Swiss company ABB has selected the city of Huntersville, North Carolina as the site for a new manufacturing facility for high-voltage power cables that will be used to upgrade U.S. transmission capacity for increased renewable power generation.
The new plant, located in northern Mecklenburg County and the greater
Charlotte metropolitan area, will manufacture high-voltage power cables
for use in AC and DC transmission lines. ABB is investing approximately
$90 million in the new manufacturing facility, which will employ more
than 100 people.
Initial site preparations are expected to begin early in 2011 with
construction of the main facility—including an extrusion tower of over
350 feet—slated for completion in the second half of 2012.
The Huntersville factory will produce high-voltage and extra-high
voltage cables that are increasingly being used to mitigate the visual
impact of and right-of-way needs for transmission lines. The transport
of power from remote renewable energy sources such as wind and solar
will further support the need for underground transmission lines.
ABB already employs more than 770 people in North Carolina in manufacturing and other facilities. This includes its Corporate Research Center, as well as the Power Products and Power Systems divisional headquarters for North America, all on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The company’s North America corporate headquarters are located in Cary.
“We have a very good and long-standing relationship with the state of North Carolina,” said Enrique Santacana, region manager for ABB in North America. ”The combination of proximity to transportation, top-notch engineering talent and an attractive living environment made Huntersville an excellent choice for this facility.”
ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.
One of ABB’s chief competitors for high-voltage power cables in American Superconductor (Nasdaq: AMSC).
The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people. In May, ABB acquired Atlanta, Georgia-based Ventyx for about $1 billion. Ventyx is a developer of Energy Management Software.
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