July 30, 2008 – ABB won orders worth $113 million from Vedanta Aluminum Limited to provide automation and power products, systems and solutions for a greenfield expansion of an aluminum smelter plant in Jharsuguda, in the eastern state of Orissa, India.ABB will design, supply, build and 24 sets of high-power diode rectifier systems for four aluminum pot lines. “ABB automation and electrical systems will become the manufacturing backbone of this smelter plant,” said Tom Sjoekvist, head of ABB’s Automation Products division.
“The combination of standard ABB products and systems and our primary metal and minerals expertise creates an unbeatable offering for customers in terms of productivity, reliability and energy efficiency.”The expansion will double the smelter's production capacity of aluminum ingots, rods and rolled products.ABB’s scope of supply also includes a new 400/220-kilovolt (kV) switchyard to supply the new smelter plant with reliable power, as well as a high-performance process control system with fiber optic current sensors, as well as an ABB MicroSCADA control system for the power distribution network , substation switching bays, power and station transformers.ABB has already supplied rectifier systems for phase one of the Jharsuguda plant expansion in 2007-08.
When phase two is complete in 2009, Vedanta’s total aluminum smelting capacity will be approximately 1,700,000 tons per annum (tpa), making it one of the largest integrated aluminum producers in the world. ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 115,000 people.
