ABB MV switchgear to deliver more power for London Underground Sub-Surface Railway Lines

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won a competitive contract from EDF Energy Infrastructure Services to supply medium voltage (MV) switchgear panels for a project to upgrade the 11 kV power network serving London Underground’s SSR (Sub-Surface Railway) Lines. EDF Energy Infrastructure Services will install the ABB MV switchgear in substations at 13 locations – from Acton Town to Upminster – where it will replace existing equipment that has now reached the end of its service life.

London Underground’s Sub-Surface lines consist of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines. Between 2010 and 2013 they will receive 191 new S Stock trains that will help increase passenger capacity as well as introducing improvements such as air conditioning and electronic signage. The new trains are provided with energy-efficient regenerative braking, but the increase in services will be so great that the overall demand for energy will rise, and EDF Energy Infrastructure Services has been awarded Package 2 of the overall SSR power upgrade project to meet the increased load on the 11 kV network.

The MV panels to be installed are a special railway version of ABB’s UniGear ZS1 range of MV primary metal-clad switchgear. As well as featuring a compact installation footprint, the modular design of the UniGear ZS1 also provides the flexibility for EDF Energy Infrastructure Services to add additional panels as operational needs change.

Adrian Dixon, Rail Director of EDF Energy Infrastructure Services, said: “High availability in demanding railway operating conditions is a crucial factor for all the electrical equipment we specify for the SSR power upgrade project. We worked in close co-operation with ABB over a period of eight months to ensure that we identified the optimum technical and commercial solution for the MV switchgear. One of the key reasons for settling on the UniGear ZS1 design is that it is one of the very few MV panels of its type that has LUL and EDF Energy Powerlink compliance with stringent railway industry requirements.”

The UniGear ZS1 panels are manufactured in ABB’s MV switchgear centre of excellence in Brno, in the Czech Republic. Delivery of the 147 panels will commence in December 2010 with delivery of the final panels scheduled for mid-2012. ABB is supplying them direct to each site ready for EDF Energy Infrastructure Services to install.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.

For help with any technical terms in this release, please go to: www.abb.com/glossary