Press release

Abbey Systems wins key tech contract in Bangladesh

Wellington technology company Abbey Systems today announced that it has secured a contract worth 5 million USD to supply equipment and software for monitoring and control of 34 substations around Chittagong in Bangladesh. With more than 70 percent of the contract going to New Zealand businesses, Managing Director and founder Lester Abbey says that this is a huge success for New Zealand.

"Local support from loyal customers, as well as local and central government, has enabled Abbey Systems to develop products to compete on the international stage" said Abbey. "With assistance from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and NZ Trade and Enterprise, we have proved that a small company, from a small country, can have a big impact".

Sales and Marketing Manager Steve Dorrington agrees, saying that "innovative use of kiwi technology has eliminated duplication of equipment, giving us a unique competitive advantage".

With research and development and manufacturing occurring in New Zealand, the contract is great news for Abbey Systems and its New Zealand based suppliers for the project; Energy Intellect, Enclosure Technology, Tait Electronics, Innovative Energies and Facility Management Systems.

"Even if we can't win the cricket, we can still make an impact in Bangladesh" concluded Dorrington.

For more information please contact Steve Dorrington, Sales and Marketing Manager on +64 21 434782 or steve@abbey.co.nz

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Editor’s Note:

-Bangladesh has a population of 160 million. Installed generation is approximately 4700 MW but it’s estimated not all of this is available due to resource limitations.

-By contrast, NZ has approximately 10,000 MW of generation for a population of 4 million people.

-Abbey Systems Limited (ASL) was founded more than 32 years ago by Lester Abbey, currently employs 15 staff and has an office and business in the USA.

-ASL has a design ethos focusing on reliability and ease of use, and is involved in computer engineering, software design, hardware design and embedded software for the monitoring and control of power and water networks.

-The contract is with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB)

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Dave Johnson, Sales Manager / Systems Solutions, Tait Electronics, said of the contract

"Tait has enjoyed some success in Bangladesh over the last nine years with both the Police and the Power Development Board using Tait portable radios and network equipment. The agreement with Abbey will see Tait supply data radios so that this utility can monitor information generated at its substations which will ultimately lead to more reliable power for a community which is often ravaged by monsoons, storms and major floods.

Bangladesh is obviously a very poor country and contracts such as this for infrastructure are usually paid for by some kind of international aid. Tait does not target Bangladesh specifically but as and when a tender comes up for which our public safety and utility solutions will be useful, we join partners to submit a proposal."

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