HVDC
Noun
Meaning
HVDC (uncountable)
Initialism of high voltage direct current.
Related terms
Examples
Above a certain break-even distance (about 50 km for submarine cables, and perhaps 600–800 km for overhead cables), the lower cost of the HVDC electrical conductors outweighs the cost of the electronics.
Advantages of HVDC over AC transmission A long distance point to point HVDC transmission scheme generally has lower overall investment cost and lower losses than an equivalent AC transmission scheme.
An example is the 2,000 MW Quebec - New England Transmission system opened in 1992, which is currently the largest multi-terminal HVDC system in the world.
A major upgrade of the HVDC link commissioned in 2013 increased the capacity of the link from 700 MW to 1,000 MW from 2012, and 1,200 MW from 2014.
As a result, harmonic filters are nearly always required at the AC terminals of such converters, and in HVDC transmission schemes using overhead lines, may also be required on the DC side.
An additional advantage of the existence of HVDC links, therefore, is potential increased stability in the transmission grid.