ABB to build the first digital substation in Latin America in Brazil

ABB will build the first digital substation in Latin America in Juazeiro, northeast Brazil. The connection of the new 230 kV substation and the Juazeiro II substation will transfer electricity to the 156 MW photovoltaic power station under development in the area.

The Juazeiro PV plant project is owned and operated by British investment firm Actis and its renewable energy company Atlas Renewable Energy in Latin America. Atlas oversees more than 1,500 megawatts of photovoltaic assets under construction, under development and to be developed. When fully put into operation, these projects will generate enough clean energy to power more than 350,000 households and reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of over 1.5 million tons of conventional power generation projects.

ABB will deliver the overall Juazeiro substation with a supervisory and data acquisition (SCADA) system and smart electronics for protection and control as well as the state-of-the-art SAM600 merge unit in the switchyard. In addition, copper cables will be replaced by digital fiber cables. Digital substations are ABB Ability ™ based technologies that help improve controllability and reliability while optimizing customer costs.

Substation is the core of the power grid, responsible for the transmission and distribution of power to the distant, so its safety, reliability and efficiency are crucial. Switching to a digital fiber optic connection can significantly reduce the number of copper cables required for a substation, which is a significant cost savings. Digital substations also significantly reduce footprint and increase personnel safety, as systematic monitoring of digital equipment reduces the need for manual intervention and eliminates the possibility of dangerous electric shocks in the control room.

"ABB continues to be at the forefront of digital grid technology and offers a complete digital substation automation, control and protection solution from substation to network control center." Patrick Fragman, Head of ABB's Grid Integration Business, said: "We are pleased to support the building The first digital substation in Latin America to develop a stronger, smarter and greener grid. "

In 2017, ABB completed a similar project upgrade at a substation in New York City, and digital technology was applied to hundreds of thousands of customer-supplied systems in Manhattan. ABB also recently won an order from TAURON Dystrybucja SA, the leading power company in Poland, to deploy the first digital substation in Poland.