ABB wins huge China power orders

Engineering group ABB has won contracts worth $440 million (SFr507 million) to build the world's longest power link across China.

The 2,000-kilometre power line will cross the country from western China to the highly industrialised coastal area in the east, said ABB.

The company said the line would have the capacity to meet the needs of about 31 million people based on per-head consumption. The link, ordered by China’s State Grid Corporation, is scheduled for completion in 2011.

ABB said the line would not only be the longest of its kind globally, it would also operate at twice the capacity of any facility in operation at the moment.

By increasing the voltage to 800 kilovolts, a minimum of power will be lost in transmission, added the company. Conventional high voltage power lines operate at around 500 kilovolts.