ABB has been awarded a bid to supply traction sub-stations and auxiliary power supply for a newly developed railway line in Ethiopia for US$16mn
The Awash-Kombolcha-Weldia line is part of a five-year plan, which is said to reach completion by 2017, ABB said.
According to the contract, ABB will be providing equipment packages for five 230/25 kilovolt (kV0) traction sub-stations, eight section posts, and 30 auxiliary sub-stations.
The core products include high and medium-voltage switchgear, traction transformers (25MVA), power factor correction (PFC) transformers, FSKII+ railway circuit breakers, and auxiliary power supply equipment.
The railway line will stretch across 400 km between the northern and eastern ‘traffic corridors’ of Ethiopia and link up to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti, which will facilitate trade and tourist growth as the travel time could be reduced up to 50 per cent.
Claudio Facchin, head of ABB’s power systems division, said, “These sub-stations will enable the efficient supply of electricity to power the network’s expansion and ensure reliable operation and performance of this rail network.
“ABB has a wide range of technologies and a strong track record of providing innovative solutions for the rail sector, serving communities all over the world. This order also shows our increased focus on expanding in Africa.”
