Question

Where are back-to-back HVDC converters (back-to-back HVDC links) currently located in North America? What are the characteristics of those locations that prompted the installation of back-to-back HVDC links?

Short answer

Answer

The various HVDC converter stations in North American are listed and described.

Step-by-step solution

Define HVDC

Globally, HVDC is a considered trying technology for power transmission. More than 90 projects have established HVDC transmission lines with a capacity of about 70,000 MW.

There are three different categories of HVDC transmissions.

1. Point to point transmission

2. Back to back station

3. Multi terminal system

Determine where back-to-back HVDC converters currently located in North America

1. Trans Bay cable, for starters

2. The Pacific Intertie: The Pacific DC Intertie has been running at +-500 kv for more than 30 years. The line has a 3,100 MW maximum power transmission capacity. There are currently over 20 HVDC transmission facilities in the United States and over 35 throughout the North American grid.

3. The inter mountain power line: An HVDC transmission system run by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, transports 1.92 GW of power from South of Salt Lake City, Utah, into the Los Angeles basin. The IPP HVDC line's upgrading to 2.4 GW of capacity was approved in 2008.

4. The Nelson river I and II: Hydroelectric resources in Northern Manitoba are connected to population centers in Southern Manitoba by the Nelson River Bipole project in Canada. The Nelson River and many more than 550 miles and have a capacity of approximately 3.8 GW. The Nelson River project will get a third bi-pole from Manitoba Hydro.

5. The CU line, the Quebec-New England: The 1990–1992 commissioning of the Quebec–New England project, which transports 2 GW across a distance of 932 miles from the southern Hudson Bay region of Quebec to a location close to Boston, Massachusetts.

6. The Neptune project: which transmits 660 MW over 65 miles, nearly 50 of those miles underwater, and connects Long Island and New Jersey, and the Tans Bay Cable, a 53-mile, 400 MW project, which transports power underneath the bay into the San Francisco area, are among the USA's most recent additions.

7. The square Butte: Additional grid-connected high-voltage direct current (HVDC) projects in North America include the CU Power line and square Butte projects, which transport distant generating resources from North Dakota to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Duluth, Minnesota, respectively.

Therefore, the various HVDC converter stations in North American are listed.