Alstom’s Tampere unit to supply equipment for HVDC projects in India, Canada and South Korea

As part of the three major High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) projects announced in late August 2014, Alstom’s Power Compensation Products Unit in Tampere has been awarded €15 million in contracts to supply air core reactors and capacitor banks.

The scope of these contracts includes engineering, manufacturing and delivery of a total of 200 air core reactors and capacitor banks for alternating current (AC) filter applications. Deliveries are scheduled between autumn 2015 and June 2016, and will be supplied to the HVDC projects in India (Champa II), Canada (Labrador-Island transmission link) and South Korea (Dangjin).

The Tampere unit previously executed similar projects, for instance, the successful delivery of air core reactors and capacitor banks for the HVDC Jeju project in Korea that was energised in 2014. Similar equipment for the Champa I HVDC project is currently being manufactured in Tampere.

“These contracts confirm our expertise and know-how for projects of varying challenges, supplying equipment for some of the most demanding and extreme climatic conditions from tropic India (Champa I and II) to arctic Canada (Labrador-Island transmission link),” says Timo Ala-Heikkilä, Unit Managing Director for the Power Compensation Products Unit at Alstom Grid in Tampere.

AC filters are required as part of the total HVDC converter station to reduce the harmonic distortion of alternating current and voltage to acceptably low levels. HVDC, meanwhile, enables efficient, bulk power transmission across long distances via direct current, transmitting 30 per cent more power than the conventional alternating current technology.

The three major 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.