ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, won SR78.7 million ($21 million) contract from South Steel Company (SOLB), the first steel plant located in Jizan Economic City, to design, supply and install a 132-kilovolt substation. The contract, signed with SOLB South Steel Company's majority investor Pan Kingdom Investment, will ensure that the SOLB South Steel Company can meet its annual production capacity of one million ton billets and re-bar. The project, based in Jizan Economic City, is one of the new multimillion-square-meter economic zones in Saudi Arabia. It was inaugurated in 2006 by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Its total area will exceed 100 million square meters. The total investments in the area will be over $27 billion. Jizan Economic City, one of Saudi Arabia's new economic zones, will focus on heavy and secondary industries and will have a projected population of 300,000 when completed sometime in 2011. “Our ability and the state of the art technology were decisive in winning this order for what is set to be the first steel plant in the south of Saudi Arabia,” said Mahmoud Shaban, sub-region manager Arabian Peninsula and region divisional manager, power systems MEA. “We've worked to ensure SOLB South Steel and Pan Kingdom Investment that the substation will be up on schedule to power all the company's facilities,” he added. While the initial steel production has been set at one million tons per annum, the company's total capacity will rise to two million tons based on demand. The substation designed and installed by ABB will be able to provide additional output as and when required by SOLB South Steel Company. “Our requirements and our long-term production targets meant that we needed to choose the best supplier possible,” said Shaikh Sulaiman Bin Saleem Al-Harbi, chairman SOLB Board of Directors. “ABB's reputation, solutions, and service were above and beyond what we expected and we're delighted that they will be working with us to create the Kingdom's most modern steel production facility,” he said. As part of turnkey projects, ABB will deliver gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, low-voltage auxiliary systems, network protection and control systems solutions to help monitor the substation ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.
