ABB Powers Rail Traffic in France
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Background information ABB and the railway industry ABB powers rail traffic in France ABB continues to grow its rail activities congestion are leading many to look for ways to considerably around the world. As a major minimize the economical, ecological and spatial role as a supplier to the railway industry in footprint of transportation. Large cities are becoming France for several decades, ABB contributes ever larger and with them the importance of reliable and cost-efficient solutions for both transportation. Suburban rail networks are infrastructure and rolling stock. fundamental for providing reliable and efficient transport and many cities are moving to expand the For infrastructure, ABB substations contain reach and capacity of their transport networks. This all the necessary transformers, switchgear, is especially true in and around Paris where the protection and automation equipment that commuter and regional services account for around ensure the supply of stable power for train one billion trips per year, or a whopping 80 percent of traction systems. On the rolling-stock side its national rail usage! broad portfolio of equipment and services, including traction transformers, converters, Thus in France, as in many other countries, ambitious motors and many other components are expectations are placed on railway networks, which used by vehicle manufacturers and railway results in continuous investment in commuter, operators. regional, freight and national and international high- speed services. This investment, approximately €50 The following background information focuses billion ($71 billion) over the next 15 years, has not mainly on ABB rail activities in France. While been significantly affected by the global economic this is by no means a comprehensive overview, and financial downturn. it serves to illustrate how ABB has become a major supplier for train manufacturers and A rail revolution in France operators in this local market. France is considered a pioneer when it comes to public transport, especially very high-speed As the world’s fifth largest and wealthiest economy transport. At over 2,000 km and steadily growing, [1] and a popular tourist destination, France France today operates Europe’s second largest high- understands that the mobility of people and goods speed rail network (behind Spain) known as the are essential to the success of its economy: Global Lignes à Grande Vitesse (LGV) but posts the highest trade now requires the affordable and timely traffic figures. Since 1981 the French Train à Grande transportation of freight over long distances, while Vitesse (TGV) has been setting the pace in European business and tourism depend on people travelling high-speed rail operations. The initial maximum between cities. In fact, Paris is the second most speed of 260 km/h recorded during its inaugural trip important city for the world’s 500 biggest companies’ between Paris and Lyon has incrementally been headquarters. raised over the years to 320 km/h. The world speed record of 574.8 km/h for a wheel-driven train was Paris, like many French cities -and cities all over the achieved during a test run of a prototype train set, ie, world- is feeling the effects of growing urbanization. a shortened version of the TGV Duplex train set, in In 2008, it was estimated that more than half of the April 2007 on the LGV Est (Paris to Baudrecourt) world’s population now live within urban route. The train set incorporated the Automotrice à neighborhoods. Forecasters predict that this figure Grande Vitesse (AGV)1 traction chain and the record will increase to 60 percent by 2030! This urban is held jointly by the French railway companies expansion is placing considerable strain on existing Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français transportation infrastructures, with unprecedented (SNCF), Alstom and Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), levels of congestion becoming widespread in many the French railway infrastructure agency. urban areas. As well as impacting the quality of life of those subjected to it, this level of congestion also Over the next decades, billions of euros will be generates locally unacceptable levels of air pollution. invested in infrastructure (which encompasses track, Concerns over the environment, energy prices and 1 AGV is the generic name of high-speed trains manufactured by Alstom, while TGV is an SNCF trademark. ABB ISI Rail Trade Press Relations, P.O. Box 2095, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland Phone: +41 (0) 58 586 22 11 | Fax: +41 (0) 58 586 26 82 | www.abb.com/railway signaling, bridges, tunnels, stations, communication, loads fed from two phases of three-phase supplying power supply and electrification) and rolling stock. On grids; mitigating the voltage fluctuations caused by the infrastructure side, there is a commitment to heavy loads; eliminating harmonics injected into the increase the high-speed rail network to 4,000 km by supply grids by traction devices without the need for 2020. New lines will include Le Mans to Rennes passive shunt harmonic filters; power-factor (Bretagne–Pays de Loire extensions) and Tours to correction; and enabling adequate power quality. Bordeaux (LGV Sud Europe Atlantique extensions); These benefits reduce, if not eliminate, the Montpellier to Perpignan and Nimes to Montpellier investments needed to upgrade the railway power- by-pass (part of the Paris-Barcelona-Madrid route); feeding infrastructure, an important fact that attracted and a second arm of the LGV Rhine-Rhône and Est the attention of RFF and SNCF. Européenne (to Strasbourg) lines as well as Lyon to Turin and Marseille to Nice. RFF/SNCF has two SVC Light installations in its railway powering infrastructure. The first is installed in A program of LGV expansion beyond 2020 for a the Evron substation3, which is situated on the rail further 2,500 km has also been discussed that would network between Paris and Rennes. SVC Light was include domestic and cross-border routes [2] [3]. For chosen not only for the technical benefits described light-rail systems, 150 km of new lines are expected above but also because the alternative, building a to be completed by 2020. For the Paris region, the new overhead line, would have been much more Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) has costly and time consuming. In addition, the fact that been focusing on the upgrade of two metro lines, a passive filter is not required (as all harmonics up to and the projects of Grand Paris Automatic Metro and including the ninth harmonic are filtered out) and System and the Charles de Gaulle Express (PPP) the footprint of an SVC-Light solution is quite small which are currently in the decision process [3]. were other deciding factors. The task of SVC Light in the Evron substation is to confine the grid unbalance On the rolling stock side, SNCF has been investing at 90 kV to no more than 1 percent for a grid fault both in the new TGV, suburban and regional train level (Sssc) greater than or equal to 600 MVA under sets and the renovation of current rolling stock and normal network conditions and no greater than 1.5 stations. The RATP, in association with SNCF, has percent for 300 MVA ≤ Sssc ≤ 600 MVA for abnormal been focusing on the renovation of rolling stock and network conditions. Measurements taken since SVC new rolling stock for the Réseau Express Régional Light was installed show that the voltage imbalance (RER), the rapid transit system serving Paris and its does not exceed 1 percent. suburbs. ABB’s contribution to infrastructure Much of the electric energy used by railways is actually drawn from the national grid. However, significant differences between railway electrification and national grids exist, such as the single- or two- phase power used mostly by AC-electrified railways compared to the three-phase power transmitted and distributed by domestic grids. In addition, the frequency used for electrification often differs from these grids and even when the same frequency is used, there may be synchronization problems. As both passenger and freight traffic continue to increase on existing tracks, combined with new high- speed rail projects, these grids are forced to deal Single-line diagram of the Evron 90 kV load balancer with heavy and strong time-varying single-phase loads that have the potential to cause instability (eg, The Mesnay substation, located along the Jura line imbalance) in the network. Load balancing, used to linking France and Switzerland, contains an SVC- overcome this problem, is concerned with Light installation for dynamic balancing of railway transferring active and reactive power between loads. Rated at 63 kV 15 MVA, it can accommodate different power-supply phases and this can be a single-phase active load of up to 16 MW. Its task is carried out using ABB’s SVC Light®. to confine grid imbalance at 63 KV to no more than 1 percent under normal network conditions and no SVC Light2 benefits the power grids feeding railway greater than 1.8 percent for abnormal (N-1) network systems by dynamically balancing non-symmetrical conditions. 2 SVC Light® is ABB’s trade name for STATCOM and is a member of its Flex- 3 The Evron substation is fed from the Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) ible AC transmission systems (FACTS) family. national power grid. ABB background information | ABB powers rail traffic in France 2 On the electrified network, high-voltage equipment Lamarck-Caulaincourt. ABB, in a multi-million euro plays an important role in ensuring an uninterrupted contract, is providing turnkey control systems (one for supply, high network availability, and the protection of each substation) to be connected to the RATP central personnel and equipment. In railway substations, substation, as well as 220 medium-voltage switchgear and circuit breakers ensure safe and withdrawable UNIMIX WCB and UniGear ZS1 flexible operation.