Expanded high-voltage unit joins ABB’s largest global manufacturing base to meet growing electricity demand in China
ABB opened a new state-of-the-art high-voltage manufacturing unit in Xiamen, in southern China, that will help meet growing demand for reliable electricity in rapidly growing urban areas of the country. The new unit builds on ABB’s original high-voltage factory which was in operation on Xiamen Island for almost two decades. Moving the facility to the Xiang’an District in the northeastern region of Xiamen, an island metropolis in the southeast Fujian Province is part of the company’s strategy to create an advanced manufacturing hub.
At 58,000 square meters, the new high-voltage factory includes manufacturing, high-voltage test labs, centers for research and development, training and service. The unit will manufacture gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), gas-insulated lines (GIL) and GIS components up to 1,200 kV, the highest voltage level in the world. The facility also houses state-of-the-art test laboratories to perform tests on all high-voltage products up to 1,200 kV. ABB’s other facilities on the campus include medium and low-voltage switchgear manufacturing units.
China has the second largest economy in the world, and demand for electricity continues to grow at a rapid pace. Furthermore, in 2016, the Chinese government’s has outlined 2,000-gigawatt (GW) of power generation capacity to be installed by 2020. The International Energy Agency1 further estimates that by 2040, the average Chinese household will consume double the amount of electricity as today.
“This latest move underlines ABB’s ongoing commitment to China to support the country’s growing demand for reliable electricity,” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division. “This state-of-the art facility reinforces our leadership in high-voltage technologies and as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”
GIS is a compact metal encapsulated switchgear that uses pressurized insulating gas and enables safe operations in confined spaces while significantly reducing equipment footprint. The GIS controls and protects the network from power outages and facilitates reliable electricity supply. A key enabler for urbanization where land is scarce and costly, GIS can occupy as little as 10 percent of the space of an air-insulated switchgear (AIS). The compact size of ABB’s GIS technology is important in China, where much of the population lives in cities.
ABB pioneered GIS technology 50 years ago and continues to drive innovations in this space. Over the decades, ABB has continued to provide safety and reliability in power networks to address growing power challenges in China. The latest innovation is the first of its kind ultra high-high voltage 1,000 kV GIL that will be installed 75 meters under the Yangtze River.
As a market and technology leader in high-voltage GIS technology, ABB offers ratings and applications from 72.5 kV to 1,200 kV and has a global installed base of more than 30,000 bays. ABB’s latest offering includes eco-efficient and digital capabilities.
1 International Energy Agency (2017)
Links:
