ABB Wins $11 Million Order for Steel Plant Power Equipment

"ABB was selected because of its ability to provide the highestlevel of technology available in the industry worldwide," said SandyTaylor, President for ABB in Canada. "This order confirms ABB's marketleadership position in the power electronics business in NorthAmerica."

The steel mill will use a DC electric arc furnace powered by ABBto produce approximately 1.5 million tons of rolled products annually.The high power rectifier (ABB Thyribloc(R)), rated at 2 x 80,000 amp,1,000 VDC, will convert AC utility power to DC as the primary powerinput to the arc furnace. The plant will primarily supply theautomotive manufacturing industry.

The project also includes two SVC systems, one 160 Mvar EAFcompensation system (Arc-Comp(Arc-Comp(R)) and one 100 Mvar rollingmill SVC. The SVC systems will provide the reactive power compensationto meet utility power quality requirements.

ABB will provide its newly developed AC 800PEC equipment controlplatform incorporating Arc-Comp(R), the first application of thistechnology in North America. The AC 800PEC is a high-end controllerbelonging to ABB's AC 800 automation family. It combines thehigh-speed control requirements of power electronics applications withlow-speed process control tasks usually carried out by separate PLCunits.

"We are delighted to have been selected to provide our equipmentand technology for the first DC electric arc furnace to be built inthe United States in many years," said Andre Steinberg, ABB's NorthAmerican Sales Manager for High Power Rectifiers. Steinberg noted thatABB has completed more than 80% of the DC electric arc furnaceinstallations in North America with 100% market share worldwide since1998.

The plant is scheduled for commissioning and start-up in Q4, 2006.

SeverCorr, LLC is owned by Severstal Group, a Russian holdingcompany which operates a steel-making division in Mississippi.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologiesthat enable utility and industry customers to improve performancewhile lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companiesoperates in around 100 countries and employs about 103,000 people. Thecompany's North American operations, headquartered in Norwalk,Connecticut, employ about 12,000 in manufacturing and otherfacilities.