ABB Appoints Claudio Facchin N.Asia Power Systems Leader
Leading power and automation technology group ABB has appointed Claudio Facchin as Executive Committee member responsible for the Power Systems division, effective Dec. 1, 2013. He succeeds Brice Koch, who will leave ABB on Jan. 15, 2014 after an orderly transition, as previously announced. For the past four years, the company explains, Facchin has led ABB’s business activities in the major markets China, Japan and South Korea as Chairman and President, North Asia. During this time…
Head of ABB Power Systems Leaving
Brice Koch, head of the Power Systems division at ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has decided to leave ABB to become chief executive officer at Oerlikon, based in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. Koch joined ABB in 1994 and held a number of roles in Switzerland before taking over as global head of the Transformers business unit in 2002. In 2007, he became head of ABB in China and North Asia, and joined the Executive Committee in 2010 as head of Marketing and Customer Solutions. He has been responsible for the Power Systems division since March 2012.
ABB Installs Powerful North Sea HVDC Wind Connector
ABB has installed the world’s highest-voltage offshore converter station in the North Sea. Alternating current electricity generated in three wind farms off the coast of Germany will be converted on the platform into high-voltage direct current (HVDC) for transmission to the mainland. The 320 kilovolts converter station has an 800 megawatt power transmission capacity making it the world's most powerful installation of its kind. In a three-day operation, the 9,300 metric tonne platform (topside) including the converter station was transported offshore by barge around 75 km off the German coast.
Ireland/UK HVDC Subsea Cable Link Commissioned by ABB
ABB commissions world's highest capacity HVDC Light underwater power link, a 500 MW HVDC inter-connection between Ireland and the UK enables leveraging of wind energy and facilitates power flows between the two countries. ABB has delivered the East West Interconnector to EirGrid, the Irish transmission system operator. The 500-megawatt (MW) transmission connection is the highest capacity link of its kind, based on voltage source converter (VSC) technology, to go into commercial operation. The interconnector establishes an important link between the Irish and U.K.
Subsea Icelandic HV Cable Link Contract for ABB
The High-voltage submarine and underground cable link will bring reliable power to a remote island fishing community. ABB has received an order worth around $10 million, from Landsnet, the Icelandic transmission system operator, to supply a high-voltage submarine and underground power-cable system that will transport electricity from the mainland to the volcanic island of Heimaey. Heimaey is the only inhabited island of the Vestmannaeyiar archipelago off the southern coast of Icleand.
ABB Wins Subsea HVDC Finland Contract
ABB wins USD$130-million HVDC order for subsea power transmission link from Kraftnät Åland AB. The contract requires the supply of a new power transmission link between the Finnish mainland and Åland, an autonomous Finnish province at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea, which presently receives its power through an AC (alternating current) cable from Sweden and local renewable sources. The existing fossil fueled power generation backup facility will be closed down once the new link is in operation. Apart from resolving the supply issue and reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the HVDC Light® link will enhance the contribution of renewables to the grid and help Finland reach its emission reduction targets.
World's Longest HV Subsea Cable Contract
ABB wins US$ 170-million contract to supply Martin Linge oil & gas field in the North Sea with mainland power from Norwegian grid. The contract from Subsea 7, requires ABB to build a power link between a new oil and gas field being developed by Total E&P Norge AS. The Martin Linge (formerly known as Hild) field lies at a depth of 115 meters and has been identified among the oil and gas fields with highest potential reserves in the North Sea. The field will receive its electricity feed through the world’s longest subsea AC link – a 162 kilometer long high-voltage submarine power cable that will lie 370 meters below sea level, at its deepest point.
ABB Wins German Offshore Wind Connection Order
ABB, the power and automation technology group, has won a significant order from the Dutch-German transmission grid operator TenneT to supply an AC (alternating current) power transmission link connecting Nordergründe, an offshore North Sea wind farm, to the mainland grid in Germany. The order was booked in the first quarter. The link has a capacity to transmit 111 megawatts (MW) of clean wind power – enough to serve the needs of more than 100,000 households and help save up to 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, once commissioned in 2013, by replacing fossil fueled generation. “Offshore wind is a fast growing renewable energy resource in Europe…
