ABB Ability™ AIS for MV - UniGear
With UniGear Digital, you benefit from the latest digital technologies within ABB’s well-known and established medium-voltage switchgear to gain increased process efficiency and lower cost of operation. The digital solutions bring increased flexibility, reliability and safety, and additionally reduces switchgear weight, footprint and delivery time. The digital solution takes full advantage of well-proven components: current and voltage sensors, protection and control relays with IEC 61850 digital communication to ensure a reliable and efficient electrical network.
Benefits
Reliability and Safety
UniGear Digital provides reliable switchgear solution which
minimizes the risk of outages and increases switchgear availability.
The sensors are not using any iron core, therefore they are
immune against grid disturbances such as the ferroresonance.
Thanks to their smaller dimensions the sensors contain less
insulation material which reduces the risk of isolation degradation
in a switchgear. Moreover, UniGear Digital increases the
safety of operating personnel thanks to error free connection
between sensor and the protection relay. Digital communication
continuously supervises all signals. Error are immediately detected
and back-up scenario can be activated. The use of sensors
increases the safety for your personnel owing to the maximum
level of secondary signals during normal operation amounting to
only a few volts.
Minimize Lifetime Costs
UniGear Digital uses energy efficiently, without additional losses
during switchgear operation. Thanks to increased reliability the
risk of outages is minimized. This solution saves your costs during
the whole switchgear lifetime. Sensors, both current and voltage,
have negligible energy consumption and therefore less energy is
needed to operate the switchgear.
E.g. typical substation arrangement with 14 switchgear panels
with UniGear Digital saves up to 250 MWh over 30 years of
operation compared to conventional switchgear assembly. 250
MWh represent savings of 13 000 EUR.
Customizations and Changes
UniGear Digital is always capable of being adapted to your needs,
even at the final stage of switchgear production. Moreover,
UniGear Digital is ready to provide you with support anytime the
requirements of your network change. Thanks to utilizing digital
communication and sensors you are flexible with last minute
implementation of changes to the switchgear parameters, such as
the rated current or modification to switchgear logic schemes.
Features

Lower Environmental Impact
UniGear Digital represents green solution with high potential
savings of energy and reduction of CO2
emissions.
E.g. in a substation of 14 feeders, you can save energy equal to
150 tons of CO2
during 30 years of the system´s service. This
corresponds to emissions produced by a mid-size European car
over a mileage of 1 250 000 km.

Smart Grid Flexibility
UniGear Digital gives you the flexibility of changing the loads,
supplied by power by the switchgear, without changing the
measuring equipment (current instrument transformer). Current
and voltage sensors, successors of conventional instrument
transformers, feature linear characteristics i.e. they can operate
with a wide range of primary currents. To provide for the
adaptation of switchgear according to the changing load currents
it is enough to modify the parameters of the protection relay. It
saves the costs to spend on the purchase of current transformer,
on its installation and those for coming up for switchgear
downtime. UniGear Digital is ready for Smart Grid evolution.

Flexibility during Switchgear Operation
You may adapt your switchgear easily to changes implemented
in your application. There is no need to replace the switchgear
hardware. You only update the parameters or logics of the
protection relay. This is achieved thanks to digital communication
running between panels instead of using traditional hard wired
signals. Changes are handled by modifying the software of the
digital relays and using the IEC 61850 communication. Thanks to
their linear characteristics the sensors can operate over a wide
range of primary currents. If the load current of your application
changes the only step the user needs to do is to change the
parameters of the a protection relay.
Screenshots
Information and support
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