Detroit-based General Motors Co. is working with British technology company IONATE to update the electrical infrastructure at its Romulus Powertrain Plant.
IONATE is bringing its Hybrid Intelligent Transformer (HIT) technology, designed to sense and resolve power flow issues in real time before they affect operations or the surrounding grid, to the 900,000-square-foot facility.
The collaboration marks IONATE’s entry into the U.S. market following successful projects across European grids and is said to reflect a shared focus on modernizing critical electrical infrastructure for a new era of power demand.
“Maximizing efficiency and resiliency is crucial in GM’s manufacturing system, and it’s why we’re implementing innovative technology to enhance our energy management and the overall grid,” says Luis Cervantes, executive director of manufacturing excellence at GM.
The deployment is expected to provide GM with real-time visibility and control into power quality and consumption at sub-millisecond resolution, enhancing energy resiliency, quality, and efficiency of the plant’s energy usage – while also benefitting the entire grid by identifying and preventing issues that could lead to outages before they happen.
It positions GM among the first industrial users in the U.S. to deploy this smart energy infrastructure, offering a potential model for manufacturers, data centers, and grid operators facing growing pressure to modernize energy systems without waiting for broader grid upgrades.
“Deploying the Hybrid Intelligent Transformer with General Motors marks a significant step in reinforcing industrial power infrastructure with solid-state intelligence,” says Matthew Williams, founder and CEO of IONATE. “GM’s manufacturing operations demand the highest standards of reliability, efficiency, and power quality — and that is what we build for. We are thrilled to launch IONATE’s technology in the U.S. with such a titan of American industry.”
Delivered in the form of a transformer, HIT upgrades the capabilities of the underlying electrical infrastructure itself. Positioned at the critical connection point between the grid and on-site energy use, HIT provides real-time visibility into power conditions while also detecting, analyzing and resolving power disturbances in real time, all while operating at greater than 99 percent efficiency.
The system integrates into existing substations and facilities, reducing the need for downtime, costly infrastructure overhauls and supply chain disruptions. By improving how power is managed and utilized across existing infrastructure, the technology helps prepare networks for emerging sources of demand while supporting more efficient and resilient grid operations. In average deployment scenarios, grids using IONATE’s technology can accommodate 33 percent more distributed energy resources, carry 25 percent more power without upgrading poles and wires, and reduce wasted power by 6 percent.
Engineering teams from both IONATE and GM reportedly have worked together to bring the technology to GM’s facility, with U.S.-standard 3MVA IEEE units currently finalizing build and test ahead of the rollout. The companies will collaborate on the initial deployment in the Romulus plant, and potentially others across GM’s manufacturing system.
Beyond the individual deployment, each HIT also functions as a real-time control node coordinated through IONATE’s Aurora software platform, allowing individual deployments to contribute to broader improvements in grid capacity and resilience as networks scale. This creates benefits not only for the site where the technology is installed, but also for the wider power system by helping large energy users operate as better grid citizens while preparing infrastructure for future demand growth.
For more information about IONATE’s technology, visit www.ionate.energy/.
