Hyundai E&C wins $725 mn Saudi Arabia HVDC line order

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (Hyundai E&C) said on Tuesday it has bagged a $725 million order to build a power transmission line in Saudi Arabia, marking its largest-ever power distribution line contract secured from the Kingdom.

It is part of a construction project for a 1,089 kilometer-long, 500 kilovolt (kV) high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line. It will connect Kudmi Substation, southwest of Saudi Arabia, to Riyadh Combined Cycle Power Plant 14 in its capital city.

Under the contract Hyundai E&C signed with National Grid SA, a power transmission unit of Saudi Electricity Co, it is responsible for Portion 1 of the three-portion project to build a 369-km transmission line near Kudmi Substation by January 2027 on a turnkey basis, it said in a statement.

For the construction, it will introduce the double bipole HVDC system with a power transmission capacity of 4,000 megawatts to the Kingdom.

An HVDC transmission system is regarded as a next-generation electricity transmission technology, ideal for renewable energy such as solar and wind power.

It uses a direct current for electricity transmission, with voltages between 100 kV and 800 kV.

It is also called a power superhighway because it can transport significantly more power over greater distances than the common high-voltage alternative current (AC) line and incurs fewer power losses.

The South Korean builder has completed a total of 35 transmission line projects in Saudi Arabia over the past 50 years.

Write to Eun-Ji Shim at summit@hankyung.com
 



Yeonhee Kim edited this article.