April 9, 2013 – ABB says its new Emax 2 is the first low-voltage circuit breaker with integrated energy management functions. Replacing existing traditional breakers with the Emax 2 breaker has the potential to achieve annual savings of 5.8 million MWh, boasts the company. Breakers like the Emax 2 are used where the protection and control of large amounts of energy are used in a low-voltage environment, such as industrial and commercial buildings, data centres and ships. To manage energy, the electricity supply to non-essential equipment is switched Off and back On again as soon as “acceptable” power levels are reached. Intelligent decision-making is achieved by a built-in controller and software that uses algorithms to decide when it is appropriate to switch the power while maintaining the overall functionality or productivity of the connected equipment. “Breakers provide one of the largest untapped opportunities in the electric system to achieve energy savings,” said Tarak Mehta, head of ABB’s low-voltage products division. “Breakers have been used to increase safety and protect electric circuits, but now—for the first time—we use them to save energy too.”