ABB received a change order for the ongoing PG&E series capacitor replacement project in which four additional 500-kV series capacitor banks will be added to the four series capacitors that PG&E ordered during summer 2001. The eight series capacitors will have a combined reactive power rating of 4033 MVAR.

This change order activates the second phase of the planned replacement of nine older existing series capacitors in PG&E's transmission network in the western United States.

For all three phases of the project, ABB will construct entirely new banks of series capacitors. Once the new capacitors are in operation, ABB has a separate contract for the dismantling of the existing banks and the disposal of older PCB capacitor cans and any contaminated soil.

Scheduled for completion by the end of 2003, Phase 2 of the project will be located at the Gates Substation near Fresno, California. The additional banks will increase the transfer capability and reliability of the sensitive transmission Path 15, currently a bottleneck affecting electrical power transfer between Northern and Southern California. The series capacitor banks will be designed from the outset to accommodate various network configurations for a third 500-kV line being planned along Path 15.
Circle 154 on Reader Service Card