Claudio Facchin News

ABB will deploy 40 special transformers to equip wind turbines for an offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. The MHI Vestas Offshore Wind turbines are 195 m (640 ft) tall - around two-thirds the height of the Eiffel Tower - and weigh 1000 metric tons, approximately double a fully-loaded Airbus A380 plane. Its 80 m (262 ft) rotor blades sweep through an area equivalent of three soccer fields and can produce up to eight megawatts of power, making it the most powerful wind turbine in the world. ABB received the order from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind for the Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm, located around 19 kilometers west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, England. The offshore wind farm is owned by the Danish utility DONG Energy A/S.

ABB has won an order worth more than $250 million from the Danish energy company DONG Energy to deliver a 220-kilovolt (kV) high-voltage cable system that will connect the Hornsea Project One Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea to the UK mainland grid. This is the third project that ABB will execute for DONG Energy, following the Burbo Bank extension and Walney extension links in the Irish Sea. Hornsea Project One will be the world’s largest capacity offshore wind farm, capable of generating 1.2 gigawatts of renewable energy and bringing clean electricity to well over one million UK households. ABB will supply alternating current (AC) submarine cable systems for the Eastern and Western circuit…

ABB informs it has ordered a cable-laying vessel from Kleven shipyard in Norway. The new ship, scheduled to be delivered in 2017, will be custom-built to ABB specifications and measure approximately 140 by 30 meters. “This next-generation vessel incorporating state-of-the-art ABB technologies will be a key differentiator for our high-voltage cable business, enhancing flexibility and execution ability,” said Claudio Facchin, president of ABB’s Power Systems division. The vessel is of SALT 306 CLV design from Salt Ship Design in Stord, Norway. The new ship will deploy many of ABB’s marine technologies. The Onboard DC Grid and power distribution solution, for instance, will use a single DC circuit for ship propulsion to reduce power consumption.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has successfully commissioned and handed over the DolWin1 offshore wind grid connection to the Dutch-German transmission system operator TenneT. The 800 megawatts (MW) High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) link connects offshore wind farms around 75 kilometers off the German coast in the DolWin cluster, with the country’s transmission grid. The DolWin1 grid connection can integrate 800 MW of offshore wind power, enough to supply around one million households with clean energy. The DolWin1 grid connection is part of Germany’s ambitious energy transition roadmap, called “Energiewende”, which foresees the generation of more than 6.5 gigawatts (GW) from offshore wind by 2020 and 15 GW by 2030.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $85 million to provide turnkey substations to help integrate electricity from a new independent water and power plant (IWPP) into the country’s grid. The IWPP will utilize Qatar’s natural gas resources to produce 2,520 megawatts (MW) of power and desalination capacity of around 600 million liters of water daily, helping supply drinking water and power to one of the economic zones that Qatar has made a centerpiece of its plans to modernize and diversify its economy. Qatar, on a peninsula east of Saudi Arabia, is building ambitious infrastructure including rail, energy and water desalination facilities.

ABB has won a significant order to provide substations and related power infrastructure for the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm. ABB will provide power infrastructure for the offshore platform as well as the onshore substation to efficiently integrate the new wind farm into the country’s transmission grid. ABB will also extend an existing substation that will receive the wind power. The wind farm is scheduled for completion in 2018. The 400 Megawatt (MW) project is being built by energy company E.ON, in partnership with the UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB).The wind farm will be situated off the Sussex coast between Worthing and Brighton and will include 116 turbines, with the nearest located 13 kilometers from shore.

ABB has won orders worth around $30 million from Casa dos Ventos, a leading renewables company in Brazil, to provide substations and related power infrastructure enabling the efficient integration of power from two new wind complexes (comprising 13 wind farms) into the country’s transmission grid. The orders were booked in the first quarter of 2015. The projects in northeastern Brazil are scheduled for completion in 2016. Once finished, they will be capable of generating enough renewable energy to meet the consumption needs of about 300,000 local households, avoiding the annual emission of approximately 325.000 tons of carbon dioxide. The two 216 and 130 megawatt (MW) wind complexes São Clemente and Tianguá will be located in the states of Pernambuco and Ceará.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $55 million from Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), the leading power utility in United Arab Emirates (UAE), to build a substation that will integrate power from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park. The order was awarded in the third quarter of 2014. The gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substation will enhance transmission capacity, boost power supplies and strengthen the reliability of the grid. The 100 megawatt (MW) Phase II of the solar power plant in Seih Al Dahal, about 50 kilometers (km) south of Dubai, is scheduled to commence generation in 2017. The solar park is one of the biggest renewable energy projects in the Middle East and North Africa.

ABB has won an order worth around $30 million from Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB), the country’s leading transmission utility, to provide four new turnkey substations and help expand six others, to help meet the growing demand for electricity. The four new 132/33kV substations will be constructed at Rangamati, Khagrachori, Bianbazar and Sunamganj. Additionally, six existing substations will undergo expansion. This initiative is part of Bangladesh’s ongoing Power Systems Expansion and Efficiency Improvement Program, aimed at upgrading the country’s generation, transmission and distribution systems to increase capacity, improve efficiency, enhance power reliability and reduce environmental impact.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $30 million from DONG Energy, a leading wind power development company, to supply a high-voltage export cable system that will transmit power from the Burbo Bank Extension Offshore Wind Farm in the UK. ABB’s project scope includes the design, engineering, supply and commissioning of the 25 kilometer (km) long 220 kilovolt (kV) AC (alternating current) submarine cable and the related offshore substation cable. ABB will also supply 32 km of AC underground cables and the associated substation cables as well as the cable joints, accessories and terminations related to the project. Mersey river, approximately 6.4 km from the Sefton coastline and 7.2 km from North Wirral.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth about $35 million from Hydro-Québec to upgrade the 350 megawatt (MW) Madawaska high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link, that connects the grids of New Brunswick and Hydro Québec in southeast Canada. The order was booked in the second quarter of 2014. The project scope includes installation of ABB’s MACH control and protection system and the upgrade of the valves and valve cooling system. The back-to-back converter station has been in operation for more than 25 years and the modernization is expected to significantly improve grid reliability and help reduce maintenance needs. The new station is scheduled to go into full operation in 2016.

ABB, the power and automation technology group, inform they have won an order worth around US$55-million to supply a submarine AC (alternating current) power cable system for a new wind farm, located off the coast of Norfolk, England. The order was received from Dudgeon Offshore Wind Limited, a company owned by Statoil and Statkraft. The underwater cables will feed the electricity generated by the 400-megawatt (MW) Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm into the UK national grid. ABB will design and supply two 132-kilovolt (kV) three-core AC submarine cables…

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…

Azipod improves vessels’ fuel efficiency up to 25%, lowers their environmental impact and provides better maneuvering capabilities. ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, today inaugurated a new global manufacturing base in Shanghai featuring Azipod C, the company’s advanced green marine propulsion system. Located in the Lingang New Development Zone, the new base covers 37,000 square meters with an annual output of 60 units at present. Claudio Facchin, Chairman and President of ABB North Asia and China, spoke at the inauguration ceremony. “Today’s launch in Shanghai supports ABB’s ‘in China for China and the world’ strategy and the city’s goal to turn Shanghai into a global center of the world’s shipping industry.