Grid United, Hitachi Team Up for HVDC Transmission in U.S.

Grid United has announced a collaboration with Hitachi Energy for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology for transmission projects that will interconnect the eastern and western regional power grids in the U.S. According to a release from Hitachi, these projects are meant to dramatically boost transmission capacity across the U.S. to support the urgent need for smooth sharing of power between energy markets at a time of drastically increasing demand for electricity. 
 
Hitachi maintained in its announcement that these projects would help overcome one of the most persistent bottlenecks in the energy transition in the U.S. by bridging the east-west divide. 
 
Under an approach known as a capacity reservation agreement, Hitachi Energy will provide HVDC technology to support the development of multiple Grid United HVDC interconnections. This multi-contract framework, introduced by Hitachi Energy, is one of the first of new business models for the U.S. This new approach allows Hitachi Energy to plan in advance to increase manufacturing capacity, expand and train the workforce, and maximize standardization to increase efficiency between successive projects. Today’s announcement follows a similar approach taken with large utilities in Europe.