Connection of loads is a fundamental task for the transmission grid.
We have selected to divide the applications according to load types. See to the Index to the right.
Isolated loads
With isolated loads we mean loads that due to geographical or other conditions are not connected to a major grid but have to rely on (small) local generation. Examples are islands and remote towns and villages. The local generation is often expensive and not environmentally sound. If an isolated load can be connected to a main grid the cost of electricity goes down. The transmissions options are often HVDC/HVDC Light or AC with FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission Systems).
ABB Case Stories of typical applications:
Offshore oil and gas loads
Offshore platform loads can be seen as a special case of isolated loads. Traditionally, all auxiliary power used on oil and gas production platforms has been generated locally. A number of investigations are currently being made to feed power from land also to platforms that are a long distance away from land in order to reduce the
CO2 -emissions and ABB has got the first order for an offshore HVDC Light transmission.
ABB Case Stories of typical applications:
Read more in:
Electrical supply for offshore installations made possible by use of VSC technology
(Acrobat file 256 kB)
Industrial loads
With industrial loads we most often refer to the processes within the heavy steel industry, but also other industries have similar load characteristics. In particular the electric arc furnaces and the rolling mills, constitute erratic loads with respect to their consumption of reactive power. In these cases an SVC can compensate the violent fluctuations and assure adequate power quality. The SVC Light can provide a higher degree of mitigation of voltage flicker and harmonics.
ABB Case Stories of typical applications:
Railway loads
More and more on a worldwide scale, electrification of railways is focused on as an economically attractive and environmentally friendly investment in infrastructure. As these projects evolve, they introduce an unbalanced and heavy distorted load on the three-phase transmission grid. The SVC and the SVC Light can both elegantly be used to counteract the unbalances and mitigate the harmonics, such that the power quality within the transmission grid is not impaired.
ABB Case Stories of typical applications:
City center infeeds
As the size of a concentrated load increases due to the on-going urbanization, metropolitan power networks have to be continuously upgraded to meet the demand. Land space being scarce and expensive, substantial difficulties arise whenever new right-of-way is to be secured for the feeding of additional power. Furthermore, with increasing power levels, the risk of exceeding the short-circuit capability of switchgear equipment and other network components becomes a real threat to further expansion.
Typical application: