ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $33 million from NTPC Limited, India’s largest power company, to build two substations in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. The substations will facilitate transmission of electricity from new power generation plants being constructed in the region."These substations will provide the transmission and distribution infrastructure to increase capacity and meet growing demand for electricity in the region,” said Brice Koch, Head of ABB’s Power Systems division. ”They will also help to strengthen the grid and improve power reliability.”
Given its growth ambitions and per capita consumption India is expected to expand its power infrastructure substantially in the coming years. The country has an installed power generation capacity of around 200,000 megawatts (MW) and according to estimates of the International Energy Agency, India needs to invest more than $135 billion to add between 600 and 1,200 gigawatt (GW) of additional new power generation capacity by 2050 to provide universal access to electricity for its population.The substations will include seventeen 400 kilovolt (kV) bays and fourteen 132 kV bays in Solapur, and twelve 400kV bays and eight 132kV bays in Mauda. ABB’s turnkey project scope comprises the design, engineering, supply, installation, commissioning and associated civil works for the substations. The substations will also be equipped with the latest IEC 61850 substation automation system to facilitate open communication between the numerous control and protection devices within the substation and beyond. The project is scheduled for completion in 2016.
Substations are key installations in the power grid that transform voltage levels and facilitate the safe and efficient transmission and distribution of electricity. They include equipment that protects and controls the flow of electrical power. ABB is the world’s leading supplier of turnkey air-insulated, gas-insulated and hybrid substations with voltage levels up to 1,100 kV.
