%page_title%

Hitachi Energy has signed contracts worth a total of more than €2 billion with German transmission system operator Amprion. The contracts cover the supply of four converter stations for two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems.

The orders follow an earlier capacity reservation agreement, signed in September 2023, which identified Hitachi Energy as the preferred supplier of the converter stations. This infrastructure will be built at interconnection points in Heide, Wilhelmshaven, Polsum and Hamm. The power reservation agreement allows Hitachi Energy to optimise its production resources and increase its workforce to meet the demands of on-time project delivery.

The high-voltage HVDC transmission systems, known as V48 and V49, will form Corridor B, a high-capacity ‘energy motorway’ that will transport clean energy from wind farms in northern Germany to western industrial centres. The initiative will help replace traditional energy generation methods with more sustainable solutions.

With Korridor B, we will make an important contribution to the future security of supply in Germany and Europe. The project will supply green electricity to millions of households and industry in North Rhine-Westphalia as early as the early 2030s, says Dr Hendrik Neumann, CTO of Amprion.

Grids are critical to Germany’s transition to clean energy. Without the grid’s ability to transport wind power from the north to areas still heavily reliant on fossil fuels in the south and west, the country cannot achieve decarbonisation within the target timeframe, says Niklas Persson, Managing Director, Substations and Power Systems Business Unit at Hitachi Energy.

Korridor B consists of two new underground cable trunk lines – each of which will be equipped with two converter stations to transmit electricity from the North Sea coast (in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony) to the Ruhr region. Each of these cable systems will provide 2 gigawatts of power, meeting the needs of around 4 million customers. If necessary, the transmission capacity can be increased by a further 4 GW thanks to prepared empty lines.

The contracts also include Hitachi Energy’s EnCompass™ offering, a long-term service agreement.

Under the contracts, Hitachi Energy will design, install and commission two HVDC Light® converter systems, each with a transmission capacity of 2 GW. They will operate at 525 kV, the state-of-the-art standard for HVDC links. Commissioning of the converter stations is scheduled for early 2030.

The execution of these contracts with Amprion will also create several hundred new jobs both in Germany, related to the implementation and construction of the investments, and in Sweden, where the power electronic components supporting the project will be manufactured.