(EnergyAsia, February 14 2013, Thursday) — ABB, the Swiss-based power and automation technology group, said it has won orders worth a total of US$160 million from Singapore’s Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd to provide electrical systems for drill ships to operate in deepwater oil and gas fields off the coast of Brazil.

ABB will design, supply, and supervise the installation, testing and commissioning of the main electrical systems for a fleet of seven next generation drill ships to drill wells in Brazil’s enormous offshore pre-salt fields. ABB said its integrated electrical package will provide a reliable power supply to subsystems onboard ships and help the operators maximise the fleet’s energy efficiency.

Its scope of supply includes complete electrical systems including generators, distribution switchboards, transformers, drives and motors to power the ships’ thrusters and drilling systems. ABB will supply the equipment this year, in time for the first vessel to be delivered to shipowner Sete Brazil in the second quarter of 2015.

The vessels are the first in a series of high-efficiency drill ships designed for ultra-deep water operations and built by Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz at their shipyard on the central eastern coast of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The company is a wholly-owned shipyard of the Jurong Shipyard.

“ABB’s ability to provide locally produced content for this project and the expertise of our local organisation were important factors in winning this order. This represents a breakthrough for ABB in the Brazilian market,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division.

“ABB has a great record of project execution for similar projects with Jurong’s shipyard in Singapore; the trust achieved over time with the shipyard was crucial for us in closing this agreement,” said Haider Rashid, regional manager for ABB in South Asia and country manager of Singapore.