PUBLIC
06-13 HVDC 50 years: ABB _ from pioneer to world leader (part I) Crossing the sea with HVDC (part 2)
English
In 1954, at a time when much of Europe was busy expanding its electricity supply infrastructure to keep pace with surging demand, an event was quietly taking place on the shores of the Baltic Sea that would have a lasting effect on long-distance power transmission. Four years earlier, the Swedish State Power Board had placed an order for the world’s first commercial high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link, to be built between the Swedish mainland and the island of Gotland. Now, in 1954, it was being commissioned.
50 years on, ABB proudly looks back at its many contributions to HVDC technology. Since the laying of that early 90 kilometers long, 100-kV, 20-MW submarine cable, our company has gone on to become the undisputed world leader in HVDC transmission. Of the 70,000 MW of HVDC transmission capacity currently installed all over the world, more than half was supplied by ABB.