Beijing, China, December 17, 2015 — As the first bipolar and one of the largest VSC-HVDC infrastructures in the world, the 1000MW/±320kV Xiamen Island Infeed Project was successfully commissioned on December 17, 2015.

Xiamen Island is the main part of Xiamen City in Southeast China’ s Fujian Province, and has high requirements for power quality and reliability. For lack of inland generations, all the loads on the island are fed by outside power sources. With the rapid economic growth of the island, the existing seven 220kV AC lines are becoming insufficient by 2016.

Two converter stations were built and connected via 10.7km underground cables. The completion of this project will not only secure an additional power source for the island but also effectively reinforce the existing power system with its reactive power control features.

C-EPRI is responsible for the design, engineering, supply, installation and commissioning of both end converter valves. The successful commissioning of the project has fully demonstrated China’s capability in large-power VSC-HVDC system design, equipment manufacture, project construction and system operation, and is becoming a second national business card to the world after its high-speed rail technology. 

HVDC Flexible is a new HVDC transmission technology, based on a voltage source converter (VSC). It makes use of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) instead of thyristors for power conversion between AC and DC. The benefits associated with HVDC Flexible include independent control of both active and reactive power, capability of feeding into passive networks, and inherent STATCOM functionality, etc. Therefore it offers an effective solution for renewable energy integration, supply for offshore loads, in-feed to city centres as well as multi-terminal interconnection.