ABB reinstates operations at Novelis after flooding

Two years on, the restoration continues to serve as a model for industrial resilience and rapid infrastructure recovery.

National disaster hits critical suppliers

Torrential storms and melting snow hit the Sierre district of western Switzerland in the early hours of a June morning and Novelis’s plant was flooded overnight.

The plant plays a crucial role in supplying aluminum components to the automotive industry, processing over 200,000 tons of aluminum annually. With critical infrastructure compromised and supply to automotive customers disrupted, immediate action was essential.

Angeles Fernandez, local division manager for electrification service in ABB Switzerland, immediately coordinated with AluInfra Services, which manages electrical infrastructure at the Sierre industrial site.

After flood waters receded, ABB teams assessed the extensive damage to critical electrical infrastructure and production equipment across the facility. The scale of the challenge was immediately clear. With key systems compromised, restoring operations would require coordinated expertise across multiple specialties.

"Our entire plant had been submerged for weeks, and mud and water had compromised the critical systems which power our operations. Minimising downtime and restoring production as rapidly as possible was vital to maintain our standing as a trusted partner to our customers," recalled Serge Gaudin, plant manager at Novelis.

To coordinate the recovery effort, ABB brought together expertise across engineering, sales, procurement and export control, deploying specialist engineers with deep knowledge of the compromised systems to manage the installation and commissioning of replacement equipment.

ABB worked side-by-side with Novelis teams to optimise their existing electrical infrastructure and get operations running at peak performance.

Across borders and around the clock

ABB mobilised specialist engineers from across Europe who worked under challenging conditions and demanding timelines. After successfully fast-tracking replacement parts ahead of schedule, ABB restored basic power operations by in just about a month’s time.

"When a critical facility such as this faces disaster, standard timelines simply don't apply. Our teams across Europe came together across divisions, borders and time zones, recalibrating our existing processes to act as an extension of Novelis's operations," Fernandez stated. 

Two parallel teams then cleaned and tested equipment at the sites' substations while replacement parts were transported across the continent. The substations were re-energised in September, a critical step to resume production on the hot rolling, followed by the cold mill, weeks ahead of initial projections.

Stefan Kumm, senior project manager from ABB's Process Automation business was already in Switzerland for a separate Novelis modernisation initiative, and swiftly pivoted to support the emergency response.

"Our first task was triage, determining what could be salvaged and what needed replacing," Kumm explained. "The sheer scale of the challenge became clear when we saw the mud-covered switchgear in the substations as well as the 160-ton main motor and hundreds of submerged control systems. Time was critical and every second counted."

The successful restoration has since strengthened ongoing relationships between Novelis, AluInfra and ABB. "The speed of the response was critical for us," said Gaudin. "ABB's teams minimised the impact on our customers and ensured we could maintain our position in the supply chain during a very challenging period."

The rapid restoration was a crucial contribution to resuming production at Novelis’ Sierre plant and maintaining supply chain continuity. It ensured the site could continue running consistently for its automotive customers and demonstrated how cross-border collaboration and quick response to infrastructure challenges can prevent wider industry disruption.

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