Stockholm, Sweden – March 2028 – Vattenfall, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, has announced a 40% reduction in unplanned substation outages and 35% lower maintenance costs after deploying the ABB RED670 Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) across its 220kV high-voltage substations in southern Sweden. The upgrade, completed in Q1 2028, replaced the utility’s 20-year-old protection relays—where frequent false trips and slow fault localization were costing €2.1 million annually in customer compensation and lost generation.
The Challenge: Aging Relays and Costly Outages
Prior to adopting the ABB RED670, Vattenfall’s southern Sweden substations faced three critical operational pain points:
- Frequent False Trips: Legacy electromechanical relays lacked digital protection logic, triggering unnecessary shutdowns during minor voltage fluctuations. The substations experienced 18–22 false trips annually, each causing 1–3 hours of unplanned outage for 50,000+ customers.
- Slow Fault Localization: Technicians required 2–3 hours to identify the root cause of faults (e.g., line-to-ground faults) using manual test equipment, extending restoration time and increasing customer dissatisfaction.
- High Maintenance Overhead: The old relays required annual on-site calibration, with replacement parts becoming obsolete. Maintenance teams spent 120 hours yearly on substation relay upkeep, driving up labor costs by 22% annually.
“Our aging protection relays were no longer fit for a modern grid,” said Anders Larsson, Vattenfall’s Substation Operations Manager. “False trips were damaging our reputation, and slow fault finding was costing us millions in compensation. We needed an IED that could deliver precise protection, fast fault localization, and seamless integration with our grid management system.”
ABB RED670 IED: The Smart Protection Backbone for High-Voltage Substations
After evaluating competitors from Siemens and SEL, Vattenfall selected the ABB RED670 for its advanced protection algorithms, IEC 61850 compatibility, and remote monitoring capabilities:
- Multifunctional Protection Logic: Integrates distance protection, differential protection, and overcurrent protection in a single device, reducing false trips by 90%. The IED’s adaptive protection settings automatically adjust to grid conditions (e.g., load changes, renewable energy injection) to avoid unnecessary shutdowns.
- 10-Minute Fault Localization: Built-in fault recording and waveform analysis (with 1kHz sampling rate) pinpoint fault locations to within 50 meters, enabling technicians to resolve issues in 10–15 minutes—down from 2+ hours.
- IEC 61850-9-2LE Compliance: Seamlessly connects to Vattenfall’s existing SCADA system (ABB MicroSCADA Pro) via GOOSE and MMS messages, enabling real-time data exchange and remote control of substation equipment.
- Remote Calibration & Diagnostics: ABB Ability™ Network Manager allows technicians to calibrate the RED670, update firmware, and troubleshoot issues remotely, eliminating 80% of on-site maintenance visits.
- Rugged Design for Harsh Environments: Operates in temperatures ranging from -40°C to +70°C with IP54 protection, ensuring reliability in Sweden’s extreme winters and substation dust/water exposure.
Results: Fewer Outages and Lower Operational Costs
Six months post-deployment, Vattenfall’s southern Sweden substations achieved transformative results:
| Metric |
Before ABB RED670 |
After ABB RED670 |
Improvement |
| Annual Unplanned Outages |
28 |
16.8 |
40% Reduction |
| Fault Localization Time |
2.5 Hours |
0.2 Hours |
92% Reduction |
| Maintenance Labor Hours |
120/Year |
36/Year |
70% Reduction |
| False Trip Rate |
5% of Operations |
0.3% of Operations |
94% Reduction |
“The RED670 has redefined substation protection for us,” Larsson said. “We recently handled a line-to-ground fault near Malmö—our team located and repaired it in 12 minutes, avoiding a major outage. The remote maintenance feature alone has saved us 84 labor hours this year.”
Eva Nilsson, ABB’s Global Product Manager for Substation Protection IEDs, emphasized the RED670’s role in grid modernization: “High-voltage substations are the backbone of the energy system, and outdated protection relays are a major bottleneck. The RED670 delivers the intelligence and reliability needed to build resilient, efficient grids—critical for integrating more renewable energy.”
Vattenfall plans to deploy the ABB RED670 across 35 additional substations in Norway and Denmark by 2030, targeting a group-wide 30% reduction in substation outages and 25% lower maintenance costs.
