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HVDC Itaipu

Country Brazil
Coordinates 25°27′58″S 54°32′33″W / 25.46611°S 54.54250°W / -25.46611; -54.54250 (Foz do Iguaçu converter station)
23°40′02″S 47°06′19″W / 23.66722°S 47.10528°W / -23.66722; -47.10528 (Ibiuna converter station)
General direction East-West
From Itaipu hydroelectric power plan, near Foz do Iguaçu
To Ibiúna, São Paulo
Owner Furnas Centrais Elétricas S.A. Brazil
Manufacturer of substations ABB Group
Commissioned October 1984, July 1987
Type overhead transmission line
Type of current HVDC
Total length 780 km (480 mi)
Power rating 6300 MW
AC voltage 345 and 500 kV
DC voltage ±600 kV
No. of poles 2x2
No. of circuits 2

The HVDC Itaipu is a High Voltage Direct Current overhead line transmission system in Brazil from the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant to the region of São Paulo. The project consists of two ±600 kV bipoles, each with a rated power of 3150 MW, which transmit power generated at 50 Hz from the Paraguay side of the Itaipu Dam (near Foz do Iguaçu in Paraná) to the Ibiúna converter station near São Roque, São Paulo. The system was put in service in several steps between 1984 and 1987, and remains among the most important HVDC installations in the world.

When the first bipole was completed in 1985, it became the world's largest HVDC system by both power transmission capacity and voltage, titles which it would hold for 25 years until the completion, in 2010, of the ±800 kV, 6400 MW HVDC link from Xiangjiaba Dam to Shanghai in China. It also contained important innovations in real-time control systems, being one of the first HVDC schemes to use digital control equipment using microprocessors. Nevertheless it suffered reliability problems in its first few years of operation, with numerous converter transformer failures and one serious converter fire, although reliability is now reported to be much improved.

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) was chosen both because this technique allows long transmission lines with little loss compared to other systems (like AC), and also allows interchange of the Paraguayan 50 Hz input and the Brazilian 60 Hz input and user grid. Both lines operate at ±600 kV and are built as overhead lines with a length of 818 (North line) and 807 (South line) kilometers. Away from their terminal stations, the two lines are at least 10 km apart to reduce risks. Each one is designed for 3150 MW at ± 600 kV D.C. and 2625 A. The lines are 4 x 689 mm² (about 30 mm ∅) ACSR


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