ABB has signed a contract with independent power producer ORION to implement automation and control solutions at Bangladesh’s 100 MW Moidhara solar power plant in Mongla.

The contract will see ABB collaborate with Energon Renewables, a subsidiary of ORION, and aims to support the country’s growing energy requirements, as well as help the government of Bangladesh to achieve its goals of delivering cleaner power generation projects by 2020.

Energon will use efficient ‘mono Perc’ cells to capture solar rays and convert to power which would be then supplied at 132 kV AC voltage to the main grid in Mongla, 13km away. Mono perc cells give the highest efficiency in generating power among other solar cells available in the market.

Leveraging ABB Ability™ Symphony® Plus distributed control system technology, ABB will implement a fully integrated automation and electrical system for control and monitoring of the entire plant, including the Weather Monitoring Station, maximizing plant efficiency and reliability, and driving gains in performance, productivity and safety throughout lifecycle operations.

ABB will also supply the complete electrical solution comprising of transformers, RMUs and 33/132 kV substation along with the SCADA system communicating to the Bangladesh grid via IEC 60870-5-104 communication protocol.

Danilo Moresco, head of ABB Power and Water, Energy Industries, said: “This project is the first of its kind in Bangladesh. Through it, we will enable clean power to be supplied to residents and industry alike, helping the government to meet its global benchmarks of energy through renewable sources.

“With the ABB AbilityTM distributed control system (DCS) acting as common digital backbone offering total visibility of plant operations, assets and maintenance in real time, Energon will be able to optimize control strategies, processes and ultimately maximize plant availability, as well as benefit from collaboration via remote monitoring.”

Salman Obaidul Karim, managing director for ORION, comments: “Rapid industrialization in Bangladesh has seen the demand for power sharply increase and this continues to grow daily. The total generation capacity of the country is 20,000MW, yet currently, only 188MW is delivered from renewable sources. With this new solar project, we hope to increase this and help the country meet its target of 2,000MW generated through renewable sources by 2020.”

With 95% of Bangladesh’s power generation stemming from gas, diesel and coal, this 100MW plant, which is the equivalent to power produced by over 90,000 tons of coal a year, marks a step-change in generating energy from renewable sources and will act as a blueprint to define a road map for a further 1,000MW worth of solar power project developments across the country.