ABB Wins $30M Power Orders In Saudi Arabia To Enhance Grid Capacity

New substations to help meet growing industrial demand for electricity

Zurich, Switzerland - ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth over $30M to execute substation projects for the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), the country’s national power transmission and distribution operator.

ABB will design, supply, install and commission two new 132/13.8 kilovolt (kV) substations in the Al-Kharj area and in the adjoining Second Industrial City in the South-East of Riyadh. The growing cities were established in an effort to broaden and diversify the country’s industrial base and reduce its dependence on oil.

“These substations will enhance power capacity to meet growing electricity demand and industrial development in the region,” said Oleg Aleinikov, head of ABB’s Substations business, a part of the company’s Power Systems division. “They will also help to improve grid reliability and power quality.”

ABB’s turnkey project scope includes delivery of key products such as high- and medium-voltage gas and air insulated switchgear, transformers, auxiliary systems and cables. ABB will also supply the SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system as well as the automation, control, protection and communication systems, compliant with the international IEC 61850 standard to enable remote monitoring and control of power assets located at multiple sites from the central region control center.

The substations will also be equipped with capacitor banks, to reduce electricity losses and enhance the stability and quality of power supply by improving the network's power factor, which is an indicator of the usable power available in the grid.The projects are scheduled for completion by 2014.

ABB is the world’s leading supplier of turnkey air-insulated, gas-insulated and hybrid substations with voltage levels up to 1,100 kV. These substations facilitate the efficient and reliable transmission and distribution of electricity with minimum environmental impact, serving utility, industry and commercial customers as well as sectors like railways, urban transportation and renewables.

SOURCE: ABB