ABB (www.abb.com) has won orders worth more than US$540 million from the Abengoa Group (www.abengoa.com) to deliver the key technology for the world's longest power transmission link to be constructed in Brazil.

The power highway will link two new hydropower plants in the northwest region of the country with São Paulo, Brazil's main economic center, over a distance of 2500 km (1553 miles). Power will be transmitted at very high-voltage (600 kV) to minimize transmission losses.

This will be the second transmission project in Brazil using high-voltage direct current (HVDC) at 600 kV. The Itaipu project, with two transmission lines built by ABB in 1984 and 1987, is the world's highest-voltage DC power transmission system currently in operation.

ABB will provide two 3150-MW HVDC converter stations, and an 800-MW HVDC back-to-back station to transmit power to São Paulo and the AC network in the northwest region of the country. The stations, scheduled for completion in 2012, are a part of the government's Program to Accelerate Development.

HVDC has lower losses and a smaller footprint than traditional AC transmission systems, and is able to stabilize intermittent power supplies that might otherwise disrupt the grid. For these reasons, it is the technology of choice for long-distance transmission projects that can deliver electricity from remote generation sources to where it is needed.