ABB has signed a multi-year agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) worth $15 million to supply 670 Series protection and control relays over the next 10 years. The agreement comes as TVA upgrades and expands its massive multi-state network on the power grid.
ABB will continue as a supplier to provide TVA with electromechanical relays, test switches and related power products, systems and services for TVA’s many substations, switchyards, power plants and connection points, helping TVA to achieve increased energy efficiency, reliability and intelligence.
The announcement was made at GridWeek 2008, a U.S. Department of Energy conference in Washington, D.C. aimed at advancing smart grid initiatives.
ABB’s 670 Series Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) is a highly advanced protective relay for the protection, control and monitoring of transformers, breakers, transmission lines, capacitor banks, generators and buses. These relays allow multi-object capabilities where several primary apparatus can be protected with a single device, enabling many other intelligent solutions based on functional integration. The IED 670 series supports the worldwide IEC 61850 standard for substation automation, providing extreme intelligence and flexibility that allows for interoperability in communication with other relays and substation automation components.
ABB has been a partner to TVA in the successful deployment and energization of the first U.S.-based multi-vendor IEC 61850 500 kV substation. TVA’s Bradley substation was energized in April 2008 and sets the industry benchmark for capabilities in advanced protection, control and automation using the latest available technology and communication standards.
“Our collaboration with TVA during the buildout of their new Bradley substation, along with the dedication and expertise of everyone involved at TVA and ABB, was an important factor in making this new IEC 61850-compliant, 500kV substation a reality,” said Steven Kunsman, head of Substation Automation Products, Global Product Management, ABB. “We look forward to continuing this partnership with TVA as we look for ways to make the power grid more energy efficient and reliable for our customers.”
