ABB wins $60 million order to feed nuclear power to UK grid

2017-11-10

 ABB has been awarded a $60 million contract by the leading UK utility, National Grid, to build a new indoor high-voltage substation in Shurton, to integrate electricity produced by the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, southwest England, and feed it into the power network.

Hinkley Point C will produce 3.2 gigawatt of power – enough low-carbon electricity for around six million UK homes – making it one of the largest single power generation source connected to National Grid’s system. The Shurton substation, located to the southeast of the main Hinkley site, is a vital element in National Grid’s program to reinforce and upgrade the network to accommodate additional power and ensure security of supply.

ABB will design, manufacture and install the new 400 kilovolt (kV) Shurton substation that will provide double circuit connections to the existing substations at Taunton and Melksham. It will feature ABB’s Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) that will enable the substation to be constructed indoors within a compact building to make optimum use of the restricted space available on the site.

The project will also deliver advance digital control, protection and telecommunications systems based on ABB's Ability platform.

The compact indoor design of ABB’s GIS technology allows a space saving of up to 70 percent compared to conventional AIS. This compactness also makes extensions and retrofitting possible in confined space conditions which would not be possible with AIS technology. Furthermore, GIS technology increases supply reliability and availability while reducing maintenance requirements.

Source: ABB