ABB wins US$ 100-million distributed generation contract; In line with new focus on alternative energy solutions.

Business Editors

ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2000

ABB, the global technology group, said today it has won a US$ 100-million order from Scottish and Southern Energy, a major utility in the United Kingdom, for ten combined heat and power (CHP) plants.

ABB will build the natural gas-fired CHP plants--small-scale units that produce both electricity and heat--over the next 1 1/2 years throughout the U.K., and operate and maintain them for 17 years. The plants will be linked and remotely controlled and monitored using advanced IT systems to optimize load management across the national grid. ABB Financial Services arranged part of the financing for the contract.

Several of the plants will be used in greenhouse applications--where they provide electricity for lighting, hot water for heating and CO2 to stimulate plant growth. Because the CO2 is injected into the greenhouse rather than the environment, emissions are reduced considerably. ABB has built and operated similar greenhouse applications in the Netherlands. And in Germany, Microsoft's new European headquarters will get all its power from a CHP plant supplied and operated by ABB.

ABB said the order confirms its strategy to move fast in the alternative energy solutions market. The group's alternative energy strategy includes CHP, fuel cells, microturbines, and renewables like wind power.

The ABB Group serves customers in power transmission and distribution; automation; oil, gas, and petrochemicals; building technologies; and in financial services. With novel IT applications, tailored software solutions, growing eBusiness and a fast-expanding knowledge and service base, ABB is building links to the new economy. The ABB Group employs about 165,000 people in more than 100 countries.