Maracana Stadium will become the focus of fans around the world this scorching hot summer as competition heats up at the World Cup.
On June 12, the 2014 World Cup will kick off in Brazil. Seven matches will be staged at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium - including the final on July 13 when the FIFA World Cup winner will be announced.
Maracana Stadium is one of the world's largest stadiums, able to accommodate more than 80,000 spectators. Constructed in 1948, the stadium also played host to eight matches of the 1950 World Cup. In this exact stadium, Pele scored the 1,000th goal of his soccer career.
In order to host the 2014 World Cup, the Brazilian Government closed and renovated the stadium for more than two years, including the stadium's power system. As a global leader in power and automation technologies, ABB won the order to design, supply, install and commission a new indoor substation for the stadium, which replaces the older equipment that had been in service for 40 years. The solutions provided by ABB can effectively guarantee the reliability and safety of the stadium's power supply.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, ABB provides advanced automation, protection and control systems for the Edgard de Souza substation, which is a principal node in the city's power grid, to improve reliability of the city's power supplies in time for the start of the 2014 World Cup. The ABB solution will also enable operators to control equipment, either from within the substation or from a remote location. The opening ceremony and the opening match of the 2014 Brazil World Cup will be held in Sao Paulo's Arena Corinthians.
ABB's power technologies are also applied in the construction of the No.1 extension and No.2 subway lines in another World Cup host city - El Salvador. The two lines have a total length of 41.8 km with 22 stations. They connect the Salvador de Bahia city center, Salvador International Airport and Arena Fonte Nova, one of the main stadiums for the 2014 World Cup, to better facilitate tourist travel across the city.
In the past 10 years, power demand in Brazil has increased steadily, growing by 5% each year. Faced with rapid economic development and the approach of both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the Brazilian Government has been promoting the reconstruction of power infrastructure and increasing its power capacity, in particular optimizing power transmission and distribution systems. As a global leader in the power and automation segment, ABB boasts comprehensive products and technologies, global engineering experience and project management capabilities-the perfect combination to help Brazil meet its needs in the next stage of developing of its power infrastructure.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that ABB has supported this world-known football event. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, ABB's power and low-voltage drive products were widely used in the Soccer City Stadium, Ellis Park Stadium, Green Point Stadium, Cape Town Stadium, Port Elizabeth Stadium, Gautrain Rail and other venues and infrastructure in the city.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 150,000 people. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 19,000 employees, 37 local companies, and an extensive sales and service network across 109 cities.
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