Swiss automation and power firm ABB has secured a $32m contract from Kansanshi Mining, a subsidiary of Canadian mining and metals firm First Quantum Minerals, to construct a new substation and upgrade an existing facility.
ABB said after completion the facilities will help to provide reliable power supplies to Africa’s biggest copper mine, being constructed in the northwestern province of the country.
As per the deal, ABB will provide design, engineering, supply and installation services as well as high- and medium-voltage air-insulated switchgear and power transformers.
The substation will also feature automation, control and protection systems, which will allow local and remote monitoring and control the power assets.
The contract also requires ABB to supply telecommunications systems and solar photovoltaic-powered repeater stations to facilitate reliable long-distance transmission of digital signals through fiber-optic cables to a remote-end substation located some 400km away.
The new substation will be a main node in the new 330kV transmission ring connecting the capital Lusaka and the copper belt area with two main supply transmission line systems.
Expected to be completed by 2014, the project will help improve power quality in the Zambian network.
ABB Power Systems division head Brice Koch said the substations in Zambia will enhance transmission capacity and improve reliability and quality of power supply to the mining operations.
"Our advanced technologies, project management capability and extensive experience play a key role in the successful execution of such complex and time-critical projects," Koch said.