Placed as Madagascar's largest mining project, Ambatovy comprises an open pit mine, a 220 km long pipeline, a processing plant, a residue storage facility and the Toamasina port extension. Located in the Moramanga region, the Ambatovy open pit mine was designed with an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes of nickel and 5,600 tonnes of cobalt. Current reserves are estimated at 125 million tonnes for about 27 years.

The project is a joint venture between the project operator, Sherritt International Corporation (40 % ownership), Sumitomo Corporation and Korea Resources Corporation and the project's engineering contractor, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. The construction kicked off in 2007 and the initial production is slated for 2011. The maximum capacity is expected to be achieved as early as 2013 for deliveries across the world.
The commercial and industrial experience of the operators combined with the engineering support and skills provided by Schneider Electric can guarantee that Ambatovy will reach the maximum of its potential.

• A single contact for both the design phase and the production
• Support and adaptation in the IEC environment
• Schneider Electric's local presence to ensure an efficient operation of the installation
• Responsiveness and flexibility to adapt the scope to the process requirement

Solution:Turnkey contract for the supply of 20 electrical distribution substations including:
> Studies and design of the electrical distribution architecture
> Securing and reliability of the project's electrical distribution network
> Overall project control and coordination of partners and subcontractors on the site
> Supply of all MV and LV equipment, from the grid connection station to the distribution switchboards
> Definition studies for electrical buildings, air-conditioning and auxiliary services
> Supply and assembly of buildings with all the related systems
> Assembly and onsite installation of the electrical distribution equipment

4 years

Key points:
> Logistical coordination shared between Schneider Electric & SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
> A dedicated project platform for managing in parallel the entire supply of electrical substations and the building infrastructure project
> Management engineering between IEC and NEMA standards
> Environmental constraints
> Climatic constraints (cyclonic zone)

Electrical equipment:
> 17 MV switchboards, 4,000 A busbars, LV pyrotechnic limiters
> 65 transformers from 2 to 10 MVA (ONAN-ONAF)
> 100 Okken switchboards
> 150 LV variable speed drives
> 30 MV variable speed drives
> 2 km prefabricated busbar trunking systems
> 26 UPS & 15 battery chargers
> 65 earthing systems + associated control
> 5 MV harmonic filters
> Installation and provision of the complete electrical system