Siemens links energy highways to China

Siemens will put into operation a high-voltage direct current transmission link or HVDC in China by the end of the year. With a transmission capacity of 5000 megawatts and covering a distance of more than 1400 kilometers, this HVDC system is the world's most powerful of its kind implemented.

Siemens will also be commissioning the world's largest and highest-capacity 800-kilovolt HVDC transformer in China in mid-January 2010. This transformer is intended for the next even larger HVDC transmission system in China, which at 6400 megawatts will transport power equivalent to that supplied by 12 average-size coal-fired power plants over a distance of 2000 kilometers.

"Our technology leadership offers a good starting basis to become the clear number one on the global market for HVDC," stated Udo Niehage, CEO of the Power Transmission Division in the Siemens Energy Sector.

Highest-capacity HVDC transmission systems will help transport large volumes of environmentally friendly electricity from the desert. An example is the Desertec project.

"In the future, electricity highways will not only cross borders, they will also connect entire continents with each other," stated Niehage. “We will only be able to counter climate change by making more intensive use of energy-efficient technologies. We have to develop renewable energies and convert our power supply systems into smart grids so that we can manage the fluctuating amounts of electricity fed into the grid intelligently. Substantial investments will be necessary for this. However, this will be unavoidable if we are to achieve our climate protection targets and significantly reduce CO2 emission," adds Niehage.