Phase 1 of a new super power grid that will link the power networks of six Gulf countries and enable them to use their energy resources more efficiently recently went online. One of the largest contracts in this $1.2 billion mega-project was awarded to ABB.
By
ABB Communications
The Gulf Interconnection is one of the most important transnational infrastructure projects to have been undertaken in the Middle East for some time.
Upon completion in 2011, this mega-sized pooling of electricity resources will interconnect the power grids of the six Gulf states – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – and enable them to use their electricity resources more efficiently.
The interconnection will also enable the six states to establish an energy trading market and in the long term link up with Europe and North Africa to form a ring of interconnected power grids around the Mediterranean.
ABB has played a key role throughout phase 1 of the project, which was completed in late 2009 at a cost of around $1.2 billion and is by far the largest of the interconnection’s three phases. Six state-of-the-art ABB transmission substations with gas-insulated switchgear – three in Saudi Arabia and one each in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar - enable the power to be delivered reliably and safely at 400 kilovolts (kV) to the power systems of all four countries.
The Gulf Interconnection is being built in three phases. Phase 1 (the north grid) has been completed, phase 2 (the south grid) will link the UAE with Oman, and phase 3 will interconnect the north and south grids. Phases 2 and 3 are small in comparison with phase 1. ABB is also supplying gas insulated switchgear and shunt reactors for phase 3. (Map courtesy Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority)
ABB has led the innovation and development of GIS (gas insulated switchgear) substations, which is among the most suitable solutions for the harsh desert climate of this part of the Arabian peninsula.
GIS is more compact and robust due to its design. The full metal encapsulation and indoor installation protects it from atmospheric influence and enables it to withstand harsh conditions like deserts better. The high-quality equipment combines efficient operation with low maintenance and also improves availability and reliability.
Valued at around $250 million, the ABB solution includes 17 shunt reactors, which stabilize the voltage of the 400 kV cable between Saudi Arabia and the island of Bahrain. Two of the 15 reactors are rated at 300 MVAr and are the most powerful three-phase reactors ever made.
ABB is the market and technology leader in gas insulated switchgear and shunt reactors, with more than 10,000 high-voltage bays and over 1,000 reactors installed worldwide
ABB is one of the few companies in the world that has the required experience and resources to deliver a project of this scale on time and to the full satisfaction of the client.
Among the challenges that confronted ABB were a lack of construction materials in the region due to one of the biggest construction booms ever, and unstable ground conditions in Kuwait where the seawater was only 50 cm below the surface. Several roads also had to be widened and reinforced to permit the transport of transformers and reactors, each weighing several hundreds tons.
Interconnections of this kind are possible thanks to a number of ABB innovations over the past 50 years. Technologies like HVDC and HVDC Light, FACTS, GIS substations and network management systems enable national and regional power grids to be interconnected and their energy resources to be pooled and traded and used more efficiently.
ABB glossary of technical terms:
HVDC (high-voltage direct current)
FACTS (flexible alternating current transmissions systems)