High Voltage Direct Current
(HVDC)

What does it do?
HVDC transmits great amounts of electrical power over long distances. Compared to alternating current, the direct current system is less expensive and loses less energy. HVDC can be transmitted through cables both underground and underwater.

How does it work?
HVDC transmission utilizes a converter station at either end of the system. A mercury arc valve is used widely for the conversion of AC and DC current. The valve at the beginning of the system converts alternating current to HVDC, the HVDC travels to the next location through a cable, and the valve at the end of the system converts the HVDC back to alternating current.

How will it be used in the future?
HVDC is being considered globally for renewable energy efforts. Since HVDC allows for more power to travel long distances with fewer lines and reduced losses, clean energy can efficiently travel to distant locations. Due to the large amounts of hydropower produced in Quebec, HVDC is being utilized in a transmission line linking Quebec to New York City.

History:

Oskar Von Miller, engineering pioneer and founder of the Deutsches Museum

European Beginnings:

The first successful HVDC experimental long distance line (37 miles) was made at Munich, Germany in 1882 by Oskar Von Miller and fellow engineers. These same pioneers moved on to work on AC power the next year and did not do much in the HVDC field after that. Miller and his European based associates have been forgotten by history despite having fathered AC power before Tesla or American based engineers got involved.

Later Work, US and Europe:

Thomas Edison and fellow engineers worked on HVDC as part of a plan to make a standard DC "grid". AC power quickly proved to be easier to work with for long distance by 1891.

Albert Hull (General Electric)

Albert Hull (GE) developed the thyratron, and used it on an experimental HVDC line near Mechanicville, NY in 1936. Meanwhile in Nazi Germany engineers were making great advances in the field as well.

After the war companies like ASEA (today ABB) and Siemens were ahead in development and they developed the first HVDC lines to cross waterways like that between Sweden and Denmark. There was more of a market for HVDC in Europe and Japan since HVDC could deliver power under long waterways when AC could not. ASEA had also employed some of the original German HVDC pioneers after the war, giving them an advantage over competition. General Electric also was involved in making HVDC systems but exited the business in the 1980s.

US utility companies were and are resistant to HVDC despite the advantage to the customers. The localized power providers do not want cheap energy coming in from outside their region. In New York State unions of the local power production facility workers fight HVDC because it would mean lower energy prices and local producers bottom line would be affected. Despite this the US still has many HVDC lines and is installing more as time goes on.

ASEA had developed and implemented solid state switching in 1962. This was the future of HVDC. Today HVDC systems are highly advanced, safe, and have efficient solid state switching.

Related Subjects: History of Electrification, AC Power History

Featured Pioneers of HVDC:

Oskar Von Miller (1882 HVDC line to Munich)
Thomas Edison and company - experimented with HVDC unsuccessfully

General Electric:
Albert Hull
Ernst Alexanderson
Bernie Bedford
Fred Ellert
Clarence Flairty
Glenn Breuer

ABB / ASEA:

Information is still being gathered

SIEMENS:

Information is still being gathered

VIDEOS:

Glenn Breuer on the development of HVDC at GE and the world 1950s-1980s:

 

 

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Written by Breanna Day and M. Whelan
Volunteer at the Edison Tech Center and celebrate engineering past, present, and future!

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