ABB has turned Germany’s largest football stadium into a showcase for smart energy management and intelligent building automation.

The Signal Iduna Park stadium is the home of Borussia Dortmund (BVB), a football club that dates back to 1909 and has more than ten million fans in Germany.

Energy management, intelligent electrical distribution and modern building automation are helping optimise performance and reliability in the stadium, which can hold more than 81,000 fans on matchday.

ABB has become BVB’s energy management partner, building on years of continued technological collaboration. Together, the two organisations are transforming the stadium into a showcase for smart energy management, resilient electrification and intelligent building automation, developing a scalable approach in one of the world’s most complex and operationally demanding venues.

Home to Borussia Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall – Europe’s largest standing terrace – Signal Iduna Park has hosted Bundesliga, Champions League, World Cup and European Championship matches, making it one of the most iconic stadiums in world football. Behind the scenes, another kind of performance makes that experience possible: the intelligent management of energy, electrical infrastructure and building systems. 

Few environments test infrastructure more intensely than a football stadium. Within hours, Signal Iduna Park shifts from everyday operation to serving supporters, broadcasters, hospitality areas, security systems and other critical services. Energy demand can rise sharply from near-zero to peak megawatt levels while operational continuity remains non-negotiable.

“Thousands of people come together to create something extraordinary at Signal Iduna Park,” said Christian Hockenjos, managing director of BVB Stadium Management. “With ABB, we have a partner that shares our ambition to continuously improve performance, not only on the pitch, but throughout the infrastructure behind it. Building on our existing collaboration, we want to set new standards for efficient and future-ready stadium operations.”

Unlike a new-build stadium designed from scratch, Signal Iduna Park is an established venue whose infrastructure has grown and evolved over decades. Originally opened in 1974, the stadium demonstrates how existing infrastructure can be retrofitted through electrification, a challenge relevant across many building types, industries and public infrastructure.

Borussia Dortmund was the first Bundesliga club with climate goals validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI, sciencebasedtargets.org). The club also operates the world’s most powerful photovoltaic system on a football stadium roof, with an installed capacity of up to 5MWp, a commitment advancing further with a 3.75MWh battery storage system planned before the end of the year.

Over the past years, Borussia Dortmund and ABB have worked together to modernise the stadium’s electrical infrastructure, KNX-based building automation, HVAC and energy management systems. This work builds on the stadium’s ISO 50001-certified energy management system, which provides a structured and independently validated framework for monitoring, measuring and continuously improving energy performance. ABB will now build on this foundation to optimise energy use, increase operational transparency and support Borussia Dortmund’s continuous improvement of energy performance.

Central to the approach is an open, scalable architecture that integrates with existing systems and can expand across the wider BVB portfolio, from the Dortmund-Brackel training ground and academy to BVB FanWelt and future EV charging infrastructure. What is being developed is not just relevant for the world’s most demanding live venues, but for the modernisation of complex existing buildings everywhere.

“Our partnership with ABB demonstrates how a long-standing collaboration can deliver strategic value for both sides,” said Benedikt Scholz, director at BVB (www.bvb.de). “Together, we are making Signal Iduna Park more efficient and future-proof.”

Mark Zwerner, vice president at ABB (go.abb), added: “Signal Iduna Park combines the demands of critical infrastructure with the complexity of a building that has evolved over decades. By bringing together electrification, energy management and building automation through an open, scalable architecture, we can help Borussia Dortmund improve performance while maintaining reliable operations. What we prove here can provide a blueprint for complex buildings far beyond football.”

For more information, visit new.abb.com/buildings/abb-bvb.