Railway expansion and upgrade projects usually place an increased demand on the trackside power supply, requiring reinforcement of the medium voltage power distribution infrastructure.
The traditional approach is to either upgrade the existing substation or build a new one alongside it. This can be an expensive and lengthy process, with the added drawback of considerable site disruption.
That’s why a growing number of operators are taking advantage of ABB’s fast-track solution, based on modular systems in the form of containerised switchgear.
These are fully pre-engineered units, delivered to site ready to plug-and-play. This approach ensures a more cost-effective overall project which is some 20% faster to complete than the conventional build-on-site route.
Typical timescales are 30 to 40 weeks from order to delivery. It also provides a smooth changeover, with only a short outage required, since it is just a question of transferring over the cables.
Reduced risk
An important benefit of ABB’s modular approach is its total focus on reducing customer risk.
Rather than dealing with several equipment suppliers and contractors, its customers have a single interface with ABB that provides full visibility of the entire project, from procurement to delivery – effectively eliminating the possibility of unpleasant surprises.
A further advantage is that all the critical equipment is installed and tested under factory-controlled conditions, keeping the actual work on site to a minimum.
With only a few contractors involved, health and safety is enhanced and disruption to operations minimised.
The company’s modular systems have the flexibility to be tailored to meet customer needs. A typical installation might comprise primary 11kV and 33kV switchgear (ZX1.2 gas insulated or UniGear air insulated), secondary 33kV switchgear (SafeRing gas insulated), protection relays and a transformer.
At site, the container is simply craned into position. Civil works and project costs are minimised since only basic foundations are needed, either a concrete base or stilts for the container to rest on.
ABB will be at the Railtex exhibition on stand D71.
