ABB (Zurich, Switzerland) has won contracts worth $50 million for two projects to strengthen Mexico's power supply. The contracts awarded by Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the Mexican state-owned utility, will enlarge the transmission and distribution network in different parts of the country.

CFE generates, transmits and distributes electrical power to about 23.7 million industrial and household clients in Mexico.

One project will involve ABB assembling and installing six 400-kV air-insulated substations and other high-voltage equipment in the northern and southeastern states of Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Coahuila, Veracruz and Zacatecas. The project is expected to be completed by April 2008.

For the other project, ABB will supply 115-kV gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) to a substation in the state of Oaxaca. An accelerated process will ensure that the substation is completed in 13 months.

The project also includes the construction and installation of power reactors at 1.8 MVA and a 30-km (19-miles) extension to a 115-kV transmission line. Equipment and components for both projects will be provided by ABB factories in Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Sweden and Switzerland.