ABB : launches new ABB Ability™ solution for fast ring network reconfiguration and fault management

The ABB Ability™ Loop Control for distribution networks, LC1000 UniSec solution helps detect and isolate faults in electricity networks within less than one second, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to wherever it is needed.

Power blackouts can have a severe disruptive impact on society and have been demonstrated to be accompanied by large economic losses. To ensure an uninterrupted power supply in open and closed ring networks, ABB has developed a new solution for the medium-voltage air-insulated switchgear (AIS) UniSec to make the power infrastructure more resilient against such events.

The ABB Ability™ Loop Control for distribution networks, LC1000 UniSec solution is designed for critical applications, where blackouts would cause severe problems and considerable costs. For example, where a blackout could jeopardize health or safety and cause service disruptions in hospitals, airports, subways, data centers, and water supplies. In industry, power failures disrupt production, which results in expensive losses. ABB Ability™ is ABB's unified, cross-industry, digital offering, which enables customers to increase productivity and lower costs.

ABB's new solution restores power very quickly. When using motor-operated switch-disconnectors in the medium-voltage switchgear in ring networks, the solution detects and isolates a fault in less than one second. And if the switchgear is equipped with a circuit-breaker and current and voltage combi sensors, the detection and isolation of the fault is even faster: less than 0.5 seconds.

'Ever-increasing demands on grid reliability and the growing amount of distributed generation makes it vital to introduce new solutions that optimize the use of communication technology,' said Marco Tellarini, Global Product Group Manager in ABB's Distribution Solutions business within the Electrification Products division. 'The LC1000 UniSec solution meets the most stringent reliability and post-fault recovery requirements, with its ability to reconfigure the network very quickly after a fault occurs, resulting in improved reliability of the power system.'

The solution utilizes ABB's advanced protection and control technology in the Relion® relays that are integrated into the UniSec switchgear. These smart devices use the power of GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Substation Event) communication of the IEC 61850 protocol to detect and instantly message one another to eliminate faults in the network. ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner of Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motor-sport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 135,000 employees. www.abb.com