ABB to balance combined-cycle plant in Algeria
ALGERIA - ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth $14 million to provide a complete electrical balance of plant (eBoP) solution for a 150-megawatt (MW) integrated, combined-cycle solar power plant under construction in Algeria.
The order was placed by the Spanish company UTE Aberer Hassi RÂ’Mel Construction and the plant will be set up at the Hassi RÂ’Mel natural gas field in northern Algeria. It will have two 40 MW gas turbines, one 80-MW steam turbine and two parabolic trough solar fields with a generating capacity of 25 MW. The power plant will be fired by a combination of natural gas from the gas field and solar energy collected by the parabolic troughs. This is a pioneering hybrid project in terms of integrating solar and combined cycle power generation in a single facility.
ABBÂ’s project scope includes design, engineering, supply, erection and commissioning of the complete electrical balance of plant. The main equipment to be supplied includes medium- and low-voltage switchgear, auxiliary transformers, generator circuit breakers, isolated bus-ducts and emergency diesel generators. The project is expected to be completed by August 2010.
“We are pleased to be associated with this pioneering initiative,” said Franz-Josef Mengede, head of ABB’s global Power Generation business in the Power Systems division. “Our technology and expertise in conventional and renewable power generation, coupled with our ability to execute fast-track projects of this nature, help to make our customers more competitive.”
ABB has a range of power and automation solutions for renewable energy. The company is presently executing several photovoltaic and thermo-solar power projects in Europe, the United States, Australia and the Middle East.
Related News

Greening Ontario's electricity grid would cost $400 billion: report
TORONTO - Ontario will need to spend $400 billion over the next 25 years in order to decarbonize the electricity grid, according to a new report by the province’s electricity system manager that’s now being considered by the Ford government.
The Independent System Electricity Operator (IESO) was tasked with laying out a path to reducing Ontario’s reliance on natural gas for electricity generation and what it would take to decarbonize the entire electricity grid by 2050.
Meeting the goal, the IESO concluded, will require an “aggressive” approach of doubling the electricity capacity in Ontario over the next two-and-a-half decades — from 42,000…