ABB has secured the contract to supply a UniSec medium voltage secondary distribution switchgear to the Nestlé plant in Benevento, which produces Buitoni frozen foods. The switchgear will be equipped with REF615 protection relays, with IEC61850 communication protocol and GOOSE messaging, in a supply package that will also include the MV/LV selectivity study. The installation will be carried out by Elettrica Rizzi, a company based in di Gorle (Bergamo), and the system is scheduled to be put into service in April this year.
The expansion of the power grid is part of a broader project to boost the plant's production capacity. In December last year, Nestlé announced a 48 million Euro investment plan aimed at transforming the Benevento plant, currently focussed exclusively on the domestic market, into an "international hub" for the development of professional skills and the production of Buitoni pizzas. The lines will be upgraded in parallel with the introduction of state-of-the-art technologies that will take the Campania-based Nestlé factory to a new level of excellence, enabling it to bring its highly popular products to foreign markets as well.
"Once again, the reliability of the solution we have delivered, the full technical support we have provided during the planning and budgeting stage, and our cutting-edge technologies have all played an important role in the customer's choice, as in the past, to entrust the work to ABB," the account manager Corrado Guarnieri has commented. "This is our first project for the Nestlé Group that involves the use of innovative REF615 relays, which are able to communicate with each other and with the power grid control system and allow a very high level of selectivity to be achieved. Communication via Ethernet cable or wireless network, based on the IEC61850 protocol, ensures rapid intervention and configurations for connections to Smart Grids as well."
UniSec air insulated medium voltage switchgear up to 24 kV, 1250 A, 25 kA manufactured in the ABB plant in Dalmine is the most versatile on the market as it delivers a wide range of functional units and enables the design of customized solutions, easy modifications, fast replacement and upgrading of the main accessories. The fewer component parts and their standardization means that less resources are required for their maintenance and for staff training, whose safety is guaranteed under all circumstances. The comprehensive range of functional units and accessories includes state-of-the-art protection, control and monitoring devices integrated through plug-in or separately installed circuit-breakers.
UniSec switchgear provides the highest standards of reliability and continuity of service: the range is fully designed and tested in accordance with IEC 62271-200 standards and has high internal arc withstand values. Optional solutions for the internal arc protection to be built into the protection relay drastically reduce its negative effects.
The Nestlé Group is the world's leading food company and has been a top manufacturer and retailer of nutrition, health and wellness products since its establishment in 1866. With 442 plants and around 335 thousand workers, it operates in over 197 countries around the world. It has been operating in Italy since 1875, where it currently employs almost 15 thousand workers in its 12 plants and headquarters in Assago (Milan). The company owns many popular brands, including Perugina, KitKat, Smarties, Polo, Buitoni, Nescafé, San Pellegrino, Levissima, and many more.
ABB (ABB: SIX Swiss Ex) is a leading advanced technology company in electrification products, robotics and motion control, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in public utility companies, industry and transport, and global infrastructures. Today, ABB is continuing its more than 125-year history of innovation by spearheading the development of industrial digitalization and driving the fourth industrial and energy revolution. ABB operates in over 100 countries with around 132,000 employees.
