Hitachi Energy has secured a contract for supplying four high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations to interconnect France and Spain, through a subsea cable across the .
Electricity Interconnection France-Spain (Inelfe), the joint venture responsible for building all cross-border connections between France and Spain, has awarded the contract.
The Biscay Gulf interconnection, labelled as project of common interest (PCI) by the European commission (EC), involves two HVDC links with a converter station at each end.
The links will jointly supply a total of 2,000MW of electricity at 400kV through 400km, and will improve the safety, stability, and quality of electricity supply between the two countries.
Majority of the HVDC link will be underwater, but a small portion of the link cable route will return to land to prevent the deep Capbreton Canyon, said Hitachi.
Hitachi Energy grid integration business managing director Niklas Persson said: “Cross border, and often subsea, interconnections are vital to Europe’s increasingly interconnected grid.
“Through our pioneering HVDC technology, we enable Inelfe to accelerate the two countries’ sustainability goals, improving the safety, stability, and quality of electricity supply between France and Spain and the rest of Europe.”
Inelfe was created in 2008, after the governments of Spain and France agreed to enhance the electricity exchange between the two countries.
The interconnection capacity between the two countries was increased from 1,400MW to 2,800MW, which will be further increased to 5,000MW with Biscay Gulf interconnection.
Hitachi Energy said that it is collaborating with VINCI, a French concessions and construction company, to provide an advanced solution for the Biscay Gulf project.
The two companies will deliver the engineering and power technologies and the construction of the converter stations for the interconnection project.
Hitachi Energy said that its HVDC solution combines advanced HVDC converter valves, MACH digital control platform, converter power transformers and high-voltage switchgear.
