ABB has commissioned the refurbished Songo high voltage direct current converter station in Mozambique. The station is a key component in the 1920 MW HVDC link transmitting electricity from the Cahora Bassa hydro-power plant in Mozambique across a distance of 1417 km to the South African grid. The HVDC link serves the power utilities Hidroeléctrica De Cahora Bassa (HCB) in Mozambique and Eskom in South Africa.
The converter station employs a new kind of re-connectable converter transformer technology, the first installation of its kind to go into operation worldwide. ABB replaced the existing equipment with new DC converter transformers, smoothing reactors, arresters and measuring equipment. They allow the system to operate at different voltage levels, between 533 and 600 kV, enabling it for any future upgrade. ABB previously upgraded the Apollo converter station, at the South African end of the HVDC link, in 2008.
The hydropower plant is located on the Zambezi River in northern Mozambique, a country with a wealth of natural resources and a growing economy. Mozambique has great potential as an energy exporter with around 12 GW of hydro capacity that could be developed and the Cahora Bassa plant is already one of the largest generation facilities in the South African power pool.
South Africa, where coal-based thermal power is the main source of electricity, has a significant demand-supply gap, so the approximately 2 GW of power supplied from their neighbour to the northeast is critical. For Mozambique, the energy exports represent an important source of income.
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