The company has won an $18 million contract from the Barbados Light & Power Co to upgrade the power network in the north of the island and help protect it from damage by hurricanes by installing underground cables.

ABB will supply 132 kV and 24 kV underground power cables, as well as accessories, civil works and installation, for the Northern Underground Cable Expansion Project that was launched to upgrade the island’s power grid and meet increasing demand for electricity in northern Barbados.

Delivery is expected to begin during the spring of 2006 with installation due to commence during the summer of 2006, and the project is scheduled for completion one year later.

A $27 million order to install a 275kV substation in Kuwait has also been won by ABB.

The contract is with EQUATE Petrochemical Company, a joint venture of the Kuwaiti government and private petroleum companies manufacturing plastics and chemicals. The project will bring electrical power from the Kuwaiti grid to a new ethylene and derivatives petrochemical complex called Olefins II.

A consortium led by ABB and including Japanese cable manufacturer EXSYM will execute the project, worth $62 million in total.

The contract scope is for design, manufacture, erection and commissioning of 275kV and 33kV switchgear, power transformer, control, protection and substation automation systems.

The Olefins II complex is in the Shuaiba Industrial Area about 60 km from Kuwait city

ABB has also recently won a $170 million contract from Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation – Kahramaa – to expand Qatar’s power transmission system to support the county’s rapid growth and surging demand for power.

The contract includes 12 substations and power cables for use in Qatar’s Phase VI grid expansion project, scheduled for completion by summer 2007. Under the terms of the contract, ABB will carry out engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the substations and associated 132kV and 66kV power cables. In total, ABB will add 127 km of high-voltage power cables to Qatar’s power grid.