ABB will supply an electrical balance of plant (eBoP) solution for the Ingula hydropower plant being developed on the border of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces in South Africa.
The Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme (PSS) will generate 1,333MW of energy to be integrated into the South African grid when fully operational in 2014.
Under the $23m contract, ABB will design, engineer, supply, install and commission the project.
The firm will supply components including service and auxiliary transformers, dry-type distribution transformers and medium- and low-voltage switchgear.
The Ingula PSS will comprise an upper and lower reservoir connected by underground waterways to a subterranean generating plant with four 333MW pump turbines.
During peak consumption periods, water released from the upper reservoir through the pump turbines to the lower reservoir will generate electricity, while it will be reversed during low consumption periods.
