ABB is supporting the transition from fossil fuels to renewables in Europe by providing smart power systems to one of the largest new solar power plants in Spain.
ABB is providing low-voltage solutions to handle the renewable energy generated by new, large-scale solar farms under construction by Solarcentury in Extremadura and Andalusia, Spain.
ABB technology will monitor and control the energy flow at the sites from more than a million solar panels. With a combined solar capacity of 500 MW, the plants would be able to produce enough energy to power 250,000 homes, lowering CO2 emissions by around 285.000 tons annually.
“ABB enables companies and communities around the world to access cleaner, smarter power, aiding the adoption of renewables. ABB’s solution for the new generation of 800V AC photovoltaic systems reduces hardware costs, increasing the viability of solar projects.”
Fabio Monachesi, global product manager ABB Ability Ekip UP.
ABB’s Ekip UP smart power unit is at the heart of the solution. The system makes facilities smart and connected while at the same time increasing the cost-effectiveness of these long term assets.
The easily replicable approach eliminates the need for additional circuit breakers, wiring, and assembly work, eliminating up to 70 per cent of capital investment costs.
The Ekip UP solution also decreased by 50 percent the number of low tension auxiliary panels intended for installation. The unique embedded automatic transfer switching (ATS) logic of the device allows contractors to manage low-voltage auxiliary loads such as for lighting, CCTV, HVAC, and servers.
Ekip UP can also link new and existing systems directly to the ABB Ability cloud allowing remote asset tracking and supporting predictive maintenance strategies. The extended service intervals have reduced maintenance costs by up to 30 percent.
“The Ekip UP allowed us to remove many individual protection and control devices and converged these into one device allowing a faster build time and simplifying set up, monitoring and ongoing maintenance and operation of the plant. This provides a much cleaner and better technical solution.”
David Minnis, head of application engineering Solarcentury.
Solarcentury leads the development of a new generation of solar power plants built without public subsidies–and has installed more than 1.6 GW of solar power worldwide.
“Solarcentury is committed to making solar power more accessible. Working with ABB on the low-voltage systems that control solar farms gives us a more innovative, efficient solution that costs less to install and operate. And, by sourcing the complete solution from ABB, we have a trusted global partner committed to improving the reliability of the plants for their entire lifetime.”
Steven Taylor, COO Solarcentury.
