Hitachi Energy to secure power supply along DRC Inga-Kolwezi HVDC link

Hitachi Energy announced late last week that it has signed a long-term service agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo's Société Nationale d'Electricité (SNEL) to secure power supply along the country's Inga-Kolwezi high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link.

Source: Supplied

The HVDC link supplies up to 1,000 megawatts of emission-free electricity from the Inga Falls hydropower plant in the far west of the country to the Kolwezi mining region in the south. With a length of 1,700km, it is the longest HVDC link in Africa. It also enables the DRC to export surplus power to the member countries of the Southern African Power Pool.

Source: Supplied

As part of the agreement, Hitachi Energy will assess the service needs of the converter stations and develop a preventive maintenance programme and supervise its implementation over the next five years. The agreement includes training, knowledge sharing and expertise enhancement of SNEL service personnel.

Hitachi Energy supplied the two converter stations at either end of the link in 1982 and has subsequently upgraded them and doubled transmission capacity.