ABB to supply drives for major North West water project

ABB has won a contract to supply two medium voltage drives to a water project that will form a vital part of the water supply system for the North West of England.

The drives will control pumping for the £125m West East Link Main, being built by J Murphy and Sons for United Utilities between Merseyside and Greater Manchester. The 55km 1.2 metre diameter pipeline will connect the two areas, allowing United Utilities to move water around the region and balance supplies from the Lake District and North Wales.

The pipeline is bidirectional. From east to west, the water will flow downhill, but from west to east it needs to be pumped along the pipe. To meet this need, ABB will supply two ACS1000i medium voltage drives and two AMA500L6A AC machines, both rated at 1790 kW. They will be installed at United Utilities' Prescot Works.

Paul Foden, projects manager for Nomenca, mechanical and electrical sub-contractor for the project, says: "We chose ABB because it could supply the best package. The integral transformer in the drives allows us to step-down the site voltage to the drive minimising space requirements. The drives are also 24-pulse, ensuring they produce minimum harmonic interference to neighbouring properties, which was very important to United Utilities. Additionally due to the technology it was not necessary to de-rate the motor output".

When completed, the West East Link Main will allow United Utilities to take other major pipelines out of service temporarily for cleaning, without any disruption to supply.