Black Hills Selects ABB's Integrated Instrumentation, Control and Electrical System Solution for New Wygen III Power Station

Dec. 2, 2008
ABB's iICE solution will provide the Wyoming plant with significant improvements in energy efficiency and cost savings Orlando, Florida, December 2, 2008 - ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today that Black Hills ...
ABB's iICE solution will provide the Wyoming plant with significant improvements in energy efficiency and cost savings

Orlando, Florida, December 2, 2008 - ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today that Black Hills Corporation, a diversified energy company, has selected ABB to provide power generation products, services and electrical design expertise for Wygen III, Black Hills' new power generation station near Gillette, Wyoming.

ABB has been working with Black Hills to provide an automation and electrical design that will result in greater cost-effectiveness and optimization, as well as an array of power generation equipment designed to improve energy efficiency and reliability.

“We are pleased to partner with ABB on our Wygen III unit and appreciate the progress that ABB has made, particularly with our complex electrical design and the cost savings we expect to realize,” said Mark Lux, vice president of Power Delivery, Black Hills Corp. “We look forward to the benefits of ABB's power plant expertise and their proven track record of exceeding expectations and providing highly efficient power equipment to enhance our generation fleet performance.”

The 100-megawatt, coal-fired Wygen III is being constructed at the existing Neil Simpson Energy Complex near Gillette, Wyoming, where there are five existing coal-fired units and two 40-megawatt natural gas turbines. The project is progressing with commercial operation scheduled for June 2010.

ABB created an electrical design that has reduced cable sizing quantities, thereby reducing cable-tray requirements and resulting in cost savings of both labor and equipment.

ABB provides a sophisticated new electrical design, including system studies, load lists, cable sizing, specifications and optimization. ABB supplies a broad range of power equipment, including generation circuit breakers, medium-voltage switchgear, secondary unit substations (SUS), SUS transformers, and various plant-wide control and instrumentation gear.

The announcement was made today at the Power-Gen International Conference & Exhibition in Orlando.

About Black Hills Corporation

Black Hills Corp. – a diversified energy company with a tradition of exemplary service and a vision to be the energy partner of choice – is based in Rapid City, South Dakota, with corporate offices in Golden, Colorado and Omaha, Nebraska. The utility companies serve 750,000 natural gas and electricity customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The company's non-regulated businesses generate wholesale electricity, produce natural gas, oil and coal, and market energy. Black Hills employees partner to produce results that improve life with energy. More information is available at www.blackhillscorp.com.

About ABB

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people. The company's North American operations, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, employ about 12,000 people in 20 manufacturing and other major facilities.

Contact:

Bill Rose

Media Relations Manager

ABB Inc.

Power Products & Power Systems North America

919-807-5743 - office

919-244-4879 - mobile

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