With discussions around net zero goals intensifying, renewable energy investments are continuing to grow. Companies like Cubico Sustainable Investments (Cubico) are investing in renewable energy projects and playing a critical role in reshaping the energy landscape worldwide. In December 2023, Cubico awarded ABB a contract to replace an obsolete third-party control system and install a new solar field control system at its Concentrated Solar Power Plant (CSPP) in Spain.
“Based on our experience of serving the renewable sector for more than a decade, we were proactive in understanding Cubico’s requirements,” said José Alfonso Almansa, Power Generation Sales Manager at ABB Energy Industries Spain. “We have worked with Cubico before on a number of projects, but this was the first time we were supporting them with acontrol system migration.”
Cubico's CSPP, located in Morón de la Frontera, Seville, generates electricity by using the sun's heat. The plant uses parabolic solar thermal technology, which combined with an oversized solar field, allows the hours of generation to be extended, contributing to the stability and reliability of the Spanish electrical system.
“ABB is a market leader when it comes to control systems,” said Juan de Dios Sánchez Cordones, O&M Director at Cubico at Cubico. “We had a satisfying experience working with ABB before and decided to use their domain expertise in installing a new solar field control system at our plant.”
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A complete package to improve plant operations
As part of the project, ABB will deliver a new and powerful Solar Field Control System to modernize the existing control systems for better performance, higher operational efficiency, and lower costs. “Our Solar Field Control System will standardize and integrate the third-party systems in two phases,” José Alfonso Almansa added.
The migration of the existing third-party Solar Field Control System to the new ABB system will be built on ABB Ability™ Symphony® Plus S+ Operations and LOCs (Solar field local control panels) designed for CSPP resulting in higher efficiency and availability while aligning with industrial and cyber security standards.
“Once the migration to our control system is completed, we are also planning to provide ABB Care services to Cubico. Under the Care agreement, Cubico will avail services including cyber security applications and plant lifecycle management, while gaining access to our digital solutions” José Alfonso Almansa added.
The cyber security services covered under ABB Care include regular system backups, antivirus installation and demilitarized zone (DMZ) firewall configuration. A DMZ network acts as a shield between a company's private network and the internet.
Additionally, Cubico will have access to ABB’s portfolio of digital solutions from remote operation via S+ Pocket Portal to real-time data, allowing plant operators to detect production anomalies from a simple dashboard. The dashboard can be accessed from a smartphone, laptop or tablet.
“Our dashboard will help in taking faster decisions through the real-time and historical data simultaneously in one display,” noted José Alfonso Almansa. “It will optimize productivity and significantly reduce maintenance operational costs.”
The project is expected to be completed by December 2024.
