7631 FFWD Sum04.qxd - ABB

Rail visibilitynewsINTERNATIONAL NEWSSWITZERLANDRecreating the Big BangCERN, the world’s largest particle physicslaboratory, has chosen ABB FACTStechnology to stabilise the voltagesupplying its super proton synchotron(SPS) accelerator. Here, sub-nuclearparticles are accelerated almost to thespeed of light in an attempt to recreate theBig Bang. The SPS accelerator requiresrapid reactive power for voltage filteringand strong filtering to reduce theharmonics to a very low level.CHINALatest long line connectionA major power transmission contract worthUS$390 million has been won by ABB.Working with local manufacturers, ABB willbuild a 1,100km long, 3,000MW highvoltage direct current (HVDC) transmissionlink connecting the The Three Gorgeshydro plant in central China to the coastalcity of Shanghai. The project will becompleted in just three years. This is thelatest of a number of contracts won byABB connected with The Three Gorgespower plant.Almost 10,000 visitors from 50 countries visited Railtex in 2002.ABB is exhibiting at several rail industryevents during 2004. The company willbe showing its expertise in reliable and highperformancepower equipment and powersupply systems for railway applications.In the UK, the major event at which the companyis exhibiting is Railtex 2004 which takes place at theNational Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, from 2ndto 4th November 2004.In September ABB will also participate in theinternational rail exhibition, InnoTrans, which willbe held in Berlin.Recently the company took part in the RailEngineering 2004 conference and exhibition. ThisIan Funnell, a wellknown face in ABB, hasbeen appointed sales andmarketing manager of its UKPower Technologiesbusiness. Immediately priorto this appointment, Ian wasin charge of ABB PowerTechnologies’ productsbusiness working closely withcustomers and looking afterthe entire portfolio of ABBpower products in the UK.event was staged at the Commonwealth Institute inearly July.ABB has enjoyed considerable success insupplying power distribution equipment includingsubstations, transformers and static var compensators,among others, for the West Coast main line, theLondon Underground and the Channel Tunnel RailLink.New sales and marketing managerIan joined ABB from Scottish &Southern Energy in 1999, bringingwith him a wealth of experience ingeneral management andoperations management in theelectrical industry.He is a graduate of AberdeenUniversity with a BSc (Hons) inengineering science. He is alsoa chartered engineer (CEng) andmember of the Institution ofElectrical Engineers (MIEE).UNITED STATESMore power to HollywoodThe top studios in Hollywood, moviecapital of the world, are benefiting fromreliable power upgrades thanks to ABB.Burbank Water and Power, the local utilityhas installed four compact ABB gasinsulated (GIS) substations to supply theneeds of the Disney Studios, Warner Brosand Universal, and the town of Burbank,California. ABB completed the orders upto two months ahead of schedule. A fifthsubstation will be installed in October,further upgrading the studios’ powersystems.POLANDSeamless connectionThe Gdansk I substation in Poland is themost important in the Polish grid network.Built in 1959, it was in need ofreplacement, a task that had to beundertaken without any disruption to thepower supplied to Poland’s industrialheartland. ABB was chosen to supply aturnkey replacement substation. The newgas insulated substation was installed injust 21 months. The compact hybriddesign leaves room for a power capacityupgrade, if and when it is needed.SUDANPower contract for Sudan tractioncomponentsABB has been awarded a $16 millioncontract to design, manufacture, supplyand commission a complete secondaryelectrical system for seven newsubstations on Sudan’s power grid. Theorder includes substation automation,control, protection, substation design anda complete telecommunication system.The project connects the Merowehydroelectric power station to the nation’ssupply.Summer 2004 >> FFWD 05