Page 21 - Energize December 2022

NEWS

To secure power supply in Africa’s longest

HVDC link

Long-term service agreement will extend the operating life of the 40-year-old link, which is vital
for economic growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo

itachi Energy, a global technology collaboration between SNEL and Hitachi Energy over the past 40 years to ensure the link
leader that is advancing a operates at maximum availability and reliability over its long operating life. Hitachi Energy
Hsustainable energy future for supplied the two converter stations at either end of the link in 1982 and has subsequently
all, today announced it has signed a upgraded them and doubled transmission capacity.
long-term service agreement with As part of the agreement, Hitachi Energy will assess the precise service needs of the
Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL), converter stations and develop a preventive maintenance programme, and supervise its
the national electricity company of the implementation over the next five years. The agreement includes training, knowledge
Democratic Republic of Congo, to secure sharing and expertise enhancement of SNEL service personnel.
power supply in the country’s most “We are delighted to be continuing our long collaboration with SNEL to protect the
important power transmission asset: the nation’s investment in its most important power transmission link,” said Andreas Berthou,
Inga-Kolwezi high-voltage direct current HVDC and HVDC Service Global Product Group Manager of Hitachi Energy. “This long-
(HVDC) link. term service agreement demonstrates how we work closely with the customer to secure
The link supplies up to 1000 MW of availability and reliability over the entire lifetime of the asset.”
emission-free electricity from the Inga “Hitachi Energy has been a close and valued partner of SNEL for almost 50 years,
Falls hydropower plant in the far west of when we first collaborated on the design of what was then a groundbreaking HVDC link
the country to the Kolwezi mining region with the world’s longest transmission line,” said Jean-Bosco Kayombo Kayan, CEO of SNEL.
in the south. With a length of 1700 km, “Since then, we have worked closely together to increase the capacity and maximize the
it is the longest HVDC link in Africa. It reliability of this critical national infrastructure.”
also enables the Democratic Republic
of Congo to export surplus power to Contact Lerato Nkosi, Hitachi Energy, Phone 063 699 2573,
member countries of the Southern lerato.nkosi@hitachienergy.com, https://www.hitachienergy.com
African Power Pool. https://www.linkedin.com/company/hitachienergy
The agreement continues the close https://twitter.com/HitachiEnergy

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