CORPORATE NEWS:
ABB starts “The London Connection”
ABB Power Technologies, UK, a leader in power and automation technologies, has recently announced that a three-year project to help National Grid deliver more power to central London has reached a key stage with the 400kV cable beginning the 20km underground pull from Elstree to St John’s Wood. The £40 million turnkey project, known as “The London Connection”, is part of National Grid’s programme to upgrade the power grid for North West London and the City area. Running in a 20km long three-metre diameter tunnel, the largest tunnelling project that National Grid has ever undertaken, the cable will link a new substation at Elstree to the new indoor high-voltage GIS (gas insulated switchgear) substation that ABB has been building at St John’s Wood.
The 400kV connection is using ABB’s high-technology cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation technology, which requires less maintenance than conventional oil and gas filled cables.
ABB is supplying, installing, commissioning and testing 61km of 150mm Ø cable, weighing a total of 2,440 tonnes and delivered on 63 massive drums. The cable comprises three separate lengths, one for each phase of the three-phase electricity supply, and is being pulled in three sections: from Elstree to Cricklewood, from Cricklewood to Elstree and from Cricklewood to St John’s Wood, with the longest section being around 7.5km. ABB is using a special arrangement of winches, cable rollers, brakes and pulling equipment to ensure smooth and safe cable pulling down the shafts and through the tunnel. The cable system is planned to be ready for energisation in Summer 2005.
National Grid Company plc is part of National Grid Transco, UK, an international energy delivery business, whose principal activities are in the regulated electricity and gas industries. In the UK, National Grid owns and operates the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales. The transmission network includes 7,000km of overhead lines, over 600km of underground cables, and some 320 substations. It balances supply of electricity with demand on a minute by minute basis.
Company: |
ABB Power Technologies |
Country: |
UK |
Fax: |
+44 1785 285899 |
Email: |
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Website: |
www.abb.com |