABB adheres to industry standards such as IEC 62443, NIST 800-53 and ISO 27001 to ensure best-in-class cybersecurity practices.
How has ABB leveraged WSO2 tools in its Digital Transformation journey, particularly in streamlining operations and enhancing connectivity within the energy ecosystem? Can you share specific examples?
In 2020, we launched the IoT Backend Services initiative, integrating CIAM across all digital applications. Previously, each
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