ABB sets another record with ultrahigh-voltage
power project in China
Successful open line test for Xiangjiaba-Shanghai UHVDC link one year ahead of schedule
Zurich, Switzerland, Jan.11, 2010 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group,
announced the successful „open-line‟ test for Pole 1 of the 800 kV (kilovolt) UHVDC (ultrahighvoltage direct current) Fengxian converter station in Shanghai, in close cooperation with State Grid
Corporation of China (SGCC). This test was accomplished in a record time of just two years from
receiving the order, a year ahead of schedule.
“The cooperation between ABB, SGCC and local partners has played a key role in this significant
technological achievement,“ said Per Haugland, head of the global Grid Systems business, a part of
ABB‟s Power Systems division. “It proves ABB‟s global leadership in HVDC technology, which is
ideally suited to transmit power from remote sources and renewables across vast distances, with
minimum energy losses.”
The ±800 kV Xiangjiaba-Shanghai HVDC link will transmit 6,400 MW of power from the Xiangjiaba
hydropower plant, located in the southwest of China, to Shanghai, China's leading industrial and
commercial center, located over 2,000 kilometers away.
The transmission system, when completed, will set a new benchmark in terms of voltage levels and
transmission capacity. The record is presently held by the 600 kV Itaipu transmission line in Brazil,
also delivered by ABB. The efficiency of the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai transmission line will be more than
93 percent, with transmission losses being restricted to under 7 per cent. This would enable power
supply for an additional 1 million people in China every year as compared with the 500 kV HVDC
systems in use there.
ABB‟s scope of delivery includes fourteen 400 kV converter transformers and fourteen 800 kV
converter transformers, of which ten will be delivered from Sweden and the rest manufactured locally
in partnership with TBEA in Shenyang, with ABB components and technology. Other key products
include thyristor valves, DC (direct current) switchyard equipment, measuring equipment for the AC
(alternating current) switchyard and the newly developed DCC800 HVDC control system.
UHVDC transmission is a development of HVDC, a technology pioneered by ABB more than 50
years ago. The new technology with an advanced control system is the biggest capacity and
efficiency leap in over two decades and is particularly suitable for vast countries like China and India,
where consumption centers are often located at great distances from available power sources
including renewables.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry
customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of
companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.