Hitachi: Hitachi ABB Power Grids to provide power transmission technology for world’s second-largest hydropower project

The link will transport vast amounts of power from the west to the growing economy of the east, providing clean energy for six million people.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids today announced it will provide the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) with advanced technology solutions for one of China’s most important west-to-east clean energy transfer projects: the Baihetan-Jiangsu ultrahigh-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission link.

The Baihetan hydropower project will be the second largest in the world and is an important contributor to China’s goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2060, supplying clean energy equivalent to that generated by burning almost 20 million tons of coal per year.

The Baihetan-Jiangsu UHVDC link will transmit up to 8 gigawatts of electricity over more than 2,000 kilometers to the Jiangsu province, which has a growing population of 80 million and is China’s second-largest provincial economy.

“We are honored to be selected to support SGCC to achieve China’s goals of driving the economy and improving people’s well-being with clean, emission-free electricity,” says Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi ABB Power Grids. “This is an excellent example of how our pioneering technology and collaboration with SGCC are enabling the building of a sustainable energy future.”

SGCC, the world’s largest power company, in 2020, awarded Hitachi ABB Power Grids a similar order for three UHVDC links in China. SGCC and Hitachi ABB Power Grids have worked closely together for around 30 years on most of China’s HVDC and UHVDC projects.

The link is the world’s first hybrid UHVDC system. It uses a combination of UHVDC Classic – key for transferring large amounts of power over very long distances with low power losses – and voltage source converter-based HVDC, which stabilizes the AC grid at the receiving end of the link. Hitachi ABB Power Grids has previously deployed hybrid HVDC at the 500 kV level, but it has never been implemented at 800 kV.

The orders include UHVDC classic valves, wall bushings, converter transformers, DC breakers, high-voltage live tank and dead tank breakers to help enhance the safety, reliability and efficiency of the power network.