Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID), India's central transmission utility, has selected Siemens to modernize the country's first and oldest high voltage direct current (HVDC) link, Vindhyachal.

Located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the 500-megawatt HVDC back-to-back system was put into operation in 1989 to interconnect the asynchronous 400-kilovolt alternating current networks of the Northern and Western regions, Siemens said in a press release.

The project's scope includes the installation of new thyristor valves, converter cooling system, HVDC control and protection system, direct current measuring devices and surge arrestors. The key components for the upgrade will be delivered from the Indian facility in Goa.

This will be the first Siemens HVDC modernization project in India and globally the company's first refurbishment of a third-party system involving replacement of the thyristor valves.

The upgrade is expected to be completed in 2021.

Source: Siemens