HVAC

Air conditioning is responsible for roughly 15% of global electricity consumption and accounts for up to 60% of a commercial building's power use — yet the fundamental architecture of HVAC systems has remained largely unchanged for a century.

Conry Tech system is targeting commercial buildings and data centres, and their approach centres on decentralisation: instead of large centralised plant rooms serving entire buildings through long duct runs, their system places small, ultra-efficient modular units close to the zones they serve. This dramatically reduces the energy wasted moving conditioned air through buildings, and allows each zone to be controlled independently, improving both efficiency and occupant comfort.

Ron Conry is one of the most consequential inventors in the history of HVAC — responsible for the world's first modular chiller and, most significantly, the Turbocor oil-free magnetic bearing centrifugal compressor, the most important technological breakthrough in the industry in over 40 years. Turbocor became a global standard and is now a dominant technology worldwide and is estimated to have saved over a gigaton of CO₂ emissions.

Batteries are valuable because they provide flexibility, responding faster than other energy technologies, and help maintain grid stability by turning on and off in fractions of a second., Software contributes through improved grid performance, efficient integration of diverse energy sources, simulation and modelling of energy options, optimisation of building energy use (particularly HVAC systems), and guiding organizations in delivering emission reduction goals through accurate measurement and reporting.

Hitachi Energy is one of the most important companies in the energy transition because as electrification accelerates, the grid becomes the critical path. Hitachi Energy is arguably the single most important company in making it actually work.

Formed in 2020 when Hitachi acquired ABB's Power Grids division, it is the custodian of over a century of grid infrastructure technology — including ABB's pioneering HVDC work dating to the 1950s.

The company's portfolio spans the full electricity value chain: transformers (it is the world's largest manufacturer by installed base), high-voltage equipment up to 1,200kV, HVDC and STATCOM power electronics, substation automation, grid control software, and energy storage integration. These technologies are the physical infrastructure that moves electricity from generation to consumption, and every major shift in the energy system — more offshore wind, longer transmission distances, higher renewable penetration, greater grid complexity — increases demand for exactly what Hitachi Energy makes.

HVDC in particular is a strategic bottleneck in the energy transition. Submarine and long-distance land cables connecting offshore wind to load centres, linking national electricity markets, and enabling intercontinental renewable energy flows all depend on HVDC technology. Hitachi Energy holds a commanding position in this market alongside Prysmian (cables) and Siemens Energy (converter stations).