Quebec - New England Transmission
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The Quebec - New England Transmission is a long-distance HVDC line between Radisson, Quebec, and Sandy Pond in Ayer, Massachusetts. In contrast to most other HVDC facilities, it is equipped with multiple static inverter stations.
Originally, the Quebec - New England Transmission consisted of the 172 kilometer section between Des Cantons in Quebec and Comerford Reservoir, New Hampshire which, because of the asynchronous operation of the American and Québec power grids, had to be implemented as HVDC. This line, which is an overhead line for its whole length, went into service in 1986. It could transfer a maximum power of 690 megawatts. The operating voltage was +/-450 kV.
The line was planned to extend beyond the two terminals in Des Cantons and Comerford to the hydroelectric power plants of the La Grande Complex, in the James Bay region of Québec, and to the high consumption area around Boston, Massachusetts. For this reason the line was extended by 1,100 kilometers to the north toward the static inverter plant at Radisson Substation and to the south to the static inverter plant at Sandy Pond in Massachusetts. The transmission power was increased by extending the existing static inverter stations to 2,000 megawatts. The value of the transmission voltage remained unchanged at +/-450 kV. For the connection of the Montreal area, a further static inverter station at Nicolet was put into service in 1992 with a transmission capacity of 2,000 megawatts.
