Author:
Cliff Keys, Editor-in-Chief, Power Systems Design
Date
09/18/2010
PDF
ABB's three-day Automation & Power World 2010 event got underway at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston with a keynote address featuring ABB's global CEO Joe Hogan before a record-breaking crowd of more than 4,000 participants who came in spite of the ongoing economic slowdown. Here follows a selection of the major announcements from this event. Power and Automation conference draws over 4,000 and a commitment from ABB CEO Joe Hogan to increase energy efficiency and reliability worldwide.
Starting with a macro-economic overview, Hogan noted that the situation was a lot less dire than when he spoke at the same event last year. In 2009, the world economy appeared to be teetering on the brink, whereas there are now some clear signs of a rebound, such as the U.S. economy's 3.3 percent growth in the first quarter. Also, the emerging economies never slipped into recession. "China and India and some other major economies around the world have shown that they can really steer their own boats," he said. Hogan displayed two maps, side by side, that showed how distorted the world economy is today: if countries are drawn according to the size of their GDP, North America and Europe dominate; but when they are drawn by population size, then India and China are by far the largest. Such countries are recapturing their rightful share of the global economy and this is a trend business must learn to ride. "China's brought 400 million people out of poverty in the last 20 years: That's great for all of us," he said. "We have to take advantage of this and continue to invest in technology." The rapid growth of emerging markets with large populations is also behind another trend that Hogan focused on. World energy demand is set to grow 40 percent by 2030, and carbon dioxide emissions will grow by a similar percentage. He said almost 60 percent of the solution for cutting carbon emissions is energy efficiency. "It's not glamorous or sexy, but pushing efficiency is far and away the most important step we can take in reducing carbon." As an example, he cited a potential $40 billion in savings from energy efficiency with existing technologies in just three industries - cement, aluminum and mining. As a result, increasing the focus of ABB's portfolio on solutions for energy efficiency is a priority for the company's research and development activities. ABB invested more than $1 billion in research and development, and Hogan said the company was "committed to increasing spending on R&D throughout the cycle."
In addition, ABB's president and CEO in North America, Enrique Santacana, announced live at a packed press conference that ABB has committed to invest about $90 million to build a new Greenfield high-voltage transmission cable factory in the U.S. beginning this year, with an anticipated opening of 2012. The new plant will manufacture underground cables for use in both AC and DC applications. The investment is due to strong growth in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) applications, particularly to integrate renewable energy into the grid and to increase the efficiency of power transmission. "It is very strong demand for growth that we see," Santacana said. The final site has not yet been selected but the selection process is well underway and a location will be announced later this year, with construction set to begin immediately after. (See show highlights below). Additionally, more than two dozen separate press releases were issued announcing new product launches, technology breakthroughs and new orders. These announcements involved all five of ABB's North American divisions: Power Products, Power Systems, Discrete Automation & Motion, Low Voltage Products and Process Automation. More than 500 hours of training sessions, utility case studies, workshops, panel discussions and town hall meetings with ABB executives and customers were held. The Exhibit Hall in the Houston convention center houses booths from every single business within ABB's five divisions centered around Power and Automation. The exhibit floor was more than 100,000 square feet in size, more than three football fields combined.
ABB's three-day Automation & Power World 2010 event attracted a record-breaking crowd of more than 4,000 participants who came in spite of the ongoing economic slowdown
ABB will deploy its advanced Volt/Var Optimization (VVO) application at Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E). The VVO application is one of the technologies that will be implemented as part of OG&E's Positive Energy® Smart Grid Program. OG&E embarked on the Smart Grid program in 2008 to improve energy efficiency and reliability in a cost-effective manner in partnership with its customers. The first step was testing of a small scale deployment of smart meters in northwest Oklahoma City. The next step in 2010 is to study a larger deployment of smart meters, as well as VVO home area networks, and other technologies in Norman, Oklahoma. "The smart grid infrastructure we are building includes an advanced Volt/Var Optimization designed to improve energy efficiency in our distribution system by reducing both energy losses and peak demand," said Ken Grant, managing director of OG&E's smart grid program. "We selected ABB's VVO to help us achieve this goal." The VVO application is part of the ABB Network ManagerTM product, the industry-leading platform for integrated SCADA, DMS and OMS. A true optimization engine based on a per-phase analysis of the detailed network model, VVO determines the optimal control settings for switchable capacitors and tap changers of voltage regulating transformers. The VVO application monitors the distribution network and computes the optimal control settings to minimize a weighted objective function of energy demand, energy loss, and voltage/current violations in three-phase, unbalanced and meshed distribution systems. "Our partnership with OG&E in this area is another indication that utilities are responding positively to ABB's product strategy of an integrated platform with built-in advanced applications from a solid and experienced partner," said Salim Khan, senior vice president and general manager of ABB Network Management, North America. "We look forward to working with OG&E to implement this smart grid technology and help improve energy efficiency and system reliability." OG&E, which serves more than 777,000 customers in a service territory spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, is a subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE), which also is the parent company of Enogex LLC, a midstream natural gas pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma. This announcement was made at the ABB Automation & Power World 2010 conference, ABB's annual premier customer event held this year in Houston.
ABB announced the worldwide release of three new Relion® product solutions for utility distribution and industrial applications. This includes the Relion 615 series version 2.0 ANSI relays - REF615, REM615 and RET615 - designed to specifically serve North American customer needs in feeder, motor, and transformer distribution applications. These new products are ANSI-qualified and UL Listed. The Relion 615 series portfolio of distribution protection relays serve basic to moderately complex applications as part of the larger Relion® product family of transmission and distribution protection and control IED's. Common features include ease of use with one programming tool, flexibility of ordering to best fit application, and advanced technologies even in the most basic product feature offerings. "The ABB Relion product family offers our customers the widest range of products for protection, control, measurement and supervision of power systems, making it the ideal choice for any application," said Jeff Vaughan, sales and marketing manager, Distribution Automation, ABB. "The 615 series preserves infrastructure investments by supporting legacy protocols, while also complying with the IEC 61850-8-1 standards. IEC 61850 compliance ensures interoperability between present and future substation automation devices, and also saves money by reducing wiring material and labor." All Relion (www.abb.com/relion) relays are equipped with an ethernet port and embedded web server that allow for ease of access and data retrieval by field technicians using a readily available ethernet cable and web browser interface. This reduces the potential for losing critical time locating unique software and adapter cables that have traditionally been commonplace. The compact and withdrawable design further allows for quicker installation, maintenance and testing, and allows for cases to be installed and wired before delivery of the plug-in units. The 615 series can also be equipped with arc flash detection for increased personnel and equipment protection.
The ABB MCM Series 16 is an engineered product solution that utilizes the MCM800 monitor module for use as an independent stand-alone monitoring system or as a remote component of a fully integrated 800xA system. The MCM Series 16 system is custom configured from the factory to meet the specified application based on customer provided input. The MCM Series 16 package is designed for plant environments and is intended to be mounted close to the monitored machinery for reduced field wiring requirements. Utilizing the MCM800's multifunctional design, the Series 16 can be configured for single and multiple machine applications and can perform the standard vibration and position monitoring functions as well as accept-analog inputs, all in a single hardware platform. Unlike common rack based systems, the Series 16 incorporates industry standard power supplies and communication modules. The design of the Series 16 is intended to minimize overall plant hardware and personnel training requirements. The MCM Series 16 features ABB's Panel 800 HMI, an advanced graphic display for local display of monitored data. The Panel 800 comes with a standard set of displays but may also be custom configured. In addition to the standard display screens this HMI provides alarms lists and trending capabilities. Access to raw data output is provided via front panel mounted BNC connections. An external ethernet connection is provided for local configuration of the monitor modules and display. A 110 volt power source is available for convenience.
ABB announced the release of ServiceGridSM, a comprehensive service solution which provides advanced support for the control system and connected assets for a smart grid-compliant network. This new ServiceGrid solution provides application, technical, product and site support along with management and full-time support from a trained technical account manager. ServiceGrid is designed to provide the operation and maintenance component of the power delivery infrastructure with the necessary support backed by years of industry experience. A designated Technical Account Manager (TAM) works to enhance the utilization and productivity of assets, processes and people to improve plant performance, increase uptime and reliability, reduce total cost of ownership allowing for informed decision making, and improved human performance. For more information, please visit www.abb.com/powergeneration
ABB has developed a new solution called ABB TeamNet, enabling project teams to greatly improve collaboration on multiple projects, which is the key to efficient control system engineering and design. ABB TeamNet is a new system-based concept that enables ABB and its plant customers to access ongoing control system engineering and design projects via a dedicated and secure website. ABB TeamNet improves the project execution process by utilizing the advanced capabilities of the System 800xA platform along with Remote Desktop to collaborate more effectively during control system engineering and design. Currently ABB has 20 projects using ABB TeamNet for remote access for various project teams, along with four demo systems and two development systems on the network. Results to date show that the concept greatly improves communication between project participants and avoids costly errors caused by late, inconsistent or misinterpreted data. Previously these errors did not surface until the factory acceptance test, and were usually caused by the design data of third-party equipment vendors arriving after the configuration engineering had begun. ABB Teamwork resolves these issues by enabling project participants to access and review their System 800xA solution as it progresses via a dedicated and secure web portal. Historically, project reviews consist of printouts of system logics diagrams and graphics. These were often hard to digest and review. By directly accessing project hardware and configurations to review macro, graphic and logic information, ABB TeamNet shortens project schedules. Periodic reviews are performed with tie-back simulation on live graphics and configurations. This view into what the delivered system's response will be, leads to better understanding of the functionality of the system. Access to the ABB TeamNet's remote access network, known as ABB TeamWork, is made via a secure, clientless, SSL-based virtual private network (VPN), which utilizes the best available encryption with two factor authentication to ensure high level security. Improved dialog, reduced design missteps and less need for costly travel are among the benefits reported by customers. Improved collaboration between ABB, EPC's and plant project teams result in a win-win for everyone on the project.
ABB announced the debut of GridSync™ wireless sensors. GridSync™ combines sensors and wireless communications, allowing utilities to increase grid visibility and efficiency through VoltVar Optimization (VVO). GridSync provides high accuracy current, voltage and frequency information in real time for Smart Grid applications, including Volt Var Control (VVC), Demand Response, and Load Monitoring. "GridSync will allow our utility customers to make their distribution networks more efficient, reduce their generation needs, and reduce their operating costs," said Jon Rennie, vice president and general manager for ABB's Power Products Medium Voltage instrument transformer factory in Pinetops, North Carolina. "ABB is leading the way in both Smart Grid solutions, as well as other energy efficiency initiatives, and we are proud to contribute to these activities." GridSync utilizes the CVC-110ER extended-range combination current and voltage instrument transformer to obtain highly accurate current and voltage readings from distribution feeders. This real time data is fed into GridSync's remote terminal unit (RTU) and then sent wirelessly to the utility for analysis, action, and integration into their Distribution Management System (DMS).
ABB announced the availability of an expanded offering of outdoor dry type instrument transformers through its partnership with Arteche. This partnership, which began in 2008, has allowed ABB to become the only supplier in North America to offer a complete line of dry type outdoor instrument transformers in three distinct insulating materials to support any application. The partnership is now expanding to include a new family of outdoor dry type instrument transformers at the 36 kV, 48 kV, and 69 kV voltage class levels. This new family complements ABB's existing portfolio at 36 kV and 48 kV, while adding the new 69 kV level. These products are available in standard primary and secondary designs or can be customized to fit unique applications. "This is an exciting partnership for ABB," said Jon Rennie, vice president and general manager for ABB's Power Products Medium Voltage instrument transformer factory in Pinetops, North Carolina. "Adding the 69 kV voltage class in a dry type design will ultimately give our customers more products to meet their needs." ABB will continue to stock most standard Arteche designs for quick-ship deliveries to the U.S. and Canada. www.abb.com
