Electricity equipment multinational Hitachi Energy has signed a long-term service agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL) to secure power supply for the country’s most important power transmission asset – the Inga-Kolwezi high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link.
The link supplies up to 1 000 MW of emission-free electricity from the Inga Falls hydropower plant in the far west of the country to the Kolwezi mining region in the south. With a length of 1 700 km, it is the longest HVDC link in Africa.
It also enables the DRC to export surplus power to the member countries of the Southern African Power Pool.
As part of the agreement, Hitachi Energy will assess the precise service needs of the converter stations and develop a preventive maintenance programme and supervise its implementation over the next five years. The agreement includes training, knowledge sharing and expertise enhancement of SNEL service personnel.
“We are delighted to be continuing our long collaboration with SNEL to protect the nation’s investment in its most important power transmission link. This long-term service agreement demonstrates how we work closely with the customers to secure availability and reliability over the entire lifetime of an asset,” said Hitachi Energy HVDC and HVDC Service Global Product GM Andreas Berthou.