ABB has helped the McCain Food site at Scarborough to make more efficient use of its existing power network
ABB PFC (power factor correction) equipment has provided a vital boost in energy efficiency for the McCain Food’s massive site at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, which produces many of the company’s key products. The result is that the existing power network, which previously was operating close to its maximum 9.5MW load, is able to cope comfortably with the demand of the new Homes Fries production line without needing a major investment in new network infrastructure.
McCain Foods called in ABB during the planning of the its new Homes Fries line when it became clear that the existing power network serving the site might not be able to handle a major additional demand. If this proved to be the case then an additional 11kV/400V substation would be required, at an estimated cost of around £250K. Even worse, the YEDL power lines that feed Scarborough from the York Distribution Centre were already operating up to their limit.
Site survey
In November 2007 ABB carried out a site survey that established that a number of key loads were operating at a significantly low PF (power factor). PF is essentially a measure of how effectively electrical power is being used. Ideally it would be 1, and the closer to this figure it actually is then the more effectively electrical power is being used and vice versa. ABB’s verdict was that by installing suitable power factor correction equipment it would be possible to significantly improve network efficiency to release sufficient useable power to meet the needs of the Home Fries line.
Advance automatic capacitor banks
ABB’s sophisticated Advance automatic capacitor banks have been installed at eight strategic points in the McCain network – representing a total of 2,900 kVAr. This has restored the PF to acceptable industry standard levels, ranging from 0.95 to 0.97, and has made an extra 600kVA of power available. This enabled production to start in April 2008 without the need for any new network infrastructure.
Bill Bartlett, Corporate Affairs Director of McCain Foods said: “ABB’s power factor correction equipment has played a key role in our energy efficiency programme that enables the line to draw all the power it needs from our existing power network without the need for significant capital expenditure on a new substation and power lines.
ABB Background
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 115,000 people.