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ABB to provide control system for Alberta power project

10/05/2007

Zurich, Switzerland - ABB has announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide Industrial IT Extended Automation System 800xA and related project services for the Keephills Unit 3 power project in Alberta, Canada. The contract was awarded by plant supplier Hitachi and is valued at US$ 7.110M.

Unit 3 is jointly owned by TransAlta Corporation and EPCOR Utilities Inc. and will be located at TransAlta’s Keephills power plant facility, located near Edmonton. The facility currently has two coal-fired units with a combined output of 766 megawatts. Unit 3 will also be coal-fired and will produce 450 megawatts when it is completed in 2011.

ABB’s delivery includes System 800xA Extended Automation for burner management, boiler control, balance of plant, data acquisition, sequence of events and plant historian. ABB will also provide project management, engineering configuration and other related site services.

"Keephills Unit 3 is important to help keep up with the demand for power in Alberta. The province is experiencing record economic growth, and this drives the need for more electricity," explained ABB Project Manager Kevin de Ree. "System 800xA is well- suited for the requirements of Unit 3. It also provides for future advances in systems technologies".

EPCOR will construct Unit 3. Upon completion, TransAlta will operate it. Both companies will independently market their share of the unit’s output.