ABB has won an order worth around $260 million from the U.S. utility Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to upgrade the existing Celilo HVDC converter station in Oregon. This station is an important part of the electricity link between the Pacific Northwest and southern California commissioned more than 40 years ago in 1970.
The Celilo converter station is located at the north end of the Pacific DC Intertie, also known as Path 65, which has a capacity of 3,100 MW. This link is 1,360 km long and connects to the Sylmar converter station in the south.
Key components of the station upgrade will include valves, controls, transformers, switchgear and cooling equipment. The upgrade will also make it feasible to boost capacity up to 3,800 MW. ABB carried out a similar upgrade of the Sylmar converter station in 2004.
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