ABB Ltd.(ABB) recently rolled out a key renewable energy transmission project in Texas. For this project, the company had developed a novel clean energy solution – the Station Service Voltage Transformers for a couple of Texas-based utilities.
These utilities, a subproject of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) project, were required to direct the wind energy generated at remote wind farms to several high population areas in Texas. CREZ was started by Public Utilities Commission in 2008 for transmission of about 18,500 megawatts of wind power from farms in West Texas and Texas Panhandle to distant localities like Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio.
ABB’s transformers emerged as a single-unit solution enabling a reliable transmission of power from high-voltage to low-voltage lines. The transformers, being directly connected to the adjacent high-voltage transmission grid, are so designed that they can be installed within a substation enabling a complete supply control to the utilities. Moreover, this design also optimizes the space usage, which is critical factor for these utilities.
ABB has installed around 30 such units, each with a capacity of 362KV. The transformers, presently operational, have already reduced the requirement by as much as 900 miles of distribution lines. As the power is now obtained directly from the transmission line, this is expected to result in a savings of $30 million for the project. Furthermore, the transformers, complying with CREZ’s clean energy standards, minimize the deployment of polluting technologies.
The success of this project indicates ABB’s prowess in the domain. In order to overcome challenges like remoteness of the wind farm and inconsistency of wind power which posed critical threats to the substation operation, the company has developed this unique solution.
Moreover, ABB’s transformers reduced the costs of the utilities by as much as 2–3% of the total project investment by eliminating the need for conventional systems. Due to the large distance between the wind farms and the targeted areas, conventional power transformers, diesel generator and distribution networks significantly weighed down on the expenses. Hence, ABB’s innovative transformers proved to be a boon for such projects.
Currently, ABB carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks having the same rank in the sector include CLARCOR Inc. (CLC), Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) and Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR).
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