AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution Division has successfully completed testing of its highest rated thyristor valves. AREVA’s HVDC Worldwide Excellence Center, based in Stafford, UK, in partnership with China Electric Power research Institute (C-EPRI), has developed these new valves for the LingBao 2 Back-to-back HVDC project for the StateGrid Corporation of China (SGCC), based on AREVA’s “H400” range of HVDC valves.

Operating at the much higher nominal current of 4500 A and 167 kV DC, the new design uses 7.2 kV, 6-inch diameter thyristors. The type tests were in full accordance with, and in certain cases more stringent than, the requirements of IEC 60700, and comprised dielectric tests on the valve support structure, dielectric tests between valve terminals, dielectric tests on a complete Multiple Valve Unit (MVU), operational tests and short-circuit current tests. Complete valve modules were tested at a continuous DC current of 5589 A. The short-circuit current tests were performed at the CESI high power laboratories in Milan,

The AREVA thyristor valve withstood all type tests without incident, providing strong proof of the rugged nature of AREVA’s HVDC valve design. “The uprating of the AREVA T&D thyristor valve to accommodate higher current for the Lingbao 2 project is an essential step towards validating the suitability of this valve for the many UHV 800 – 1000 kV DC transmission projects being planned in China and elsewhere around the world. These thyristor valves will each have a nominal power of 7.6 GW and hence a nominal DC current of 4750 A,” said Colin Davidson, Technology Director, AREVA T&D Power Electronics