Hitachi Energy to upgrade world-record HVDC transmission system
The Garabi HVDC converter station will be upgraded with advanced MACH™ control and protection system, extending the life of the world’s most powerful system of its kind.
Image credit: Hitachi Energy
Brazil: The Garabi HVDC converter station will be upgraded with advanced MACH™ control and protection system, extending the life of the world’s most powerful system of its kind.
Hitachi Energy announced it won an order to provide Taesa, one of Brazil’s largest private electric energy transmission groups, with an extensive upgrade of the Garabi high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station in Brazil. The link can transmit up to 2,200 MW of electricity, making it the most powerful “back-to-back” HVDC system in the world.
The Garabi converter station enables power exchange between Argentina and Brazil, which is normally not possible as Argentina’s power system operates at 50 Hz, and Brazil’s operates at 60 Hz. The transmission system comprises 490 km of alternating current overhead lines between the substations in northern Argentina and southern Brazil and the HVDC converter station at Garabi in Brazil, near the border.
The station began commercial operation in 2000. Now, the control and protection system will be upgraded with the latest MACH™ technology from Hitachi Energy, which provides unequalled calculation capacity and enables a high degree of integration and handling for all control and protection functions. This will be the first HVDC upgrade in Brazil and will secure the electricity supply for the future.
“Our transmission systems have been helping to secure power in Brazil for decades,” said Niklas Persson, Managing Director at Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business. “We are proud to support Taesa by providing our cutting-edge HVDC control system and Hitachi Energy Service solutions, making the link more secure. Our services will extend the system lifetime and improve its availability and reliability.”
“Our mission is to connect Brazil with safe and reliable electricity, generating value for society and transmitting energy with excellence and quality,” said Emmanuel Pasqua de Moraes, Expansion Planning and Engineering Executive Manager of Taesa. “Cross-border interconnections such as Garabi are a key part of that mission and this Hitachi Energy HVDC system is an important part of securing power for the Brazilian National Interconnected System and with international connections increasing the energy security of our system.”
HVDC systems are commonly used for large-scale transmission and exchange of electricity over large distances between two HVDC converter stations, but the Garabi HVDC converter station is a back-to-back system in a single location. Back-to-back stations utilize the sophisticated, digital controllability of an HVDC system to precisely manage the flow and properties of the electricity supply, providing many benefits for grid control and stability.
Source: Hitachi Energy