The tender specifications for the purchase of railway vehicles should include the obligation for the bidding companies to guarantee the existence and availability of spare parts for at least 15-20 years, considers Nicușor Stan, Local Sales Manager, ABB Romania. “This would avoid the situation where you buy a very expensive vehicle, a train that has to run for 30 years, and when the warranty expires you discover that you can no longer find spare parts for repairs or proper maintenance,” he said, during the „Smart Cities – What we can do today” conference, organized by Energynomics.
In this regard, large companies, such as ABB, with a long tradition and a constant concern for the discovery and adoption of the most advanced technologies, can offer the right solutions, said Nicușor Stan. He presented ABB’s portfolio of traction systems, from Train Control Monitoring System (TCMS) to traction converters, auxiliary converters, energy storage systems and battery chargers, to digital solutions. “ABB is capable of producing these auxiliary converters from a power of 1 kW up to a maximum of 1,200 kW,” said the ABB representative, insisting that “such technologies need to be better known to those who make specifications”.
He then outlined the advantages of the LTO (lithium-titanium-oxide) battery systems produced by ABB together with Toshiba. “Charging is done at low temperatures, so there is no risk of explosion and injury to users. With a density of 511 W/kg, our batteries accept over 20,000 charging/discharging cycles, and in one hour 3 to 5 cycles can be done”, said Nicușor Stan. ABB’s battery life is 15 years, and after the first 8 years, the company evaluates the unit and replaces the battery cells with a capacity of less than 80% at no cost to the customer. “The battery recycling part is also ABB’s responsibility.”
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION OF NICUȘOR STAN
In Romania, on the bus segment, the company is present with two projects, in Timișoara, where it supplies the propulsion system (traction motors, converters, energy storage system), and in Iasi, where ABB also provides the TCMS system, which “helps a lot in vehicle management and preventive maintenance”.
The conference “Smart Cities – what we can do today” was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners ABB, Automobile Bavaria Group, Consolight, Eaton Electric, Enel X, Flash Lighting Services, LAPP Romania, Phoenix Contact, REI Group, Sixt, Signify.