OREANDA-NEWS. ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth over USD 160 million from Eskom, South Africa's national electricity provider, to supply control systems,software and instrumentation for the 4,800 megawatt (MW) Kusile coal-fired power station under construction near Witbank in the country's north east.

Kusile will be the fourth largest coal-fired power station in the world and will help boost South Africa's capacity. It's among a new generation of high-pressure, high-temperature power installations, also known as supercritical, whose efficiency surpasses that of conventional coal-fired power plants, producing lower emissions and reducing fuel costs.

Kusile will be the first in Africa to use wet flue gas desulphurization technology in all its plant boilers. Eskom, which generates more than 90 percent of its electricity from coal-fired stations, is installing state-of-the-art clean coal technology in one of its largest plants to help ensure a long term, reliable source of baseload electricity for the region.

ABB is supplying a complete control and instrumentation solution for the entire plant, including boiler protection and plant simulator, engineering, installation, commissioning, optimization and training. ABB is a leader in providing automation and software for advanced clean coal power plants, including supercritical installations like Kusile.

The project further strengthens ABB's leading position as a provider of advanced automation and software solutions to electricity utilities globally and in the Southern African region, with systems already installed in South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"ABB's state-of-the-art energy efficient technology solutions will help boost power supplies and bring reliable power supply to consumers" said Claudio Facchin, president of ABB Power Systems division. "We are pleased to continue with our contribution to the development of South Africa's power infrastructure through our power, automation and software capabilities."

ABB power plant automation and software ensure more effective plant operations, providing greater awareness and enabling faster response and better decisions that improve plant availability and efficiency.