• Milestone-Proposal
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From GHN

This Proposal has been approved, and is now a Milestone Nomination

What is the name of the proposed milestone?

Eel River Back-to-Back High Voltage Direct Current Converter Station, 1972

What is the location of the proposed milestone?

Eel River is located in Northern New Brunswick, Canada

In what IEEE section does it reside?

IEEE Region 7, New Brunswick Section.

In What Year or Years was the work performed?*

Canadian General Electric and NB Power commissioned Eel River HVDC in 1972*.

What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)?

Eel River back-to-back High Voltage Direct Current converter station, the first in the world to be completely solid state. The station is a 320Mega Watt facility, comprised of two poles of 80kVolt 2000-Ampere Direct Current. Both the New Brunswick and Hydro Quebec sides of the station operate at 230kVolt 3 phase Alternating Current. Technologically, new high current silicon solid state thyristors were coming into use and Canadian General Electric and NB Power entered an agreement to enable a demonstration plant to prove the technology. Today, a third of a century later, the plant is still in service and NB Power is considering upgrades. Politically or socially, Hydro Quebec had just built some massive hydroelectric power stations at Churchill Falls, Manicouagan and LaGrande. A block of energy would be available for a number of years. NB Power capitalized on this situation. It resulted in NB Power customers having lower electricity rates for many years. Hydro Quebec has since become a major exporter of energy and has installed a number of HVDC stations. However, Eel River was the first HVDC interconnection between Hydro Quebec and a neighbouring utility. On a reliability basis, New Brunswick with its 2000 MW power system could not be attached directly to the Hydro Quebec system because we were already tied to the North American Eastern Interconnection of some 200,000MW. Minor disturbances would have disrupted the New Brunswick system, thus affecting NB Power customers. HVDC allowed the power to be imported

What features set this work apart from similar achievements?

In previous HVDC projects, be it back to back or DC Transmission lines, the converters and inverters were constructed with vacuum tube technology known as mercury arc valves. These were prone to re-strikes, which deteriorated the transient performance of the facilities. The Nelson River project (recent milestone for 900 km HVDC transmission system) retrofitted thyristors to half of their bridges, which enabled the technology to be proven and pave the road for the Eel River Project shortly after. A converter has the Alternating Current connection at its input and the Direct current at its output. An inverter is the opposite. A converter / inverter constitutes a DC Link. If the distance is long, we call it a DC Transmission Line. If the distance is short like at Eel River (some 30' of 2000 Ampere bus), then it is a back-to-back HVDC station.

What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?

The major technical obstacle was to obtain acceptable transient performance during disturbances. Having enough voltage support was also the challenge, and required three rotary synchronous converters and nearby 112 MVA Dalhousie Plant to maintain voltage and give the electronic station some inertia. Control systems included a governing function and a stabilizing function, both based on the judiciously weighted frequency difference of both systems.

Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.

If successful in receiving this acknowledgment, NB Power would organize a celebration event in conjunction with Engineering Week, which is held annually in February. We would propose an event be held at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, along with representatives from the IEEE, and IEEE NB Section. In addition, we would invite key stakeholders and the media to attend. After the plaque is received, it would be displayed in the main lobby of our Dalhousie Generating Station, where it would be visible to employees and visitors for viewing.

Are the original buildings extant?

Yes

How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?

Original buildings are in existence, inside a High Voltage Transmission Terminal yard. More exposure to the plaque would be possible at the nearby Dalhousie Generating Station. The Eel River HVDC facility is a secured operational facility unavailable to the public. Dalhousie Generating Station, which is located nearby and has an office area and a large vestibule, accessible to the public.

Who is the present owner of the site(s)?

NB Power Transmission Corporation

Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an Electrical Engineering Milestone?

Yes

Please specify the IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone nomination, and list the contact information for the senior officer from those OU(s).

IEEE New Brunswick Section in a meeting 2007OCT19 has agreed to sponsor the Milestone nomination and support this proposal.