Re Contract

ABB Ltd
4 April 2002


ABB wins US$ 50 million contract for power grid connection in United States 


High-voltage system will expand transmission between networks 

Zurich, Switzerland, April 4, 2002 - ABB, the global power and automation  
technology group, has won a US$50 million order to install a new high-voltage
direct current (HVDC) transmission system between the eastern and western power
grids of the United States. 

Under the terms of the contract, ABB will design, build and install the system
connecting the two grids, as part of a joint project between two US utilities:
Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck, North Dakota, and Black Hills 
Power, of Rapid City, South Dakota. 

The HVDC system - to be called the 'Rapid City Tie' because of its proximity to
Rapid City, South Dakota - will increase the capacity for high voltage power
exchange between the two grids by 200 megawatts. The Rapid City Tie will be
used by both utilities to expand service to their respective markets. 

'The Rapid City Tie demonstrates how HVDC transmission systems can rapidly
provide a utility customer with needed capacity,' said Richard Siudek, executive
vice president and head of ABB Utilities division. 'In this project, we are
putting ABB capabilities to work to deliver a cost-efficient system to Basin
Electric Power Cooperative in just 19 months.' 

The Rapid City Tie is scheduled to enter commercial operation in October 2003.
Besides enabling east-west power transmission, it will also provide voltage and
frequency support for disturbances in either one of the grids. 

The high voltage alternating current (AC) grids in the eastern and western U.S.
do not operate synchronously and require a technology interface to reliably
connect the systems together. ABB pioneered HVDC transmission technology - now
a well-proven technology - to interconnect asynchronous grids. HVDC is the
most frequently chosen solution for achieving this kind of interconnection. 



ABB (www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation technologies
that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while
lowering environmental impact. ABB has 155,000 employees in more than 100
countries. 




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