Manitoba's New Bipole III HVDC Transmission Line
Manitoba Hydro recently invested in a new high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line to maintain the security of supply for its HVDC system. Some 70% of power produced by Manitoba Hydro is generated in northern Manitoba by hydroelectric generating stations on the Nelson River. Nearly all this hydroelectric power has historically been delivered to customers in southern Manitoba through the Bipole I and Bipole II HVDC transmission lines constructed in the 1970s. Because of the routing of the Bipole I and Bipole II circuits as well as the common terminal point, major weather events such as tornadoes or ice storms, present a significant risk to the operation of the HVDC system and reliability of the power supply to Manitoba Hydro customers.
To address these risks and maintain the security of supply for their HVDC system, Manitoba Hydro decided to invest in the construction of Bipole III, a 500-kV HVDC transmission line. Following are images from the project. For the complete story, first published in the July 2019 issue of T&D World, see "Manitoba Hydro HVDC Project."
About the Author
Brian Frost
Brian Frost, P.Eng., is manager of engineering and procurement for the Bipole III converter stations at Manitoba Hydro and holds a BSEE degree from the University of Manitoba. Prior to starting preliminary engineering for Manitoba Hydro’s Bipole III project in 2010, Frost was a plant engineer and controls designer for Manitoba Hydro’s existing Bipole I and Bipole II high-voltage direct-current converter stations.
Bruce Owen
Bruce Owen is media relations officer at Manitoba Hydro. He is responsible for responding to day-to-day media queries, managing outage communications and overseeing social media content on the utility’s Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. Prior to joining Manitoba Hydro in 2015, Owen worked for 30 years in Winnipeg media.