Hitachi ABB Power Grids to deliver power quality solutions for Germany’s energy transition

Hitachi ABB Power Grids today announced it has won two orders for STATCOM power quality solutions from Amprion, which operates one of the largest of Germany’s four power transmission grids. The German power system is undergoing massive changes as the country strives to transition to 80 percent renewable energy by 2050, a policy which includes closing conventional power plants. 

One of the basic functionalities of conventional power plants is to provide reactive power to balance voltage dips and spikes that cause grid disturbances or even outages. As more and more conventional plants close, this supply of reactive power diminishes. It can be replaced by installing static compensators (STATCOMs) at selected points in the grid to provide essential reactive power to maintain stability and power quality. 

The four transmission system operators in Germany – Amprion, 50Hertz, TenneT and TransnetBW – recently estimated they will need to install around 70 STATCOMs within the next 10 years to ensure grid stability during the country’s energy transition. Of the utility orders awarded so far in Germany, around half have been placed with Hitachi ABB Power Grids.

“Once again we are delighted to play a significant and enabling role in Germany’s transition to renewable energy,” says Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Grid Integration business. “Our power quality solutions enable large amounts of renewable energy to be transported efficiently and reliably through the national transmission system, while maintaining grid and voltage stability.”

“The conversion of an energy system requires many different innovative solutions. We are very pleased that with Hitachi ABB Power Grids we have an experienced technology partner at our side who is working with us to develop a stable power grid for the future,” says Dr. Hendrik Neumann, Chief Technical Officer of Amprion. "The world's most powerful STATCOMs enable us to provide reactive power flexibly and efficiently."

The STATCOMs have been jointly designed using Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ 3D and digital engineering tools to arrive at 300 megavolt ampere reactive (Mvar) and 600 Mvar modular solutions that can easily be replicated for speedy and efficient deployment throughout the grid. The 600 Mvar STATCOM is the world’s most powerful ever made. 

STATCOM is one of a suite of grid and power quality technologies developed by Hitachi ABB Power Grids to boost the transmission capacity and increase the quality of existing and new AC power systems.

Within the past two years alone, Hitachi ABB Power Grids has won or completed orders on behalf of different customers for solutions that contribute hugely to Germany’s energy transition. These include the converter stations for the NordLink HVDC interconnector between Germany and Norway, the converter stations for the connection of the 900-megawatt DolWin5 offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, the Kriegers Flak Combined Grid Solution which connects the German and Danish power grids with two offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, and a power quality solution to enable more renewable energy to flow through the TenneT transmission system from the north to the south of Germany.