1/2010

The customer magazine of ABB India

 1 / 2010
The customer magazine of ABB India

Contents
World of ABB 4

Launch pad 10

India diary 11

News digest 18

Tech bytes 20

Cover story - Smart grid 21 Editorial Team

Recent successes 24
Brand wagon 25
Technology digest 26
Factoids 30
Channel line 32
Juliane Lenzner – Head, Communications,
ABB India
Pooja Rajpal – Executive Editor
Uday Mohanty, Anshuman N – Editors
Contributors
Prakash Nayak, Ashish Shukul, Namita
Asnani, Amit A Sharma, Rekha Khare, Anita
Ramkumar, Royston Rebello, Isha Bhalla

Living our commitment to sustainability 33

120 years of innovation 35 ABB Limited

Corporate Communications, India
Khanija Bhavan, 2nd Floor, East Wing
49, Race Course Road
Bangalore - 560 001
www. abb.co.in
email: corporate.communications@in.abb.com
Design – Shilahar Associates

2 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Dear friends,

Power is the engine of the modern day economy. Power
enables industry to have increased output, services to be
delivered without delay, puts higher expectations on productivity
and hence results in the rise of living standards. With the
demands society is putting on increasing the output of electricity
produced, the challenge for us at ABB is to ensure that we
engineer the smartest grids possible to optimize the use of the
energy generated. Making use of current grid assets, investing
in service and upgrading communication and information
systems is key to building a ‘Smart Grid’ that gets the most out
of our power supply.
Smart Grids are not only about optimizing the use of generated
power; we also have to consider where our energy is coming from.
Fossil fuel sources are being depleted and also pollute. Customers
and consumers are demanding that we find solutions that also
benefit the environment. Our challenge from you, our customers,
is to ensure the integration of renewable energy sources such as
wind and solar power into the grid and making use of alternative
energy as primary generation sources in the years ahead. These
forms of energy production are not always the most reliable;
however ABB offers a variety of solutions to successfully make
renewable energy a pillar source in any grid.
All of this is a challenge but one that ABB is prepared to rise up
to with our aim to provide ‘power and productivity for a better
world.’ For example, India which has an average of 300 sunny
days a year has vast potential for harnessing solar energy.
ABB manufactures and supplies a broad range of high quality
products for the solar power market, suitable for the smallest
residential building applications, right upto large generation
units. ABB has supplied solar solutions to power utility NDPL
Delhi through Tata BP Solar India. ABB has bagged orders for
a 1 MW solar power plant from Kotak Urja in Karnataka. Our
R&D teams around the world are constantly dedicated to finding
even better solutions and ensuring our technologies are at the
forefront to meet your needs.
ABB has already
executed a
number of projects
integrating wind
power in many
countries around
the world. We are
a major player in
the wind vertical
especially for wind
turbines. We supply
a wide array of
products like generators, LV products and convertors to tap
the power of the wind. ABB in India recently supplied and
commissioned its 33kV Compact Secondary Substation (CSS)
to evacuate power from a wind farm project in Maharashtra.
This is the first time a CSS is being used for this application
in the country thereby ushering in a new development in this
sector.
ABB in India has made a foray in the water industry by bagging
a turnkey order for a major desalination project coming up in
Chennai to help meet the rising demand for drinking water. This
is the first time that ABB has received Instrumentation Control
and Electrical (ICE) package order for a desalination plant in
India.
This issue highlights a number of solutions that can make the
grid work smarter and successfully integrate the challenging
power generation scenario.
At ABB, we believe that the advantage of a Smart Grid will be
reliability, resilience and flexibility. These features will support
the development of renewable energy sources while improving
the efficiency of power delivery systems and reducing carbon
dioxide emissions.
Yours sincerely,

Biplab Majumder
Vice Chairman & Managing Director, ABB India

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 3
 world of abb

ABB one of the best companies

for leadership
The Business Week magazine survey ranks ABB number
15 among 740 elite organizations that were recognized
for their leadership. The survey described ABB as a
“collaboration for innovation” company where employees
are encouraged to seek new solutions to problems.
Since 2004, over 38,000 employees in 43 countries and
14 languages have participated in the ABB Leadership
Challenge, which helps teach leadership skills and builds a
culture of personal responsibility to engage everyone in the
challenge of change.

HVDC solution for the Democratic

Republic of Congo
ABB will upgrade key technology on one of the world’s longest
electricity transmission systems operated by Société Nationale
d’Électricité (SNEL), the national power company in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Power stations that convert alternating current
to direct current and back on the 560 megawatt Inga-Kolwezi
power transmission link are to be refurbished. The 1,700 kilometer
system was built by ABB in 1982, then the world’s longest
transmission line.
The link uses high voltage direct current (HVDC) technology
to transmit power from the Inga Falls hydropower station on
the Congo River to the mining district of Katanga in the south-
eastern part of the country. ABB will be responsible for system
engineering, including design, supply and installation of new
thyristor valves, high voltage apparatus and the ABB MACH2
control and protection system. The project is scheduled for
delivery in 2013.

Improving water quality in Sweden

A new ABB control and monitoring system guards water quality,
energy consumption and water losses, ensuring potential profits
are not hampered for MälarEnergi in the Mälardalen region of
central Sweden. Before the upgrade, the water network lost
more than 30 percent of its water. MälarEnergi uses a control
and monitoring system based on the versatile and dependable
AC800M controller of ABB, which helps control losses and
improve water quality.

4 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Reliable power for London Metro
ABB has won an order from Transport for London, the body
responsible for the city’s public transport, to build a new bulk
supply point substation to power the London underground rail
system.
The Edgware Road substation is part of the plan to upgrade
power supply to the underground railway lines and support the
introduction of new rolling stock.
ABB will design, supply, install and commission the substation
and will also supply products that include 22kV and 11kV
switchboards as well as coupling transformers. In addition, ABB
will install about 20 kilometers of 22kV and 11kV power cable in
the tunnels and ducts. Power quality studies will also be carried
out as part of the project.

ABB named ‘Investor of the Year’ in Bulgaria

ABB was named as the “Investor of the Year 2009” in Bulgaria,
by the government agency that promotes investments in the
country.
The award by Invest Bulgaria was related to a new plant opened
by ABB near the city of Plovdiv. Commencing operations in
2009, the 20,000 square-meter factory employs some 200
people and will have about 500 employees by the end of 2010.

Improving grid reliability in UAE

ABB has won an order from Federal Electricity & Water
Authority (FEWA) in the United Arab Emirates to supply
substations that will help increase power supplies in the
north to meet a growing demand for electricity.
ABB will supply, deliver, install and commission five new
132 kV substations, and expand an existing one. The
project is expected to be completed in around 15 months.
ABB is the world’s leading supplier of air and gas insulated
substations covering a range of voltage levels upto 1,100 kV
and has more than 10,000 installations worldwide.

CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 5
 world of abb

Uniting against desertification

ABB anti-desertification project in inner
Mongolia is helping curb the annual
sandstorms that choke Beijing and
northern China each spring and
disrupts supplies of vital electric According to the
power to millions of people. World Bank, up
to one-quarter of
Working in partnership with the
the total land area
inner Mongolia Power Company,
of China is in the
ABB devised a plan to halt the
process of active
advance of the Maowusu Desert
desertification
and protect the regions most
exposed and vulnerable high
voltage power lines from the destructive
effects of desertification.
China’s leading business newspaper,
China Enterprise News, and a number of
research institutes selected the project
for their 2008 award for excellence in
corporate social responsibility.

Group CEO, Joe Hogan inaugurates

energy-efficient ABB office in South Africa
CEO Joe Hogan recently inaugurated
the ABB head office, manufacturing
and logistics centre in Longmeadow,
Johannesburg.
Longmeadow is a $66 million, 80,000 sq.mt.
facility built to maximize energy and
resource efficiency by using many ABB
products, including building automation
systems, high efficiency motors and
drives, as well as products to make
power consumption more efficient.
The facility uses solar power to heat
water and create electricity using
140 sq.mt. of solar paneling. It has built-in
rainwater capture system, on-site grey
water and waste recycling facilities and
work stations with photosensitive lighting.

6 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Celebrating 10 years of breakthrough
power technology
ABB pioneered high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission
technology over half a century ago, The Gotland HVDC Light®
project, commissioned in Sweden by ABB in November 1999,
was the first commercial installation of this landmark invention.
The evolution of HVDC Light at the end of the 1990s made
possible a host of new applications, including grid connections
to wind parks far out at sea and long-distance underground
power transmission. ABB is the world’s most knowledgeable
supplier of transmission systems based on voltage-source
converter (VSC), i.e., HVDC Light. Since the first trial system in
1997 and the success of the Gotland project in 1999, more than
1,500 km of HVDC Light cables have been installed and over 20
converter stations are in operation.

Increasing power quality in Canada

ABB is supplying static VAR compensators (SVCs) to Hydro-
Québec. The SVC enables quick responses to electrical
disturbances in the grid and contributes to restoring its stability.
The installation of two SVCs on the 735 kilovolt network at the
Chénier substation, west of Montreal, will be the world’s largest
in capacity (with a total 1,200 megavolt-amperes reactive). The
turnkey project for Hydro-Québec, the largest electric utility in
Canada, is due to be completed in 2012. SVCs are a part of the
flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) family
of technologies that boost the security, capacity and reliability of
existing power transmission systems.

World’s largest desalination plant

ABB is delivering an energy efficient power and automation
package to help operate the world’s largest sea water
desalination plant using reverse osmosis (RO) technology,
currently under construction in Oran, Algeria. When it starts
operations in 2011, the Magtaa desalination plant will produce
some 500,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day, enough
to meet the needs of about five million people.
ABB is supplying a complete electrical package to power
the entire plant. This includes power transformers, a range of
medium and low voltage switchgear, a 220-kilovolt outdoor
substation and 33 medium-voltage drives.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 7
 world of abb

Aiding global thrust for China’s biggest

truck maker
ABB robotics and press automation solution has taken
productivity and product quality to unprecedented levels
at China’s largest truck manufacturer, Sinotruk and is
helping the company expand its new heavy truck series
into international markets.
The solution consists of seven IRB 6650 press tending
robots and the ABB patented press automation and
line control software, including a unique robot vision
alignment system called StampView. The software allows
the robots to position each panel with pinpoint accuracy,
at high speed, to achieve exceptional moulding accuracy
and quality.

New service centre at Panama Canal

A service station has been commissioned at the Panama
Canal, where ABB engineers respond to emergencies or
perform standard maintenance while ships wait to cross the
canal. Many of the 14,700 ships that annually pass through the
world’s largest big-ship waterway are equipped with an energy
efficient ABB technology that quadruples engine output and
slashes fuel consumption.
A large number of these ships are equipped with ABB
turbochargers, a technology that the company developed in
the 1920s and in which it has been the market and technology
leader for almost 90 years.
ABB turbochargers recycle the exhaust gas emitted by gas
or diesel engines to achieve a huge fourfold increase in
engine output. Over 75 percent of the total engine output is
dependent on this single ABB component.

The Polish growth story continues

ABB unveiled a new low voltage (LV) electric motor factory in
Aleksandrow Lodzki, its first greenfield investment in Poland,
and its sixth factory in the country. The company also had
a groundbreaking ceremony for a power electronics plant in
this country that is slated to open in the second half of 2010,
producing rectifiers and rail traction components.
In Poland, ABB has production plants in Lodz, Przasnysz,
Wroclaw and Aleksandrow Lodzki, and employs over 2,300
people.

8 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
The first solar inverter from ABB
The new central inverter, PVS800,
from ABB feeds clean solar power into
medium or low voltage grids via
transformers and switchgear.
Available in power ratings between
100 and 500 kW, the new inverter
can be used in both industrial
scale photovoltaic power plants
and for medium sized power
plants installed on the roofs of
commercial or industrial buildings.
The central inverter from ABB is
reliable, durable, easy to install,
and extremely compact. ABB is
the world leader in this technology
and by adapting it for use in solar
inverters, has produced a highly
reliable product that is expected to
provide atleast 20 years of trouble-
free operation.

New factory in Vietnam

ABB has unveiled a new facility that will manufacture medium
voltage power products, such as compact substations and
the latest UniGear switchgear, for the Vietnamese market. The
facility will also serve as an important global sourcing base for
components used by ABB in the manufacture of high voltage
products.
ABB has invested around $30 million in the facility, which
will employ about 100 people. The factory is built on 87,000
square meters of land in the Tien Son Industrial Zone in Bac
Ninh Province.
Construction was completed in just 15 months, with technical
collaboration and know-how from Switzerland and other global
technology centres.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 9
Launch Pad
AC500HA - Fail safe PLC from ABB
Automation of processes is critical for
the manufacturing industries to achieve
maximum productivity, minimum
downtime and superior quality.
AC500 High Availability (HA), the latest
range of PLCs from ABB are built on the
standard AC500 platform and offer fail
safe, uninterrupted control of applications
that increases efficiency and reliability.
The wide range of applications include :
Material handling
– Long conveyors
– Coal handling
– Ash handling
– Stacker / Reclaimer
Water
– Treatment - Fresh and industrial
– Pumping station
– Pipe line monitoring
– Desalination
Drives for water applications
The new range of industrial drives
ACQ810, specifically designed modules
for water and wastewater applications
was launched by ABB. These drives,
feature tailor-made pump control
functions for single and multi-pump
systems. These functions ensure smooth,
disturbance-free operation of water
and wastewater processes, maximizing
energy efficiency while reducing
10
The solution consists of two standard
AC500 controllers connected to 3500
I/O on the proven CS31 field bus which
enables automatic switch over for
uninterrupted operations. AC500 HA is
a flexible solution that integrates with
other systems and is scalable to meet
the needs of the future. The user-friendly
software PS501 makes configuration,
installation, montioring and maintenance
easy.
Pharmaceuticals HVAC / Building
– Skid equipment – Tunnel / High rise tower ventilation
– Secondary production machinery – Safety-fire foam spray system
– Facility automation
Food and beverage
Critical power management – Bio reactors
– Data centres – Hot steam / water generators
– Hospitals
– Process control room
unnecessary downtime. The drives’ The drives can have advanced functions
pump-specific functions decrease the such as energy optimizer to improve
life cycle cost of the pumping system, energy efficiency; energy saving upto
helping to save time and money. 50 percent can be achieved in speed
controlled pump applications. The parallel
The modules are designed for cabinet
pumping systems lead to optimized
assembly and are easily mounted side
energy consumption. The built-in
by side. Intelligent start-up assistant
calculator monitors energy used, saved
ensures that drive commissioning is
and displays them in kWh, currency ($ or
straightforward and the functions needed
€) or volume of CO2 emission. The other
for most pumping systems can easily be
features include maintenance assistance
implemented with the pre-programmed
to handle preventive maintenance for
macros. Starting up a pumping system
drive and pump, diagnostic assistance
and optimizing its performance is
to locate problems or reasons for
extremely easy.
performance changes in pumping
systems and suggest remedies and
redundancy in parallel pumping systems,
that keeps the process running even if
one pump fails.
ABB industrial drive modules include
everything needed for reliable and efficient
pump control in water and waste water
applications.
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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
 India diary

Reliable power for Bangalore Metro

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has
placed an order with ABB in India to provide
power solutions for the upcoming metro network
in Bangalore. It is a turnkey project for the first The urban rail
phase of the Bangalore Mass Rapid Transport network that will
System (MRTS), which comprises two main lines help unclog the
covering a distance of 42 kms, about one-fifth of roads of Bangalore
it underground and serving 41 stations. and improve
accessibility of the
ABB will design, supply, install and commission four commercial zones.
substations that receive and distribute electricity,
each rated at 66/33 kilovolts, as well as the auxiliary
and traction substations. ABB technologies will help provide a
reliable and efficient supply of power the Namma Metro.
Products to be supplied include transformers, capacitors, relays
and associated cables and switchgear. ABB will also provide
an integrated network management, or supervisory control and
data acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor and control the
installations.

Composite plant solution for Ballarpur

Industries
ABB has executed its largest composite
plant solution in India for a paper machine
and power plant at Ballarpur Industries
Limited (BILT). The solution has been
implemented for a new writing and
printing paper machine, winder and 40
megawatt (MW) thermal power plant at
BILT.
The composite solution has provided BILT
a unified technology platform that is easy
to use and maintain. ABB has provided
electrification, drives, instrumentation,
distributed control system (DCS) and
quality control system (QCS) for the
new paper machine # 7 and also for
the coal-handling unit, cooling tower,
de-mineralization plant, boiler and turbo
generator of the power plant.
The complete solution was commissioned
within a record time of 10 months.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 11
 India diary

IPPL Ennore LPG terminal order

secured by ABB
ABB will deliver total plant automation,
instrumentation, electric and terminal
management as well as design
engineering for Indian Oil Petronas Pvt
Limited’s (IPPL) Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Terminal in Ennore, Tamil Nadu.
The project includes a substation,
switchgears, MMC, PCC, transformers
and power management system
largely as part of the electrics. The
instrumentation package includes
transmitters, valves, gauges, flow meters,
orifice, analyzers, monitoring systems,
distributed control system, emergency
shutdown systems, terminal management
systems, regulated blending control
and batch controllers as part of the
automation scope for this project.

Nigeria’s power network gets a boost

from outdoor circuit breakers
ABB in India and Nigeria won a major
medium voltage outdoor SF6 switchgear
order for supply of 800 OHB Circuit
Breakers to the Niger Delta Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (NDPHCN).
The National Economic Council of
Nigeria is funding seven new distribution
substations including associated
transmission infrastructure. These will
be located in various parts of Nigeria
including Akwa Ibom and River State.
The scope of work for ABB includes
supply of 800 numbers of 33kV SF6
circuit breakers type OHB to Lagos and
Port Harcourt in Nigeria.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Modernising the Maharashtra
power network
ABB in India has received the order
for supplying 2937 numbers of 3-star
distribution transformers to Techno
Electric Engineering Co. Ltd to modernize
the power distribution network of Latur
Zone from Maharashtra State Electricity
Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL).
ABB will supply 2600 numbers 25kVA,
11kV class copper wound distribution
transformers and 337 numbers 63kVA,
11kV class aluminum wound distribution
transformers. These transformers meet
the stringent low losses of 3-star rated
equipment.
ABB delivered the first lot of 300 numbers
of 25kVA distribution transformers within
a very short time thereby meeting the
stringent standards of MSEDCL.

State-of-the-art power
technologies for Haryana
ABB in India will be constructing two
220kV substations for Haryana Vidyut
Prasaran Nigam Ltd (HVPNL). Located at
Dhanbad and Lula Ahir in Haryana, the
substations are meant for evacuation of
power from the upcoming power plants in
the region.
The ABB solution for the project
comprises several leading edge power
technologies, including 220kV, 132kV,
66kV and 33kV circuit breakers, 100MVA
and 25MVA power transformers and a
state-of-the-art bay kiosk automation
system conforming to IEC-61850
protocol.
The turnkey project includes the complete
system engineering, civil works, supply,
installation, testing and commissioning
and overall project management
responsibilities.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 13
 India diary

Providing energy efficiency for Vedanta

alumina refinery
ABB in India will provide turnkey power
solution for expansion of an alumina refinery Electrical solutions to
in Lanjigarh, Orissa. The comprehensive
enhance reliability and
electrical system solution comprises several
leading edge power technologies, including performance of plant
switchgear, distribution equipment and
remote controlled auxiliaries. The state- of 33kV, 6.6kV and 415V switchgear,
of-the-art equipment will provide reliable power and distribution transformers,
power to the refinery and help optimize interplant cabling, busducts and capacitor
plant performance and enhance energy panels. The scope of work includes
efficiency. system engineering, supply, installation,
testing and commissioning and overall
ABB will execute the complete high
project management.
voltage and low voltage power distribution
network of the facility, including the supply

Plant optimization for Chhattisgarh

ABB in India will supply Electrical Balance of Plant (eBoP)
solutions to Indu Projects Limited for Chhattisgarh State Power
Generation Company Limited. The solution will include design,
manufacturing, packing, transportation, erection, testing and
commissioning of an electrical system to be built for their
1 x 500 MW thermal power plant in Korba.
The modular eBoP solution for generating units will provide
optimized and integrated solutions for complete plant electricals
including auxiliary service transformers. The scope for the
project will comprise 400 kV switchyard, substation automation
system, auxillary transformers, medium voltage and low voltage
switchgear, plant cabling, plant illumination, earthing and lightning
protection, DC system and PLCC.

400/220 kV substation in record time

ABB in India recently commissioned a balance of plant including turnkey
400/220 kV switchyard for JSW Energy execution of 400/220 kV switchyard for
at Toranagallu, Karnataka. This was one power evacuation of 4x300 MW through
of the fastest executed projects in the line in - line out arrangement to the
country to meet the energy requirements southern grid to ease the energy crunch
of the region. It enabled JSW to fulfill its prevalent in the state of Karnataka.
commitment of supplying power to the
region.
The solutions to JSW Energy comprised
the complete package of electrical

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Connecting wind power to the grid
ABB in India recently supplied and
commissioned its 33kV Compact
Secondary Substation (CSS) to evacuate
power from a wind farm project in
western India for Ghodawat Industries
(India) Pvt. Ltd. This is the
first time CSS is being used
for this application in the
A CSS offers specific
country thereby ushering in
benefits over a
a new development in wind
conventional substation
power evacuation. The power
in terms of enhanced
generated from the 1.65MW
reliability of power
turbines will be fed to the
distribution, safety and
Maharashtra State Electricity
space saving solutions.
Board (MSEB) grid.
The ABB compact secondary substation
was chosen as the equipment is a critical
part of power evacuation and therefore
a source of revenue. The CSS met the
customer requirement for high quality,
workmanship and testing. To further ensure
maximum asset utilization ABB imparted
hands-on training to the customer at its
factory and at the project site.

Electrification solution for Thermax

ABB will be supplying electrification
solution through Thermax Ltd for
Meenakshi Energy Pvt. Ltd. The order
is for design, manufacturing, testing,
packing, transportation, erection, testing
and commissioning of electrical system
for their 2 x 135 MW thermal power plant
coming up in Krishnapatnam, Andhra
Pradesh.
ABB solutions for the project comprise
several leading edge power technologies
for improved system efficiency. The
modular eBoP solution for generating
units will provide optimized and integrated
solutions for complete plant electricals
including generator transformers, station/
unit transformers and auxiliary service
transformers.

CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 15
 India diary

ABB robots will keep Fiat in the fast lane

The robotics team of ABB in India will supply spares for the Fiat
body shop, suspension shop welding and painting line. The
solutions offered by ABB are diverse, cost-effective and reliable
catering to all the needs of the customer from component
assembly to complete body.
The solutions include the patented unique roller hemming tool
from ABB, which adapts to the robotics process and ensures
easy hemming with high quality due to its simple and efficient
force control system, a dresspack range for spot welding,
material handling and roller hemming.
This facility is currently manufacturing the Palio Stile 1.1 and 1.6
models, as well as premium Fiat cars such as the Grande Punto
and Linea. The facility will also manufacture Fiat’s successful 1.3 litre
Multijet diesel engines and 1.2 & 1.4 litre fire gasoline engines in the future.

Turnkey project for Rourkela Steel Plant

blast furnace
ABB in India has won an order from Tata
Projects Limited (TPL) for the engineering,
supply and commissioning of complete
electrics, drives, instrumentation and
automation of 4060 cubic meter green field
blast furnace No. 5 (BF-5) at Steel Authority
of India’s (SAIL) Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP)
located in the eastern state of Orissa. The
blast furnace technology is being supplied
by Danieli Corus, Netherlands.
RSP BF -5 will be the first reference
with complete scope for the blast
furnace where ABB would deliver
electrics, drives, instrumentation
and automation. The scope of the
order includes electrics consisting of
distribution and converter transformers,
PCCs, MCCs, cables, drives (MV &
LV), lighting, UPS, emergency power
system and plant utilities. Flow, pressure,
temperature transmitters and meters
and field instruments are included under of L2 system hardware. In services, the
instrumentation and in automation, scope covers engineering, site erection,
complete Level 1 automation and supply commissioning and performance trials.

Complete seamless tube mill for ArcelorMittal

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, will
provide electrical and automation equipment and related services
for a new seamless tube mill and pipe production plant in Al Jubail,
Saudi Arabia. The project is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal
and the Saudi-based Bin Jarallah Group.
ABB will deliver electrical infrastructure and equipment, including
a 115 kilovolt gas insulated switchgear substation, medium and
low voltage switchgear, motors and variable speed drives. The
scope of supply consists of an automation system based on
the system 800xA from ABB for order management, production
scheduling, storage management, production and quality
reporting, and material tracking. ABB will provide engineering,
installation, commissioning, operator training, and other related
services for the project.

16 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Paint automation solution for Caparo
The robotics business in India installed a
paint robot at Caparo in Sriperumbudur,
Tamil Nadu, for powder coating of Nissan
fuel filler pipe. ABB supplied its compact
painting specialist IRB 52, for the
application. IRB 52 is a dedicated paint
robot for smaller components with the
reach of 1.45 meters. With its small size
and large working envelope, it is flexible
and versatile, while its high speed and
accuracy offers short cycle time.

Bhushan Energy improves productivity

Bhushan Energy Limited has installed a
280 MT annual capacity green-field steel
plant in the state of Orissa. ABB recently
commissioned its 33 kV, 185 MVAR SVC
solution along with a 14 bay switchyard
in the plants’ Steel Melt Shop (SMS-II)
project.
The SVC system is a combination of fixed
capacitor banks in parallel with dynamic
thyristor controlled reactor (TCR).
The SVC system at the plant will improve
the energy efficiency of the electric-arc
furnace by stabilizing the voltage of the
power supply and thereby mitigating
flicker generated by the stochastic
variations of the arc. This leads to lowered
melting time for the iron scrap in the
arc as well as reduced consumption of
electrode and refractory material.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 17
News Digest

Power technologies training for utilities

The ABB power technologies training centre in Vadodara
provided training to over 3200 engineers of various power
utilities in Gujarat. The training for senior and middle level
engineers included over 100 hours of programs comprising
one to three day sessions of tailor-made set of modules.
The six months training included class-room and extensive
hands-on training sessions on a wide range of equipment.
Topics covered were design, operation, maintenance, trouble
shooting, condition monitoring and safety practices for power
products. Systems engineering included substation design,
high voltage engineering and testing, short circuit studies,
reactive power compensation, insulation coordination, power
system grounding and protection, circuit breaker application and
controlled switching of circuit breakers. The engineers were also
provided information on maintenance and troubleshooting for
new technologies such as the hybrid switchgear, gas insulated
switchgear and the latest range of HV circuit breakers.

Captive power plant retrofit at IMFA, Orissa

A 108 MW Captive Power Plant (CPP) was commissioned for
Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA) in Choudwar,
Orissa. The 108 MW CPP will power production at IMFA’s
Charge Chrome plant. The plant consisted of non redundant
Masterpiece MP200/0 CPU Tesselator system with 5100 IOs.
There was a dedicated CPU system installed for each of the
seven sections. The whole plant was operated only through
the Control Desk. ABB upgraded the DCS system to 800xA
by retaining the existing S100 IOs with new non redundant
AC800M controllers. With the ABB turnkey solutions the plant
operators at IMFA are able to operate the entire plant from both
the existing control desk as well as the human machine interface
(HMI).

Introducing ‘Chotu’ - the smallest robot from ABB

‘Chotu’, the smallest robot in the ABB robot product family
was recently unveiled. With a reach of 580 mm and a payload
capacity of 3 kilograms, IRB 120 is the smallest, fastest,
flexible and the most accurate of the ABB 6-axis robots.
The IRB 120 is also the lightest ABB robot weighing only 25
kilos making it easier to transport and enabling hassle free
installation. It consumes 50 per cent less power and has no
hazardous material, making it environmental friendly and a
‘green robot’. ‘Chotu’ is the ideal robot for material handling,
assembly, dispensing with a huge market potential in consumer
electronics, pharmaceuticals, solar cell manufacturing, FMCG,
and plastics .

18 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Sustainability initiatives win laurels
ABB Bangalore Works facility in Peenya was awarded the
Best Maintained Garden by the Mysore Horticultural Society at
Lalbagh in the category of the Best Ornamental Garden. The
Gutahalli Traffic Island, also in Bangalore was awarded in the
category of Best Maintained Traffic Island (large) and Minsk
Square in the category of Best Maintained Traffic Island (small).
The facility in Peenya has over 1000 species of indigenous,
perennial and flowering plants and trees which are managed by
a dedicated team of horticulturists. The location also has an in-
house nursery to cater to the needs of the plants and as a part
of the water conservation initiative, the green facility is nourished
with the water recycled by the state-of-the-art sewage treatment
plant. The solid sludge from the STP is used as manure for the
landscaping and greenery. Besides using the recycled water the
location harvests about 10 million litres of rain water through
the four rain water harvesting pits, which ensure regular water
supply even during summer.

Training sessions on Reactive Power Compensation

ABB has partnered with Northern Region Power Committee
(NRPC) for training their officials in reactive power compensation
and optimal capacitor placement.
ABB commenced this project after the successful completion of
the first training program for officials from NRPC and State Load
Dispatch Centers (SLDC) of eight states in north India. As a part
of the project ABB will be conducting similar training sessions
during the course of this year at SLDCs in Jammu & Kashmir,
Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab,
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The session will include all the aspects
of reactive power management including theoretical as well
as practical case studies and hands-on training on NEPLAN®
software for power system analysis.

Remote support facility in Mumbai launched

A remote support facility for Reliance Infrastructure Limited, was
recently launched in Mumbai. The first of its kind, this remote
facility will be used to securely log into the network management
system at the customer’s premises from the remote support
centre and is aimed at providing instant support incase of
any technical concerns. ABB in India till now has supplied
64 numbers of SDH, STM – 1 Multiplexers type FOX515 to
Reliance Infrastructure Limited. The FOX515 based fibre optic
communication network is currently used for various vital
applications like teleprotection, SCADA and IT for RIL’s power
transmission and distribution network in Mumbai. The remote
support facility will help to further boost the network availability
for Reliance Infrastructure.

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 19
Tech Bytes
ABB to power Saudi’s first university for women
ABB will support the Saudi Electricity Company in providing power to Saudi Arabia’s
first university for women, the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. Three gas-
insulated switchgear (GIS) substations will be delivered. Their use will greatly reduce the size
of the substations, enabling Saudi Arabia’s national power transmission and distribution
utility to locate them at the site of the new university in the country’s capital, Riyadh.
ABB will design, supply, install and commission one 380/132 kilovolt (kV) substation and
two 132/13.8 kV substations. The project is scheduled for completion by 2011, and
includes delivery of products such as gas-insulated switchgear, transformers, medium
voltage switchgear and auxiliary systems.

Innovative solutions for a waterwheel project

An ABB solution is enabling a new and innovative version of the waterwheel to generate
electricity from a stream flowing through the Italian city of Turin, and deliver it safely and
reliably to the local power grid. Pioneered by Italian hydropower company, Ener.Cat.Italia, this
new version of the waterwheel is being installed along a 33-kilometer stretch of the Canavese
Canal, a small watercourse flowing through Turin, Italy’s fourth largest city. When completed,
the installation will consist of about 80 waterwheels, each one producing 32 kilowatts (kW) of
emission-free hydropower. The wheels will have a combined generating capacity of around
2,650 kW, enough to power 2,500 Italian homes. The technology that helps make this
project possible, is based on ABB regenerative drives, which optimizes the system and feeds
electricity safely and reliably into the local power grid.

Industrial productivity scales to new heights

Expert Optimizer, the award winning ABB process control and optimization
solution for industrial facilities, has improved productivity by 9 percent at the
leading producer of high quality limestone-based products in northern Europe,
Nordkalk, Lohja limestone processing plant in Finland. Originally developed
for the cement industry but now available for all process industries, Expert
Optimizer coordinates the optimal operating parameters of the various parts
of the process and immediately detects any deviations that occur. Once the
deviations have been detected Expert Optimizer is able to stabilize and re-
optimize the process. It is also able to calculate optimal production schedules
for the entire plant. Typical increases in productivity range from 3-10 percent.

Harnessing the power of the sun

ABB has developed an automation solution for North America’s only
commercially operated solar thermal power plant, eSolar’s inaugural 5 MW
Sierra SunTower facility in California. ABB developed a control solution
for the thermal receivers and the balance of plant based on its award-
winning and market-leading extended automation system 800xA for power
generation. The solution includes the ABB Power Generation Information
Manager and a remote diagnostic service capability that enables ABB to
diagnose and correct System 800xA related issues by remote.

20 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010

The ABB vision for Smart Grids
There is a convergence occurring
between the business realities
of the utility industry, the energy
demands of modern society and the
sustainability requirements of the
environment in which we live. The
combination of these is driving the
development and implementation of
a new power delivery system. The
same basic electrical infrastructure,
known as the “smart grid” or
“intelligent grid,” utilizes the same
basic infrastructure we know today,
but applies advanced information
and communication technologies
to introduce greater functionality at
every level of the system.
The result is a power grid that
is more reliable, more resilient
and more flexible than even the
most modern systems currently in
operation. These characteristics in
turn will support the development
of renewable energy sources while
improving the efficiency of power
delivery systems and reducing CO 2
emissions.
What are Smart Grid Drivers?
The efficiency of the generation,
transportation and better utilization of
electricity itself has also come under
examination as upto 80 percent losses
along the energy value chain are
from primary energy to consumers.
Although some losses are inherent
in the generation of electricity, energy
efficiency along the value chain can
reduce losses by 30 percent. Even in
the most modern and effective systems
upto 8 percent of the electricity leaving
a power plant is lost in the transmission
and distribution network. The situation is
worse in India with average loss of 40 to
45 percent depending upon which part
of the country you are located in. Hence
from the India perspective, reliability and
energy efficiency are key issues.
The forces now driving the development
of the smart grid are as varied as
they are influential. Smart grid value
propositions are capacity for increasing
demand, reliability of electricity supply,
CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
efficiency along the value chain and
sustainability of integrating renewables.
Environmental concerns are increasing
around the globe, and that is driving
the development and integration of
renewable energy on a larger scale than
ever before. Future electrical systems
will be different from those of the past
receiving power from all types and sizes
of generation and tuned to cope up with
environmental challenges.
On the demand side, consumers
are looking for reliable power as it is
observed that unreliable power and short
interruptions are causing huge potential
loss to productivity. For a better demand
management, utilities are looking at the
possibility of control over the supply
to the consumer to perform selective
switching of loads like air-conditioning
and heating for meeting the variation in
short term demands.
All of these elements, from the economic
to the environmental, are amplifying the
need for the grid itself to evolve. We
need our power delivery infrastructure to
do more than it does today. To meet the
many challenges facing it, the grid needs
an infusion of intelligence, most of all at
the distribution level.
What makes a grid “smart”?
A smart grid is the evolved system that
manages the electricity demand in a
sustainable, reliable and economic manner
built on advanced infrastructure and tuned
to facilitate the integration of behavior
of all involved. We see an increasingly
automated system based on industry-wide
standards, created not through radical
change but a gradual transformation of the
existing system.
The concept of intelligence in power
systems as we see it, is centered on the
idea of pushing sensory and analytic
capabilities further down the system
hierarchy. In a smart grid, more can be
done locally at the substation or even
device level, allowing operators and
computing resources in the control
center to be more effectively utilized
i.e. extension of capacity with proven
Feature story
technology, power plant automation
systems, effective and optimized operation
of power plant, substation automation
system for instantaneous fault detection
and system restoration, supervisory control
and data acquisition systems (SCADA) for
large networks, flexible AC transmissions
systems (FACTS) for improved power
transfer, wide area monitoring and control
systems for very large scale stability. A
smart grid also produces a stream of
information about system conditions
and operating characteristics that will be
increasingly valuable to managing the
commercial side of a given utility or grid
operator.
So, how does this “smart” grid differ
from the one we know today?
From Hierarchy to Network
Today’s power systems are designed
to support large generation plants
that serve faraway consumers via a
transmission and distribution system
that is essentially one way. But the grid
of the future will necessarily be a two
way system where power generated
by a multitude of small, distributed
sources flows into a grid based on
a network rather than a hierarchical
structure.
Balance is the key
The transition from the grid we know
today to the grid of tomorrow will be as
profound as all of the advances in power
systems over the last hundred years, but it
will take place in a fraction of that time. All
stake holders have an integral role to play.
Leaders have to put in place incentives
to save energy and commit to global CO2
reductions. Energy markets and all stake
holders must actively participate in efforts
to reduce consumption and optimize
efficiency. It will require a new level of
cooperation between industry players,
advocacy groups, the public and especially
the regulatory bodies that have influence
over the direction the process will take. In
the end, though a fully realized smart grid
will immensely benefit all stakeholders.
21
Feature story

The next level of evolution

The evolution of power networks to include better communication and make use of modern
computer technology will provide more intelligent automation devices and better optimized
systems. It will enable utilities to meet regulatory requirements and customer demands for
reliable power from both conventional and renewable energy sources.

Power generators will be able to
optimize “spinning reserves” while taking
maximum advantage of renewable
power resources and transmission grid
operators will be able to increase stability
and security of supplies while reducing
transmission losses.
The distribution network will become
a source of power as well as the point
of delivery to end-users and those end
users will be offered more choices on
which provider they choose to supply
their power.
Consumers will also benefit from
improved demand management and
in future will be able to optimize their
power consumption through the use of
local power generation and increased
automation at home.
The smart grid will not be a revolution.
It will be a gradual transformation of
the systems that have served us for
many years into a more intelligent,
more effective and environmentally

Smart grid will cover the entire generation, delivery and utilisation cycle

22 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010

sensitive network to provide for our
future needs.
ABB has the expertise and experience
to provide integrated, adaptable
solutions now and the vision and
technical know how to meet the
coming challenges.
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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Feature story
The ABB power delivery
system of the future will
enable electric utilities to:
Interact with consumers and markets
through real-time supply control,
network operation and pricing
mechanisms
Adapt to changing situations by sensing
changes in the grid, right down to the
source
Optimize the use of resources and
equipment
Predict rather than react, to reduce
outages and blackouts
Integrate with various information
technologies through the flexibility
of interoperable protocols to exploit
greater operational synergies
Secure the system from physical and
cyber attacks
23
recent successES
Smart grid technology helps KPTCL keep
track of power
As the fastest growing state in India for the past decade, with
the bustling city of Bangalore at its heart, Karnataka’s appetite
for electricity is voracious.
Ensuring reliable supplies of quality electricity reach customers
in the face of spiraling demand is a major challenge, for even the
best run utilities.
Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL)
has chosen ABB energy monitoring and control system to
strengthen its entire transmission and distribution network, as
well as its constituent distribution utilities.
The solution is an integrated selection of ABB Network
Manager software and systems like Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition/Energy Management System/Distribution
Management System (SCADA/ EMS/DMS) that together monitor
and report from every important part of the network across the
entire state.
This provides a real time picture of Karnataka’s entire
transmission and distribution network from a single screen in a
single control room in real time, incorporating essential modern
energy and distribution management applications.
To make this work, ABB has set up sixteen control centres
around the network, nearly 900 remote terminal units (RTUs)
and wired about one million input / output connections into
KPTCL’s transmission and distribution grid. These combined
24
systems monitor and control approximately 900 main
transmission and distribution substations scattered across the
state, including those in Bangalore.
Further, the project will now cater to additional 390 RTUs as part
of an extension order, to bring more network visibility to the control
room operators. The linking up of these stations also includes
integration of Network Manager with Substation Automation System
from ABB and other manufacturers. These systems are already
integrated as part of the existing project. The entire data acquisition
is done over VSAT from the RTUs to the main control centres on
IEC 104 protocol, a unique communication media deployed in the
country by an electricity utility.
From the main control centres, the data is transferred to the
six Area Load Dispatch Centres (ALDCs) and six Distribution
Control Centres (DCCs) on Inter Control Centre Protocol (ICCP)
communication protocol.
This is the first system of its type and scope to be installed
anywhere in the world, and helps KPTCL monitor, control and
deliver electricity to roughly 14.6 million customers, across a
coverage area of 192,000 sq. km.
The delivered system also has the energy billing, energy audit,
and availability based tariff (EB, EA and ABT) applications
which is integrated with SCADA to ensure integrated solution
of technical and revenue information which not only improves
network performance and operational excellence, but also
shows where and how the network is earning revenue.
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ABB wins the best stall award at ELECRAMA 2010
ABB was awarded ‘The Best Stall
Award’ at ELECRAMA 2010, one of the
largest trade shows for electrical and
electronics industry in Asia organized by
IEEMA (Indian Electrical & Electronics
Manufacturers Association) in Mumbai.
ABB displayed some of its latest
technologies for power and automation
customers across the value chain with
the central theme “Building smart grids,
enhancing energy efficiency”.
The ABB stall’s hallmarks were a striking
design, excellent utilization of space,
superior construction quality, uncluttered
First annual conference on smart grids
India Energy summit
The annual energy summit was organized
by Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA)
and The Economic Times in Nagpur.
ABB played an active role in the event
which focused on the opportunities and
challenges in thermal and hydro power,
renewable energy and carbon trading.
The objective of the conference was
to identify measures for addressing
the challenges in fuel availability,
NTPC Operation and Maintenance conference and exposition
ABB showcased a wide range of its
offering for operation and upgradation
of power stations at the operation and
maintenance (O&M) exposition and
conference organized by National
Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at
its Project Management Institute (PMI)
near Delhi. The theme of the event
was “GREEN – The New Normal”.
The annual mega event showcased
modern technologies and practices
CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
and clear layout of displays and
innovative use of the mezzanine space.
The ABB paper on ‘FACTS – A Smart
Grid Component Series Compensation
Suggesting Principles for Future Safety
Static VAR Compensation adapted to the
ABB in India showcased its technologies
at the first annual conference on smart
grids held in New Delhi. The theme
of the conference was “Opportunities
and challenges in the Indian power
scenario”.
The displays elicited keen interest
from the participants. Speakers and
innovative financing options - change
in lenders perspective, government
initiatives to promote the development
of various forms of power and growing
environmental concerns along with robust
plans to deal with these. ABB participated
in two technical sessions on electrical
Balance of Plant and power transmission.
Brand wagon
Developing Grid’ received the best paper
award at the 7th International Seminar on
Capacitors, CAPACIT - 2010.
ABB launched the ACS2000 medium
voltage drive, AC500HA PLC and DigiVis
500 PLC software. ACQ810 and ACS355
low voltage drives, Arc Guard systems
TVOC 2 and the UMC 100 FBP were
unveiled during the exhibition. The latest
Cheiron accessories, system Pro M series
of distribution boards, automatic transfer
switches, change-over switches in the
range of 160 – 2500 amps, was also
launched at the exhibition stall.
panel participants from power utilities,
equipment manufacturers and IT
companies also debated on the benefits
of smart grid technology in process
transmission and distribution.
being adopted in the operation and
maintenance of power plants worldwide.
The highlight of the ABB offering at the
exhibition included the intelligent LV
Switchgear MNS iS, MV retrofit solutions,
distribution and substation automation
system with new Relion® series relays and
communication module COM600, power
plant automation solutions, electrical
balance of plant, instrumentation
products and LT Breakers.
25
Technology digest

Smart electricity
Efficient power for a sustainable world
Electricity is the most versatile form of energy used around the world. The
infrastructure necessary to generate, transmit, distribute and consume electricity
was conceived and designed more than 100 years ago and ABB has been at
the forefront of technological innovations for electrical infrastructure from the
very beginning. This infrastructure has served us well and has been a significant
contributor to the industrialization and economic growth of the world in the last
few decades. There is hardly any process in industry or any application in private
life that does not use electricity. The demand for electricity is growing faster than
any other form of energy in all parts of the world – most notably in countries
undergoing rapid industrialization, such as China and India. At the same time,
increasing digitization of economies is placing higher demands on the reliability
of electric supply – even momentary disruptions cause huge economic losses.

26 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
 Technology digest

Smart grid value proposition – four main areas of emphasis

improve efficiency along the value

chain, requires massive changes in the Today coal fuels
whole electrical system and the way it
should be structured and operated. more than 40
This future evolving system has been
coined by the term “smart grid”.
percent of the
world’s electricity

A
sobering fact today is that coal
fuels more than 40 percent
of the world’s electric supply,
making electricity generation
the single largest and fastest rising
contributor to CO2 emissions. This fact
combined with the growing need for
electricity is driving a fundamental and
exciting change in the electrical industry.
To successfully address the challenges,
new solutions are needed along the
electrical value chain – generation
must increase but at the same time
contribute less to greenhouse gas
emissions. Transmission, distribution
and consumption of electrical energy
must become more efficient.
Today, the way electrical energy is
generated, transported and used is
not efficient enough. Inefficiencies
along the whole value chain lead to
around 80 percent of losses from the
primary energy sources to the useful
consumption of electricity.
Although the growth rate of renewable
energy generation is high, the
contribution of renewable energy in
the overall energy mix is still quite
small. Renewable energy, especially
that originating from intermittent and
variable sources (e.g.wind and solar)
pose additional challenges. Not least
of these is availability, which highlights
the need for energy storage as well as
systems to coordinate available sources
of power generation with sinks of
consumption. To integrate the growing
amount of renewable energy generation
and, at the same time, significantly
Smart grids
The future electrical system (or smart
grid), must be designed to meet four
major requirements of the global
society:
–
–
Capacity
Reliability
–
–
Efficiency
Sustainability
Capacity
As long as societal will does not limit
the growth of energy consumption, it
is expected that the consumption of
electrical energy will grow substantially
in the future. If the forecast of the
International Energy Agency holds,
it means that we will need to add
one GW power plant and related grid
infrastructure every week for the next
20 years. The future electric system
must cope with this capacity increase in
an economic way.
Reliability
The larger the amount of electricity
transported the closer the system
will operate to its stability limit. Yet
blackouts or even smaller disturbances
are becoming increasingly unacceptable
Reliability of the electrical system has
always been a priority to engineers and
has improved dramatically over the last
few decades. Nevertheless, electricity
interruptions are still a real risk.
Dramatic events such as massive
rolling blackouts that can cut a whole
country from its electricity supply
are only the small tip of a far larger
iceberg. It is the large number of
short disturbances that contribute to
supply making
electricity
generation the
single largest and
fastest growing
contributor to CO2
emissions.
significant economic disadvantages. A
recent study performed for the United
States reported that unreliable electrical
systems cost $80 billion annually [1].
A more reliable electrical supply not only
helps the economy and improves the
quality of life, but it also has a positive
influence on climate change. If an
electrical system can safely handle and
stabilize grid disturbances, then that
system will require fewer generating
plants available in reserve. This means
lower emissions.
Energy efficiency
Projections by the International Energy
Agency show that using energy more
efficiently has a greater potential to curb
CO2 emissions over the next 20 years than
all the other options put together [2].
Yet out of the financial sector’s $119 billion
invested in clean energy around the world
in 2008, just $1.8 billion was spent on

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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 27
Technology digest
Efficient generation, transport and better utilization of electricity
improving energy efficiency, according to
A more reliable a study by the UN Environment Program
and New Energy Finance [3].
electrical supply The reluctance to invest in energy
not only helps efficiency is surprising. Investments
can usually be recouped through
the economy lower energy costs in less than two
years, and under other circumstances,
and improves business units would normally leap
at such prospects of rapid returns. A
the quality of life, major obstacle is a lack of knowledge
in private households, companies or
but it also has a public authorities concerning energy-
efficient equipment. This challenge is
positive influence further compounded by the variety of
available options.
on climate change. Another obstacle is a lack of incentives.
Why should a landlord invest in energy
efficiency if the tenant will reap the
benefits? Why should a purchasing
manager spend more of his budget on
efficient equipment if the savings all go to
the department that pays the electricity?
In addition, energy efficient solutions
are rarely photogenic, and many have
obscure names. Variable-speed drives,
which raise the efficiency of electric
motors, sit in plain metal boxes,
belying the fact that their energy saving
potential is many times greater than the
much touted compact fluorescent light
bulb. The drive systems installed by
ABB alone save as much as 170 million
metric tons of CO 2 every year globally.
This corresponds to 20 percent of all
emissions in Germany.
The European Union took an important
step in June 2009 when it set efficiency
standards for most of the electric
motors used in industrial applications.
28
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
The move was barely noticed, yet it is
expected to save 135 billion kilowatt-
hours per year by 2020. That is three
times more than the savings expected
from phasing out incandescent light
bulbs in the European region and equals
more than Sweden’s total electric power
consumption (which in 2007 amounted
to 132 billion kWh).
Sustainability
Generating electricity with solar, wind,
wave or geothermal energy is without
doubt a powerful way to avoid CO 2
emissions. There is hope that with
improving technology, better conversion
efficiency and sinking production costs,
the contribution of such sources to the
future energy mix will increase.
Hydropower is the traditional CO2
free source of electrical energy and
according to the IEA this will continue
to be the case for the next 20 years.
Generating electricity in this way is one
task; the other equally important
requirement is to connect it to the electrical
grid. Huge distances have to be bridged
to carry electrical power from hydropower
plants to the centers of consumption. In
China, for example, bulk power is being
transported more than 2,000 km with low
transmission losses.
Intermittent wind-power generators pose
another challenge on grid stability and the
need for additional reserves, but adequate
technology is also required to connect them
from remote places far offshore. Energy
storage will ultimately help.
To overcome the issues of intermittency
and HVDC cable technology is the way
to cross the sea.
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The final influence, however, is the end
consumer who decides how much and
in which way he wants to consume
energy. At the present energy costs
and in view of the difference between
high and low tariffs, the incentives to
save energy or use it at times of lower
cost are limited. Technology could
provide greater transparency regarding
consumption at any moment in time and
its associated cost to the consumer. The
resulting demand response relationship
between generators and consumers
makes a further contribution to the
reduction of the required generating
reserve.
ABB has the full portfolio of products,
systems and services to further improve
and develop the electrical system.
Wide area control systems, flexible
AC transmission systems, substation
control, HVDC systems, cable
connections, distribution control and
low-voltage systems address the grid.
Drive systems, efficient devices and a
broad application of process control
technologies help to increase the
efficiency in industrial and commercial
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The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
Generating
electricity with
solar, wind, wave
or geothermal
energy is without
doubt a powerful
way to avoid CO2
emissions.
applications. Building automation and
control is another area with energy saving
potential served by ABB. ABB meters
and the connected communication
technology that facilitates demand-
response interactions and the software
to operate energy markets is in use
in many locations worldwide. ABB is
committed to lead further development
of smart electricity, providing efficient
power for a sustainable world.
Technology digest
Brice Koch
Executive Vice President & Member
of the Group Executive Committee
Head of Market and Customer Solutions
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.
Zurich, Switzerland
brice.koch@ch.abb.com
Bazmi Husain
Head of ABB’s Smart Grid Initiative
ABB Smart Grids
Zurich, Switzerland
bazmi.husain@ch.abb.com
References
[1] Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2005,
February 11). Berkeley lab study estimates $80
billion annual cost of power interruptions.
[2] International Energy Agency World Energy
Outlook 2008 and 2009 editions.
[3] UNEP and Global Energy Finance (2009, July).
Global trends in sustainable energy
investment 2009.
Article is reproduced from ABB Review 01/2010
29
Factoids

ABB robots take the stage with Bon Jovi for the band’s historic Circle Tour
ABB robots, accompanying Bon Jovi’s “The Circle”
tour will be the first set of industrial robots to be a part
of a concert tour. The visual intrigue of the show will be
enhanced by the five ABB robots positioned toward
the back of the stage, each with a 6’ x 9’ LED video
panel attached to their articulated arm. The robots and
screens will move to the rhythm and beat of the music
while displaying real time video footage of the show and
digital animations. At various intervals the five robot arms
move into a formation where the LED panels become one
continuous, five panel screen. The robots will accompany
the nearly two-year long tour, which features over 60
concerts in North America and Europe.

Protecting data at Weta Digital – makers of hit movie, Avatar

Weta Digital, one of the most successful visual effects
companies in the movie industry whose merit list includes
the world’s latest super hit Avatar has chosen the ABB
technology to protect itself from the potentially devastating
effects of power grid disturbances. About 60 percent of
Avatar is computer-generated requiring vast computer
processing and data storage resources, which in turn
require large volumes of electricity to power both the servers
and the cooling systems that prevent the center’s 4,000
blade servers and 40,000 processors from overheating.
ABB AVC2s protect Weta Digital’s extreme density data
center from grid disturbances like power surges. An ABB
innovation, it provides fast, accurate voltage sag and surge
correction as well as continuous voltage regulation and load
voltage compensation.

Making oily wastewater clean again

ABB has developed a revolutionary water treatment
technology that can treat oily wastewater. Developed
on behalf of a leading national oil and gas company, the
solution is installed at three oil and gas fields in North
Africa. Left untreated the water can be highly toxic and
contains oil, grease and other hydrocarbons, as well as
high levels of salts, metals and trace elements. The ABB
solution has proved more effective in terms of results,
cost, energy efficiency, footprint, speed of installation and
ease of operation. ABB technology is currently the only
treatment method that meets the rigorous requirements of
proposed European legislation on produced water.

30 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
 Factoids

Breaking ice and saving energy in the Antarctic

ABB is providing a complete power, propulsion and
automation solution that will make Argentina’s sole
icebreaker, Almirante Irízar, more energy efficient and
environmentally friendly as it works in one of the toughest
and most sensitive environments, the Antarctic. Almirante
Irízar, is also a vital link with the country’s research stations,
bases and outposts in the frozen wilderness of Antarctica.
The benefits for the icebreaker’s owner, the Argentine
Navy, are many. In addition to gaining a revamped and
modernized vessel at the cutting edge of icebreaker
performance, the navy will also benefit from considerable
savings in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. ABB has
supplied more than 80 icebreakers with electric propulsion
systems and is one of only a few companies that can
provide a comprehensive solution of this kind.

Singapore’s used-water superhighway

One of the world’s largest and most innovative water
treatment projects, the Changi water reclamation plant in
Singapore is powered in large part by ABB. The Changi plant
is one-third the size of comparable water treatment plants,
an important factor, for an island-state like Singapore, where
space is limited. It has won its second international award for
Water Project of the Year at the Global Water Awards 2009 in
Switzerland. The deep tunnel sewerage system is designed
to collect, treat and reclaim used water produced by the
city-state for the next 100 years. ABB is providing extensive
power solution packages, as well as automation products
such as high efficiency motors and medium voltage drives
enabling critical parts of the process to operate at the highest
levels.

When only the best is good enough

The Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar’s capital, Doha is
envisaged to be the world’s foremost museum of Islamic
art and houses, masterpieces of a cultural heritage
spanning 13 centuries and three continents. Designed
by architect I.M Pei, who is best known for the Louvre
Pyramid in Paris and the iconic Bank of China Tower in
Hong Kong, this architectural masterpiece is built of the
finest materials and equipped with the best engineering
equipment including the ABB power equipment. ABB
dry-type distribution transformers were singled out by
the government-run Qatar Museums Authority, as the
only transformer to meet its requirements for the safe
and reliable delivery of electric power from the grid to the
museum.

CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 31
Channel Line
Micronova Impex Pvt. Ltd
Micronova Impex Pvt Ltd (MIPL) is an ABB channel partner
for low voltage switchgear products since 1985. It has the
distinction of being one of the first channel partners as well
as suppliers chosen by ABB. Micronova has been extending
value added marketing services in electrical, electronics and
telecommunication sectors.
M/s Micronova Impex Pvt Ltd. is promoted by Suresh Rao, an
electrical and electronics engineer. Incorporated in 1983, the
mission of the company, is to be a leader in the global trade
of electrical, electronics and telecommunication products
and services. The company has achieved record growth by
constantly focusing on its motto, “Customer service is the
ultimate in business”. The company upholds the values of
quality, delivery and cost, having achieved outstanding levels of
performance in these parameters.
Please tell us about your background.
I completed electrical engineering from Regional Engineering
College, Surathkal and thereafter attained a communication
engineering degree from Indian Institute of Science. I have a
rich professional experience of over twelve years in Bharat
Electronics including specialized training with THOMSON – CSF,
France. My deep rooted ambition to be an entrepreneur spurred
me to found Micronova Impex Pvt Ltd. A strong academic
background and the rich professional experience helped me
to steer the growth of MIPL successfully for the last twenty five
years.
What is the range of products you deal in?
We deal in a diverse range of products for electrical, electronics
and telecommunications industries which include:
• Low voltage and medium voltage products, breakers,
switches, control products, line protection devices, high
current products and electrical wiring accessories
• Semi conductor fuses & HRC fuses, isolators, transformer
reactors
• Electronic / telecom components
• Telecommunication equipment and accessories
• DATA network equipment and services
• Power and control cables and accessories
Could you tell us who some of your customers include?
My company enjoys the distinction of having a broad customer
base which covers government establishments, public and
private sector enterprises, small and medium original equipment
manufacturers, panel builders, building sectors, electrical
contractors, Defence, Railways etc.
32
Can you share with
us your experience of
working with ABB?
I share a great
professional relationship
with ABB. We enjoy
excellent support with
respect to product
offerings, deliveries and
also strategic pricing for
customer requirements.
What do you think are
the ABB strengths?
ABB has a very broad
range of state-of-the-art
products in electrical low
voltage switchgear field for which we are its channel partners.
ABB has been constantly upgrading the technology of its
products to the latest international level. Adding to the technical
superiority, ABB extends a high level of support in commercial
and financial aspects.
What do you think about the ABB technology and how do
you find the web portal?
ABB products and technology are very innovative and has
helped us to stay ahead of competition. The web portal has
been very useful in tracking the orders status and keeping our
customers updated on the same. The portal is transparent,
interactive and easy to use.
What more support do you think you need from ABB?
The specific areas of support are related to competitive pricing
and solutions for mismatch between forecast and actual
deliveries. ABB needs to increase support for stocking and
distribution of customer requirements on a proactive “Customer
Forecast” basis. ABB needs to organize more training
programmes and customer meets at zonal levels.
How is your business growing and what are your plans for
the future?
The company has drawn up a very ambitious plan for its
growth by substantial expansion and diversification of its
product offerings. We plan to offer total solutions to customers
by ramping up installation, commissioning, operations and
maintenance. We have increased our footprint to include
renewable energy systems.
CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
 Sustainability
Living our commitment to
Sustainability
Harvesting solar energy at Bangalore facility
ABB in India has installed its first photovoltaic solar plant at the
Nelamangala facility in Bangalore. The initiative reinforces the
ABB commitment to enhance energy efficiency while reducing
environmental impact. The entire electrification of the system
was done using ABB product line components, solar inverter,
miniature circuit breaker, surge protection devices, and switch
disconnectors. The maintenance-free photovoltaic solar plant
has produced 880 kwh power till date at an average of 50 kwh/
day and the system is rated for 10.4 kw peak. The solar inverter
is connected to ABB intranet system for remote monitoring. It is
equipped with an in-built maximum peak power tracking (MPPT)
system to track solar radiation and optimize power generation.

ABB Jürgen Dormann Foundation

Scholarship Programmes with MS University
ABB signed an MoU
with Maharaja Sayajirao
University, Vadodara,
for a global scholarship
programme. Three talented
students who need financial
support will be awarded
scholarships under the ABB
Jürgen Dormann Foundation
for Engineering Education.
ABB and the University also
renewed an MoU for collaboration in research and consultancy
and continued support for manpower and technological training.
The ABB Jürgen Dormann Foundation for Engineering Education
was set up to honour the achievements of the former ABB
Group Chairman and CEO. As part of its global programme it will
support talented students undertaking education in engineering
faculties who might otherwise not have the means to support
themselves. The performance of each participating student is
assessed annually by the University and ABB. Prior to this, the
foundation has granted scholarships to students from RV College
in Bangalore and Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

Improving productivity with electricity

As part of the Sustainability initiative,
ABB in India is providing electricity to
schools, community centres and primary
health centres in rural Rajasthan. Access
to Electricity, a global program aims at
improving people’s lives by providing
electricity to households in remote villages
in less developed countries. There has
been a marked improvement in the quality
of life since the “Access to Electricity”
initiative. Small businesses such as
tailoring and weaving have recorded
higher productivity and income. Children
have been able to study at night, schools
conduct evening classes and primary
healthcare centres can attend to patients
in the night. The programme was initiated
as a response to the United Nations
Global Compact and ABB was one of the
first multinationals to participate. Through
this program ABB has successfully
electrified 1,150 households across seven
villages in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan.

CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 33
Sustainability

Environment fund offsets business travel

carbon footprint
With the aim of creating greater
awareness amongst employees of their
environment footprint, ABB in Sweden
began an environmental savings fund
almost three years ago, by setting aside
1.8 percent of the costs of the company’s
flight trips for investment in energy
saving projects. Currently, the fund has
invested in 44 projects that have led to
energy savings amounting to 3500 MW
hours. This means a reduction in carbon
emissions by 4500 tons, offsetting the
business travel carbon footprint by about
40 percent. ABB encouraged employees
to provide suggestions on effective
utilization of funds, with the objective
of raising employee awareness of the
environmental impact in all areas of work
such as production processes, travelling,
and logistics. ABB focused on the largest
sources of consumption, and made efforts to
reduce energy consumption in those areas.
Some areas for improvement include process
systems, ventilation and fan systems.

WWF climate change game for primary schools

ABB in South Africa sponsored a World children. The game, developed by Wildlife
Wildlife Fund (WWF) climate change and Environmental Society of Southern
game for use by primary schools to Africa (WESSA) aims to support learners
raise awareness and explore concepts in exploring some of the concepts and
and questions on climate change at an questions on climate change. The pack
early age. The climate change game has can be used as a picture building activity
been distributed to 1000 schools in the and provides starter points for debate on
country. ABB had approached WWF’s climate change and prompts children to
Conservation Education Programme to express their views.
deepen the environmental and energy
efficiency education through a game
that would be engaging and fun for the

Helping children to a better future

An education programme was launched by ABB in Brazil to
help children from poor families, study and prepare for their
future. The “Criança Futuro Esperança” (children with a future
full of hope) program offers a consistent educational program for
children in the poor communities of Osasco and Guarulhos in
the greater São Paulo area. Nearly 120 children have completed
the program so far; most of them are now employed or are
continuing their education. For five hours a day, five days a
week, these boys and girls attend classes in subjects such
as English, IT, arts and sports and recreation. The program
also offers a complete infrastructure with teachers, doctors,
dentists, educators, psychologists and social workers. The schools
are located on ABB factory sites and children have lunch with
employees in the canteen.

34 CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010
120 Years of
Innovation Technology timeline • 1953-1977
ABB has written technological history. With their inventions, our employees have been advancing technical
development decisively for over 120 years.

1953 1954 1963

Manufacture of the first industrial Development of High Voltage First data transmission at carrier
diamond Direct Current transmission (HVDC) frequency is performed
technology

1965 1969 1971

First 110 kV Gas-Insulated Switchgear First gearless direct drive ring motor for Construction of the largest transformer
(GIS) cement mills with 1,300 MVA capacity

1973 1975 1977

First fully electric, microcomputer- Development of control systems for Development of ProcontrolP, an
controlled, industrial robot in the world motorway tunnels innovative digital power station control
system

CONTACT
The customer magazine of ABB India • 1/2010 35