Transmission & Distribution Technology
Worldwide investment continues in major transmission projects
Suppliers to the transmission market are being kept busy by a raft of large orders from all around the globe. Sean Ottewell reports.
Los proveedores del mercado de transmisiones están muy ocupados por el gran número de pedidos desde todo el mundo.
Zulieferer des Übertragungsmarkts haben durch eine Flut von Großbestellungen aus der ganzen Welt viel zu tun.
P
rysmian Group has inaugurated its new submarine cable plant at Pikkala in Finland. Te €40m investment will allow the plant to increase production of transmission
cables that use high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) technology to transmit large amounts of energy over long distances. Te company is also expanding production capacity at its Arco Felice plant in Italy following the announcement of an €800m order for the Western Link submarine link between Scotland and England. Prysmian has a growing track record of
important offshore wind power connections, with projects either completed or ongoing in Denmark, Holland and the UK, as well as the HVDC connections to shore for the BorWin2, HelWin1, HelWin2 and SylWin1 mega wind farm hubs in Germany. Prysmian has also signed an agreement to
acquire 100% of Global Marine Systems Energy (GME) from Global Marine Systems (GMSL) for approximately €53m. GME is a British company active in the installation of submarine power cables and systems. With an estimated turnover of approximately €75 million in 2012, GME has a new cable-laying ship among its strategic assets and offers high value-added services for the installation of submarine power connections, ranging from project management to cable laying, jointing and protection. GME has particular expertise in offshore wind farm connections and is currently involved in several major projects under construction in the North Sea.
“Tis acquisition is in line with our strategy of focusing investments to achieve growth in higher value-added businesses,” explained Valerio Battista, ceo of Prysmian Group. “Te expansion of submarine power cable installation capability allows us to have a tighter control over the supply chain by insourcing part of the work that until now we haven’t done directly, such as inter-array cable installation between turbines. Our goal is to increasingly present ourselves as a partner able to offer turnkey products and services
including design, manufacture and installation, anticipating a growing need of our utility and contractor/developer customers, particularly where offshore wind farms are concerned.”
US HVDC
ABB has been awarded an order worth around US$60m (€46m) by American Electric Power (AEP) to replace a 30 year old HVDC back-to- back converter station in Texas. Te project scope includes engineering,
supply, installation and commissioning of an HVDC back-to-back transmission system capable of delivering 220MW of power in either direction. Te new system will have black-start capability, which enables fast grid restoration in the event of a power outage, allowing power to be used from the other end of the link. Tis is an important feature as the converter station is an integral part of the Oklaunion HVDC transmission link - an asynchronous interconnection between the Texas (ERCOT) and Oklahoma (SPP) power grids. “In addition to enhancing grid reliability
and power stability, our HVDC solution will enable the efficient transmission of electricity across this important interconnection,” said Brice Koch, head of ABB’s power systems division. “Besides leading edge technologies, ABB will bring significant domain expertise and global application experience to the project.” Other key components to be supplied as
part of the turnkey solution include converter valves and ABB’s MACH2 advanced control and protection system, which will help meet stringent system performance requirements. ABB has also won orders worth over US$30m
(€23m) 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 kV substations in the Al-Kharj area and in the adjoining Second Industrial City in the south-east of Riyadh. Te growing cities were established in an effort to broaden and diversify the country’s industrial base and reduce its dependence on oil.
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