Hyosung Heavy Industries builds test facility for 2-gigawatt HVDC controller
Summary
Hyosung Heavy Industries built a test facility at its research center in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to evaluate its homegrown 2-gigawatt HVDC controller. The hardware-in-the-loop system connects the controller to simulated converter and grid equipment, allowing engineers to repeatedly test faults and emergencies under near-real conditions. The facility supports the company’s effort to improve system reliability and participate in Korea’s HVDC localization projects, including the planned West Coast Energy Highway.
Key Facts
- The simulator links an actual HVDC controller to a simulated 2-gigawatt converter valve and power grid.
- A 2-gigawatt HVDC system requires two to three times more test scenarios than a 200-megawatt system, according to Hyosung.
- Hyosung has operated a 200-megawatt voltage-source HVDC system at Yangju Substation since 2024.
- The company began developing its HVDC technology through a 20-megawatt demonstration project on Jeju Island in 2012.
- Hyosung was selected in September to participate in the valve and controller segment of a Korea Electric Power Corp. project to localize and demonstrate the technology.
Hyosung Heavy Industries workers conduct a test drive for a 2-gigawatt high-voltage direct current controller. Courtesy of Hyosung Heavy Industries
Hyosung Heavy Industries, the power equipment and grid infrastructure unit of Korean conglomerate Hyosung Group, has built a facility to test the performance of its 2-gigawatt high-voltage direct current (HVDC) controller, marking a first for Korea using homegrown technology, the company said Thursday.
The hardware-in-the-loop simulation system, recently installed at the company's research center in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, links an actual HVDC controller to a simulated 2-gigawatt converter valve and power grid. This lets engineers check how the controller responds under conditions close to those of a real grid, the company said.
HVDC technology converts alternating current into direct current to carry large amounts of electricity over long distances with less power loss.
A 2-gigawatt system requires two to three times as many test scenarios, such as grid faults and emergencies, as a 200-megawatt one, according to the company.
The simulator can reproduce hazardous situations that are difficult to test on a live grid and run them repeatedly over long periods, it said.
Hyosung said it drew on experience from a 200-megawatt voltage-source HVDC system it developed and has operated since 2024 at Yangju Substation, north of Seoul. The company began developing the technology with a 20-megawatt demonstration project on Jeju Island in 2012.
High-capacity voltage-source HVDC has been led by a small number of global companies, it said. In September, Hyosung was selected as a participant in the valve and controller segment of a Korea Electric Power Corp. project to localize and demonstrate the technology.
The company said it plans to use the facility to raise the reliability of its gigawatt-class system as it pursues work on the West Coast Energy Highway, a government-backed plan to build HVDC lines along the country's west coast.
"Beyond simply securing a test facility, this is meaningful in that we now have our own technological base to further advance the 2-gigawatt HVDC controller we developed," a company official said.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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