ABB wins $25 million solar order in Italy

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND: ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth $25 million from Switzerland-based Etrion Corp. to supply a turnkey power and automation solution for two photovoltaic solar power plants with a combined capacity of 10 megawatts (MW) under construction in the Puglia region of Italy.

The Helios ITA3 project comprises two 5 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants to be located near Brindisi and Mesagne on Italy's southeastern coast. When completed in August this year, the plants will have an annual generating capacity of up to 16.8 gigawatt-hours of electricity, avoiding approximately 6,700 tons of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of about 3,600 European cars.

ABB is responsible for the design, engineering, erection, civil works and commissioning of the plants, as well as for connection to the local power grid and will deliver the turnkey electrical and control solution within an extremely short time span of thirteen weeks. Key products to be supplied include trackers, inverters, low-voltage equipment, medium-voltage switchgear, transformers, cables, distributed control systems, remote monitoring systems, auxiliary systems and video surveillance systems.

The equipment is designed to minimize power losses and maximize efficiency, and includes high-efficiency inverters, reliable dry-type transformers and technologies for the accurate control and remote monitoring of the plant. "Our pre-assembled, factory-tested electrical balance-of-plant modules combined with our domain expertise and proven track record in project execution enable us to deliver an optimized solution in a short span of time" said Franz-Josef Mengede, head of ABB’s power generation business.

Etrion develops, builds, owns and operates solar power plants and has an installed capacity of 47 megawatts in Italy. Etrion Corporation is part of the Lundin Group of publicly traded, natural resource companies.