First HVDC-based de-icing system
AREVA's Transmission and Distribution (T&D) division has been awarded a 25-million euro contract in Canada to build the world's first HVDC-based de-icing and power quality system. The turnkey contract is with Hydro-Québec, the state-owned utility in Quebec.
During the ice storms that struck the Quebec province in the winter of 1998, hundreds of kilometers of high-voltage transmission lines and thousands of transmission towers collapsed due to an accumulation of ice, leaving millions of people without electricity.
To optimise the security of its power grid, Hydro-Québec has contracted AREVA T&D to build and to install HVDCice, a transmission line de-icing system based on high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology.
AREVA's HVDCice will generate up to 7200A of direct current in the transmission lines, which will increase their temperature in order for the ice to melt and fall off.
When not in use for de-icing purposes, the system will act as a Static Var Compensator (SVC). It will improve the power quality of the transmission network, which covers a metropolitan region of Quebec. The SVC will stabilize the voltage on the 735 kV power grid, which can fluctuate depending on the amount of electricity being consumed.
21-Feb-2005