ABB has won an order worth US$24mn from the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) for the installation of a static var compensator (SVC) which will provide reactive power support to mitigate voltage instabilities and help prevent black-outs.
This will strengthen the country's national power transmission and distribution operator's grid in the central region of Saudi Arabia.
SVC is part of ABB's family of flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) technologies, which improve the capacity, security and flexibility of power transmission systems, and makes a valuable contribution to the development of smarter grids.
Important component
"This environmentally friendly solution will improve grid stability, improve power quality and help secure power supply. The installation is an important component of SEC's overall power grid expansion program, which we are proud to be a part of" said Martin Gross, head of ABB's Grid Systems business, a part of the company's Power Systems division.
The turnkey solution, expected to be completed by 2013, includes design, supply, installation and commissioning.
FACTS technologies
By enhancing power capacity in existing grids, FACTS technologies allow more power to reach consumers with minimal environmental impact, lower investment costs and shorter implementation times than the traditional alternative of building new power plants and transmission lines. They also help address voltage and frequency stability issues and enable the transmission system to run more efficiently.
