Siemens, Sumitomo Electric win order for HVDC link

A consortium of Siemens and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. has been awarded an order from Power Grid Corporation of India, the central transmission utility of India, to supply a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system.

The total size of the order won by the consortium is USD 520 million, of which the share of Siemens Limited is approximately Rs. 1,682 crore.

"The grid-augmentation project will go a long way in delivering reliable, uninterrupted power to the state of Kerala. This project further demonstrates Siemens' commitment to partner with the Government of India in its vision of delivering 24/7 power for all. The availability of reliable power transmission is key for India's sustainable progress. Most of the critical equipment for the project is being sourced from factories in India, renewing our commitment towards Make in India," said managing director and chief executive officer Siemens, Sunil Mathur.

The about 200-kilometer-long HVDC connection will be India's first direct current link using voltage-sourced converter (VSC) technology. VSC is the latest innovation in HVDC technology offering a very stable and highly-flexible reactive power control independent of active power control and additional features to support the AC systems like blackstart capability. Furthermore, this solution is ideal to be combined with XLPE cable technology.

Siemens will be supplying two converter stations with two parallel converters, each rated 1000 Megawatts (MW), using its VSC HVDC technology while Sumitomo Electric will be responsible for XLPE HVDC cables in the DC circuit. The grid connection is scheduled to go into operation in the first half of 2020.