Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
Ad
© abb
Electronics Production |

ABB to upgrade two critical Australian HVDC links

ABB has won an order to replace the control and protection systems for two vital high-voltage transmission links in Australia that achieved significant technical breakthroughs when ABB installed the systems nearly two decades ago.

The order, worth approximately USD 30 million, will modernise the Murraylink and Directlink high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission links with the latest ABB AbilityTMMACH control system. The replacement of the control and protection systems will further improve power and grid reliability, while also extending the life spans. The Directlink transmission system was commissioned in 2000 and marked the first interconnection of the regional electricity markets of the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland. Two years later, the 180-kilometer Murraylink transmission system became the world’s longest underground HVDC power transmission system when it was put into service, connecting the states of South Australia and Victoria. Underground cables were chosen for Murraylink instead of overhead transmission lines to minimize visual and environmental impact. The cables were drilled under the Murray River, road and rail crossings and a number of significant Indigenous Australian heritage sites. ABB will carry out the upgrades for APA Group, an Australian energy infrastructure company, which manages Directlink and Murraylink facilities owned by Energy Infrastructure Investments (EII). Central to the upgrade of both links is the installation of the latest ABB Ability MACH control and protection solution, which acts like the brain of the HVDC transmission system. “We are delighted to implement our latest MACH control technology to upgrade these important HVDC transmission links,” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division. “The project reiterates our strategic focus on service and digital technologies and reinforces our HVDC market and technology leadership, as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”

Ad
Ad
Load more news
March 28 2024 10:16 am V22.4.20-1
Ad
Ad