OREANDA-NEWS. ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced the inauguration of new USD 50 million manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic for air-insulated medium voltage switchgear, instrument transformers and substation automation systems.

New manufacturing units for air-insulated medium voltage switchgear and instrument transformers will be located at ABB's site in Brno, the country's second largest city. New substation automation systems facilities will also be established near an existing ABB site in Trutnov, a city located north-east of the country's capital, Prague.

At the company's Brno campus, ABB's medium-voltage business unit produces air-insulated switchgear, instrument transformers and sensors and has a service unit and research and development center. The new facility here will be one of the largest and most-advanced plants of its kind in the world, with specially automated lines. This latest expansion supports ABB's global footprint approach and is line with its Next Level Strategy aimed at accelerating sustainable value creation.

It will cover a production area of about 13,000 square meters and enable a 25 percent increase in the number of switchgear units produced. One of the highlights of the new unit will be fully automated and semi-automated lines for casting instrument transformers, deploying state-of-the-art ABB robots.

This marks the latest expansion of the site. In 2014, ABB inaugurated a new 12,500-square-meter manufacturing unit for high-voltage components in Brno as part of its global gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) factory network, incorporating engineering, assembly, and testing facilities.

"Brno is a major regional and global hub for ABB and this latest expansion in medium voltage products follows our high voltage products investment last year," said Bernhard Jucker, President and global head of ABB's Power Products division. "The expansion will help us deliver products faster to our customers while ensuring the highest standards of technology and quality."

Trutnov is home to ABB's largest European engineering center for substation controls and automation and also offers engineering- and project-management services and service support. After more than two decades in the city center, ABB will move to the Krkonosska industrial zone, where it will open an 8,500-square-meter campus comprising production, engineering and testing facilities.

"This new facility enables a significant expansion of our production capacity in Trutnov and supports the growth of our power grid automation business," said Claudio Facchin, president and global head of ABB's Power Systems division. "We will also strengthen our engineering center, which in addition to its regular activities is developing smart grid-and cyber security-related applications to address challenges and opportunities presented by the evolving power grid."

ABB has a long history in the Czech Republic dating back more than two decades. The company currently employs more than 3,400 people in eight locations across the country and has a strong production base that includes seven manufacturing facilities in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Trutnov and Jablonec nad Nisou, four research and development centers and two engineering centers.