Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has awarded a contract worth more than $100m to GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions business and a KEPCO-GE joint venture, KAPES.

Under the contract, GE and KAPES will be responsible for the delivery of a 500MW back-to-back voltage sourced converter (VSC) high voltage direct current (HVDC) link in Incheon, South Korea.

Located in Incheon, the Shin-bupyeong project has been designed to strengthen the electric grid system and relieve the overload and overvoltage conditions in the congested area.

It is said to be the GE and the KAPES consortium’s first project in the country to use VSC, the new HVDC technology connects AC systems and has ‘highly specialised’ power electronics.

GE stated that the technology allows for increased power, improved operational capability, and frequency control compared to the Line Commutated Converter (LLC) technology.

Within the last decade, South Korea has experienced approximately 35% growth in energy consumption and is said to be one of the biggest energy consumers in the world.

GE noted that the Shin-bupyeong project will be crucial to providing rapid active power flow controls.

KAPES and GE Grid Solutions will also be responsible for providing the complete engineering design for the VSC HVDC system as part of the turnkey project.

They will also oversee the manufacturing, procurement and delivery of the equipment, installation as well as commissioning of the system.

The core equipment for the project is planned to be manufactured at GE’s sites in Italy, Brazil, France and the US, with installation anticipated to begin in 2024.

GE Grid Solutions’ grid integration leader Johan Bindele said: “The Shin-bupyeong project is our fifth VSC project in the world, demonstrating that our technology is now well established and that we have the ability to commercially deliver on this latest and most advanced HVDC technology.

“GE and KEPCO continue to reinforce the value of the KAPES joint venture. Prior to this contract award, GE signed to deliver more than 7.5GW of power through multiple HVDC projects in South Korea, including 7GW with KAPES.”