Alstom to increase energy highways with €800 million of HVDC contracts

Alstom Grid has won three major High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) contracts with a total value of €800 million (approximately half of this amount was booked in Q1 of the current fiscal year, the other half will be booked in Q2). The HVDC projects will build energy highways for bulk power transmission in India, bring power into the heart of a South Korean city, and integrate renewable energy resources in Atlantic Canada, paving the way for intercontinental energy trade.

HVDC is a technology that enables efficient, bulk power transmission across long distances via direct current. It transmits 30 per cent more power than the conventional alternating current technology, strengthening existing networks while minimising environmental impact.

Alstom technology at the heart of a densely populated South Korean city

Alstom has been awarded a HVDC Line Commutated Converter (LCC) project through its joint venture, KEPCO-Alstom Power Electronics Systems (KAPES), to design and supply equipment for a 33 km energy corridor in Seoul region. The ±500 kV HVDC link with 1.5 GW power capacity will transmit energy produced by the Dangjin power plant in the west of South Korea, to the densely populated Pyeongtaek area, east of Dangjin.

South Korea faces an ambitious challenge to meet the 25 per cent increase in electricity demand in the last decade alone.[1] As Korea continues to build a resilient transmission grid to bring the electricity needed to sustain the economy, HVDC will be increasingly used to supply power for populated areas.

"Alstom is proud to contribute to Korea's growing power economy. This project is the fruit of the joint venture and co-development efforts between KEPCO and Alstom; it will increase Alstom's HVDC presence in Asia, and KEPCO will benefit from Alstom's industry-leading HVDC technologies and expertise from around the world," said Patrick Plas, Senior Vice President Grid Power Electronics and Automation at Alstom.

In Korea, Alstom is a recognised, key player in HVDC technologies. The company provided the original 300 MW HVDC bipole link for the submarine interconnection linking South Korea's Jeju Island across 101 kilometres to the mainland in the late 1990s. In 2009, Alstom was then awarded a second contract to supply the new converter stations for the 400 MW HVDC bipole scheme, completed in 2014.

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