HVDC, Power Transmission

Introduction

On Tuesday April 4 a symposium on High Voltage DC will be organised by the electrical engineering
study association “Thor”. During this day there will be eight lectures. Subjects include both
technical as well as social issues. They will especially focus on the NorNed cable, connecting
Norway and the Netherlands.

High Voltage Direct Current

Nowadays most of the power transmission is done by Alternating Current (AC). However in some cases
it is more efficient to use Direct Current (DC). Long lines and cables form a capacitance; this
capacitance causes large losses, a problem DC does not experience. Other arguments for using a DC
connection are asynchronous coupling, controllability and environmental issues. The HVDC techniques
are not new, but recently there seems to be a growing social basis. In most cases the government
gives the impulse to build a HVDC connection, but what drives them to that decision?

NorNed

The NorNed link is an HVDC connection. This is the first time the Netherlands are involved in an
HVDC project, the link leads from Eemshaven (Netherlands) to Feda (Norway). The connection should
lead to power trading between the two countries and increases the reliability of the electricity
supply. Once completed, NorNed will be the longest high-voltage submarine cable in
the world.