ABB wins $30 million order to upgrade Nordic HVDC link
ABB has won an order worth around $30 million from Svenska Kraftnät in Sweden and Energinet in Denmark. ABB will upgrade the control and protection system for the Konti-Skan high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link with its latest ABB Ability MACH technology. The order was booked in the second quarter of 2017, ABB said in a press release.
The Konti-Skan transmission link was built 52 years ago as the first interconnection between Sweden and Denmark enabling electricity exchange. This provided the benefits of a shared grid with additional features from the HVDC system, which has enabled the exchange of renewable hydropower and wind energy for decades. The installation of ABB’s latest MACH control and protection system will extend the life span of the HVDC link and further enhance power availability as well as grid reliability and efficiency through advanced digitalization.
The advanced ABB Ability MACH system acts like the brain of the HVDC link – monitoring, controlling and protecting the sophisticated technology in the stations to ensure reliability and efficiency. It incorporates advanced fault registration and remote control functions.
“We are delighted to implement our latest ABB Ability MACH control technology to upgrade this historic HVDC transmission link, facilitating more energy trading and exchange of renewables, bringing clean, reliable power supply to consumers”, said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division. “This project reiterates our strategic focus on service and digital technologies and reinforces our market and technology leading position in HVDC as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”
Konti-Skan was built in two phases, beginning in 1965 with Konti-Skan 1, followed by Konti-Skan 2 in 1988. ABB’s technology will enable the two to work together as a single system. The full system upgrade involves the replacement of the control system. ABB leads the industry in major HVDC upgrades, having executed projects around the world with minimized power interruption.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing more than a 125-year history of innovation, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization and driving the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 132,000 employees.
