ABB to Upgrade Sri Lanka's power infrastructure

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth about $40 million from Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to supply two new 220-kilovolt (kV) substations and upgrade an existing substation in Sri Lanka.The order was booked in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The new substations will be constructed at Polpitiya in the Central Province and Padukka near the capital, Colombo, in the Western Province, while the existing substation at Pannipitiya, a suburb of Colombo, will be augmented.The project is scheduled for completion in 2017.

The new infrastructure is being deployed as part of the country’s Clean Energy and Network Efficiency Improvement Project, which aims to strengthen the national grid by increasing capacity and enabling greater integration of renewables as well as reducing losses and enhancing power reliability. By 2020, the government plans to install additional power generation capacity of over 2,500 megawatts (MW) and to increase the share of renewable energy in the national grid to about 20 percent.

As part of the turnkey contract, ABB will design, engineer, supply and commission the substations and provide the following equipment: high-voltage air-insulated switchgear, medium-voltage indoor gas-insulated switchgear, power transformers, IEC 61850-compliant protection and substation automation, and fiber-optic communications systems.

“These substations will boost transmission capacity and address Sri Lanka’s growing demand for electricity,” said Claudio Facchin, Head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “We are pleased to support the country in developing its power infrastructure, improving reliability of supplies and increasing energy efficiency.”

ABB is the world’s leading supplier of air-insulated, gas-insulated and hybrid substations with voltage levels up to 1,100 kV. These substations facilitate the efficient and reliable transmission and distribution of electricity with minimum environmental impact, serving utility, industry and commercial customers as well as sectors like railways, urban transportation and renewables.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 145,000 people.