ABB provides reliable power supply for Beijing Daxing International Airport

On September 29, 2019, the world-renowned hexagon-shaped Beijing Daxing International Airport officially was put into operation after four years of construction.

The new international aviation hub is the second international airport in Beijing. At the center of the action will be the 7.5-million-square-foot (700,000 square meters) passenger terminal, equally the size of nearly 100 football field. According to its plan, the long-term annual traffic capacity of the new airport will reach up to 130 million passengers, and power consumption will hit 800 million kilowatt-hours, which are equal to 1.5 and 1.6 times of the size of the current Beijing Capital Airport.

To meet the massive power demand, Beijing Electric Power Corporation, the official power company, will build seven transmission and substation projects at the first stage, and the power supply reliability in the airport and its economic zone will reach to 99.9999% - equivalent to less than 30 seconds of power outage annually. This poses high requirement for power supply equipment.

As a global leader in power, ABB has participated multiple China's super-large engineering projects, including Beijing Capital Airport, which is Beijing’s first international airport, Bird’s Nest and Water Cube of Beijing Olympic Stadiums, Shanghai Expo, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and etc.

For Daxing airport, ABB provided several 50MVA/110kV transformers for two 110kV central substations in the east and west of the airport. Transformer is vital to a grid and plays a key role in converting voltages effectively and safely. Transformers from ABB have a high short-circuit strength and proven reliability, helping to improve the performance of the entire power supply system, enhancing power security for the airport and reducing maintenance costs and risks.

In addition, ABB also provided the 110kV Gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) for the same two central substations in the airport. ABB pioneered GIS technology over 50 years ago. GIS is a compact metal encapsulated switchgear that uses pressurized insulating gas and enables safe operations in confined spaces while significantly reducing equipment footprint. GIS can occupy as little as 10 percent of the space of an air-insulated switchgear (AIS). As a market and technology leader in high-voltage GIS technology, ABB offers ratings and applications from 72.5kV to 1,200kV and has a global installed base of more than 35,000 bays. ABB’s latest offering includes eco-efficient and digital capabilities.

Reference of the Daxing Airport: 1. Airport official WeChat 2. State Grid website