2004-03-10 - Installation of 20 bays of gas insulated switchgear is key stage in £9 million project for new indoor substation
ABB’s £9 million project for NEDL (Northern Electric’ Distribution) to design and build a replacement 132kV indoor substation at Norton, near Stockton-on-Tees, has reached an important milestone with the successful installation of 20 bays of state of the art compact ELK - 04 gas insulated (GIS) switchgear.
The new indoor substation at Norton, which will interconnect the National Grid and NEDL’s distribution network at 132kV, with eight incoming and outgoing circuits, is on target to commence operation towards the end of 2004. It will then take over from the existing outdoor substation on the same site, which is now reaching the end of its useful life and is being replaced in order to ensure continued reliability of supply to Teeside and surrounding areas. The use of ABB’s GIS switchgear, rather than conventional air insulated switchgear (AIS), is enabling the new substation to be housed indoors and condensed into around one quarter of the space.
NEDL background
NEDL serves the fourth largest geographic area of the 12 regional electricity distribution companies in England and Wales. Its service area comprises 14,400 sq km in north east England with a resident population of 3.2 million.
NEDL receives electricity from the National Grid transmission system and distributes it, at voltages of up to 132kV, to 1.5 million premises. The company owns and operates over 17,000 km of overhead lines and 27,000 km of underground cables.
ABB Background
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 115,000 people.