Power grid corporation of India has recently awarded ABB an Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) project worth more than 640 million USD.
Impression: This transmission link will be India’s second UHVDC project after North-East Agra, a project which was also awarded to ABB. Siemens and Alstom were among other bidders for this project but ABB (along with its consortium partner BHEL) was successful in winning the project. In last quarter of 2016, ABB also won a 1100kv (10 GW) UHVDC project in China. Although, voltage source converter (VSC) based HVDC technology has shown a lot of promise in terms of control and reactive power capabilities, ABB kept its focus on achieving higher voltage and power ratings for its thyristor based HVDC Classic technology. Development of converter stations and transformer bushings capable of withstanding 1100 kV and while transporting 10 GW is a result of ABB’s continued R&D efforts in UHVDC field. Additionally, ABB’s consortium partner BHEL, which was its partner in North-East Agra UHVDC project as well, is a semi-government entity. This means land acquisitions for transmission line, substations and EPC of the project takes less time which results in overall cost reduction of the project. China’s upcoming hydro project are expected to have grid interconnections using long-distant UHVDC projects in future and ABB will be the strongest contender to win these transmission projects.
Link to press release: here