Throughout the last 25 years, economic growth in Vietnam - with a population of about 94 million - has reached more than 6 percent each year. At the same time, energy demand has increased at almost twice the rate of the GDP. Vietnam is poised to significantly transform its electrical power generation mix over the next two decades as it modernizes the country's agrarian economy to become a more industrialized nation.
To accommodate greater industrial expansion and to support energy security goals, Vietnam is significantly increasing its total electricity generating capacity. This growing network is not easily controllable and the risk of overload is therefore high. The solution? More fuses - specifically, ABB fuses.
A new market
In 2016, five Vietnamese distributors - CET Jsc, ELECOM Ltd, TANKY Jsc, TOJI Group and ACIT Jsc - formed a successful channel partnership with ABB to introduce ABB's globally recognized fuses into their new and retrofit ring main unit (RMU) switchgear, which is being distributed by these companies.
A current limiting fuse is a device that protects sensitive electrical components or the wiring in a circuit. ABB's CEF current-limiting fuses are high-quality protection devices with proven performance and certification with ABB's equipment. Manufactured in Przasnysz, Poland, the fuses are compatible with NAL on-load switch disconnectors, and GSec and RMU compact switchgear. The latter application requires a special coordination test that is performed with reference fuses to support safe coordination between the fuse and the switch-breaking characteristics.
"Cooperation with ABB started some years ago and at the beginning it was low-voltage products only. However month by month we get more familiar with medium-voltage apparatus thanks to ABB's contact person that visits us every week," says Ta Minh Thang from channel partner CET Jsc.
ABB's challenge was to convince distributors that already had agreements with other suppliers of the benefits of ABB's fuses.
With an order volume of over 1,300 CEF fuses, ABB and its partners were able to optimize the transportation costs by shipping the fuses in one full container. In addition, the first big order for the distribution channel in Vietnam has already generated new business opportunities for the local ABB factory, including an additional order of 400 fuses from ACIT Jsc for RMU applications.
