ABB completes its record-breaking HVDC link

ABB has completed the record-setting power link that connects the Three Gorges with Guangdong, China, and which transfers power from central China to the south of the country.

The 3,000MW, 940km high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link was handed over to China’s State Grid Corporation on 6 June. It uses gas-insulated switchgear and the longest direct current line of its class. Its power rating is a world record for a single converter station and it was built as part of the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant.

This is ABB’s second link for State Grid Corporation and was completed 19 months faster than ABB’s Three Gorges-Changzhou HVDC link.

“These links help deliver clean hydro power to the fastest growing regions in China,” said Peter Leupp, president and chairman of ABB in China. “Which means they help eliminate power outages. This is particularly important here in China because the demand for power is growing at a rate faster than gross domestic product.”