LSIS develops HDVC valves

By Kim Yoo-chul

LSIS, Korea’s leading electrical parts maker, has successfully developed suspended-type thyristor valves, the company said Monday. No other Korean firms have been successful in thos.

``LSIS has begun increasing the output of thyristor valves used in high-voltage direct current transmission or HDVC systems from our plant in the port city of Busan, Korea,’’ said company spokesman Kim Dae-seong.

The firm can now compete in a market dominated by Siemens of Germany and Alstom of France.

Thyristor valves form the heart of the HVDC conversion process. Modern valves have an excellent performance record and very small losses.

They do the actual conversion from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). Kim said the thyristor valves developed by the company can be used for a 200-megawatt system.

``The development means Korea has finally reached to make the valve on its own. LSIS plans to export the valves, though we can’t name potential clients due to the sensitivity of the issue,’’ he said.

HVDC requires a transmission distance of at least 750 kilometers to become economic and integrating HVDC into the current grid reduces reliability.

LSIS plans to test the valves in its HVDC pilot project on the southern island of Jeju, according to Kim.

The demand for HVDC systems is steadily increasing due to the rise in of electricity consumption globally. LSIS is aiming to create 1.7 trillion won revenue from HVDC systems by the end of 2019.

Siemens, Alstom and ABB are the sector leaders taking up 95 percent of the global demand on a combined basis, market research firms said. Currently, the global market value of HVDC systems is worth about 9 trillion won.