Hitachi Energy, a global leader in electrification, and Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, announced today a collaboration centered on an integrated grid-to-process architecture that combines the infrastructure powering industrial facilities with the systems that manage production.
As industrial companies face rising power demand, growing pressure to decarbonize, and increasing constraints on capital investment, electrical systems and production operations can no longer be planned in isolation. Decisions about power infrastructure increasingly influence operational performance, while production requirements play a larger role in planning, deploying, and operating electrical systems.
By bringing together expertise in grid connection, power quality, energy management, protection and control, process automation, and digital operations, Hitachi Energy and Rockwell Automation aim to help customers achieve a more seamless integration of grid and process systems. Planning power and production systems together can streamline engineering, improve cross-functional coordination, and support digital mining operations, while exploring scalable and modular approaches that can support future expansion and evolving electrification requirements.
Mining and metals will serve as the initial focus of the collaboration. As demand for critical minerals grow, mining companies must simultaneously expand production, modernize operations, and accelerate the electrification of their own facilities. Analysis estimates that growth capital expenditures for new capacity could require $1 trillion USD over the next decade1. Reliable, high-quality power is fundamental to these operations, particularly in energy-intensive processes such as crushing, grinding, conveying, and processing, where disruptions can affect equipment utilization, production continuity, and operating costs.
