Metro line 2 is one of the largest projects in the Polish capital, Warsaw. The central section of the line is 6.1 kilometres (km) long and links the eastern Praga district with the downtown and western districts via a tunnel running eight meters below the Vistula river. The line, which saw an investment of around $1 billion, opened in March 2015, and has since served about 100,000 commuters per day.
ABB was entrusted with the design, supply, installation and commissioning of seven underground substations, providing DC traction power to the line and alternating current (AC) auxiliary power to the metro stations. Four combined traction and auxiliary substations are equipped with four transformer-rectifier groups each to ensure redundancy and uninterrupted power supply, while the remaining three AC substations provide high-quality power to stations and commercial loads.
Innovative energy storage system
To improve the ecological footprint of the new east-west connection, the Stadion Narodowy substation is equipped with a super-capacitor-based DC wayside ESS, the largest of its kind in the world. The 40-megajoule system recovers and stores braking energy from decelerating metro cars and makes it available again for acceleration. This special feature helps to reduce operating costs, while enhancing energy efficiency.
Key products supplied for the turnkey contract include medium- and low-voltage AC and DC switchgear, dry-type rectifier and auxiliary transformers, protection and control devices, substation automation and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems as well as an ENVILINE™ DC wayside ESS.
ABB is a leading supplier of products, systems and services for rail infrastructure and rolling stock serving modern, conventional and high-speed rail applications. Alongside the Warsaw metro, its extensive track record in urban rail projects also includes the Glattalbahn in the suburbs of Zurich, Switzerland, the Delhi Metro in India, the Gold Coast Light Rail link, south of Brisbane, Australia as well as the London Underground in the UK and the metro lines in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.
