 
ABB to apply new technology in Estonia-Finland power link
US$ 100-million link
to improve efficiency, reliability, environmental
performance of Baltic, Nordic power grids
Zurich, Switzerland, September 8, 1998 - ABB, the
international engineering company, said today it has
signed a Letter of Intent to take part in an HVDC
(High-Voltage Direct Current) submarine power link
between Finland and Estonia. The value of the project
is about US$ 100 million. ABB’s partners in the
project are Eesti Energia AS, an Estonian state-owned
utility, Graningeverkens AB of Sweden, as well as
Pohjolan Voima Oy (PVO Group) and Helsinki Energy,
both of Finland. EkonoEnergy Ltd (Jaakko Pöyry
Group) of Finland will act as an independent engineer
on the project. Construction is planned to begin in
mid-1999 and take approximately 15 months.
The 200-megawatt link across the Gulf of Finland
consists of a high-voltage submarine cable and two
converter stations. The system will be based on ABB’s
HVDC Light technology, which uses a new generation
of converters to significantly reduce the size of
HVDC installations. As a result, the system can be
built in a series of smaller steps, a more economical
approach especially in a period of growing deregulation
and the need for more competitively-priced power transmission
systems.
By linking into the Nordic grid, Estonia will be able
to export electricity and generate revenues for improving
the quality of its power plants. Under the terms of
the project, the electricity produced for sale into
the Nordic grid will conform to the environmental
requirements of the European Union. At the same time,
the link-up is intended to improve the overall efficiency,
reliability and environmental performance of northern,
central and eastern European power grids as they head
into an era of deregulated power markets.
The ABB
Group serves customers worldwide in power generation,
transmission, and distribution; automation; oil, gas,
and petrochemicals; industrial products and contracting;
financial services; and rail transportation. The Group
reported orders in 1997 of $35 billion and employs
about 220,000 people. (End)
For more information contact Mr.
John Fox
ABB Corporate Communications, Zurich Tel: +41 1 317
7371 Fax: +41 1 317 7958
Mr. Pentti Nuutinen
ABB Finland, Vaasa Tel: +358 10 22 42408 Fax: +358
10 22
Original
Press Release at ABB.com
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