Extending the life of an HVDC link in Canada - 2013-02-25

This facility provides a 350-MW bi-directional asynchronous interconnection between the New Brunswick and Québec power grids and was the first HVDC station to enable power exchange between the Québec Interconnection and the Eastern Interconnection. The Eel River HVDC Converter Station was recognized as a technology milestone by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in 2011, for being the world’s first commercial HVDC station to be equipped with solid state high-voltage-, high-current-silicon thyristors (solid-state semiconductor devices) based on fiber optics, an emerging technology at the time, replacing the previously used mercury-arc valve-based systems.