China comissions first converter transformer with China-made on-load tap changer
The first converter transformer using China-made on-load tap changers has successfully been put into operation.
Image source: ECNS
China, Guandong: The first converter transformer using China-made on-load tap changers has successfully been put into operation.
The transformer has been installed at a crucial west-to-east power transmission project located in South China’s Guangdong Province, according to a source.
Feng Dong, a senior executive at a subsidiary of the China Southern Power Grid, was quoted by the source saying that China had completed the technological breakthrough from scratch in the field of converter transformer on-load tap changers, and has achieved full localization of components in the industrial chain.
On-load tap changers of a converter transformer are used to adjust the voltage, power load and current, similar to the function of a gearbox in a car.
According to the source, this technology used to be grasped only by a few overseas companies, and when technical fault took place previously, Chinese companies had no choice but to replace the products with imported goods of the same model, whose ordering cycle took about three to four months, thus posing challenges to the safety of power operation in the country.
After over two years of efforts, the team has broken through vacuum switch tubes and other technical bottlenecks to successfully research the large capacity convertor transformer on-load tap changer with rated capacity of 6,000 kVA, maximum voltage of 6,000 V and maximum rated current of 1,300 A.
Using the domestically made on-load tap changers could save nearly $5.56 M (40 M yuan) in building of ultra-high voltage direct current power transmission projects.
Source: ECNS
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