Following successful final acceptance tests Siemens Energy will deliver the world’s largest and most powerful 800-kV converter transformer in mid-January 2010. The world-record transformer produced at the Siemens manufacturing plant in Nuremberg is destined for the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai link, a high-voltage direct-current transmission link (HVDC) recently under construction.
Spanning a distance of over 2000 km and with a transmission capacity of 6400 MW, this direct-current link is currently the longest and most powerful in the world. The HVDC link, which is scheduled to come on line in 2010, will connect the hydro power plants on the Jinsha river on the upper reaches of the Yangtze in central China with the coastal megacity Shanghai. Siemens will supply ten converter transformers, five of which are rated at 800 kV, for the Fulong converter station in the vicinity of the Xiangjiaba hydro power plant.
“Thanks to our years of experience in the production of converter transformers and through innovative solutions in all key components we were able to increase the performance of our HVDC transformers by 25 percent. The transformers, which will be deployed for this 800-kV HVDC project, will therefore contribute toward sustainable, efficient power supply in China,” said Udo Niehage, CEO of the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Energy.
The single-phase 800-kV converter transformer scheduled for delivery is the first of five with a rated capacity of 321 MVA and a shipping weight of 380 metric tons. “With this transformer we’ve become best in class in this field of technology. Our whole range of products will benefit from the innovations implemented,“ said Jürgen Vinkenflügel, CEO of the Transformers Business Unit of Siemens Energy. The insulation systems of this high-tech transformer had to meet extremely stringent requirements. For example, the two valve-side bushings of the HVDC transformer are approximately 16 meters long because of the requisite insulation clearances. Furthermore, the dimensions specified by the carriers and the transformer’s shipping weight will call for superlative logistics achievements – for example, shipping by sea on a special heavy-load ocean-going vessel from Antwerp to Shanghai. For the State Grid Corporation of China, the future operator and the world’s largest utility with approximately one billion customers, the HVDC systems form the backbone of its power transmission network.
