Leading power and automation technologies company ABB is playing a critical behind-the-scenes role during the 2014 FIFA World Cup that started this week in Rio De Janeiro.
The Cary, NC-based company worked with the local utillity to retrofit 25 substations in Rio De Janeiro, the third largest South American city, to bolster its electrical network's reliability.
"These compact substations will enable additional power supplies required during the forthcoming global sporting events being hosted by Brazil and will reinforce the transmission grid for the future," Brice Koch, head of ABB's Power Systems division, said last year. "ABB has the range of technologies, the experience and the project management capabilities to support the country in its efforts to strengthen its power infrastructure."
ABB equipment is also behind the scenes at other World Cup Stadiums. ABB transformers help deliver environmentally-friendly electricity for spectators at Porto Alegre's Beira-Rio Stadium. At Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães in Curitiba, which is further north along Brazil's Atlantic coast, ABB medium-voltage panels will protect and control the 43,000-seat stadium's electrical equipment including lighting and power. In Recife, ABB surge arresters and medium-voltage surge arresters protect Arena Pernambuco’s electrical equipment to prevent power grid overload. Inside the Estádio Plácido Aderaldo Castelo in Fortaleza, ABB contactors will switch power circuits, controlling lighting, heating and other electrical loads.
Finally, a new $30 million substation, filled with the company's gas-insulated switchgear, will help light up events at Rio De Janeiro's Maracanã venue during the 2016 Olympic Games and beyond.
