RCM has been involved in several large projects that include HVDC design, such as the Nalcor Lower Churchill Project in Newfoundland and Labrador.
This is a hydroelectric project in Canada meant to develop the Churchill River and increase the amount of power available for delivery.
The project consists of three HVAC stations and two AC/DC conversion stations. This clean energy will be able to provide up to 16.7 terawatt hours of electricity per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 3.2 million vehicles off the road each year.
The design of this project required protection and control functionality to be implemented for all the switchgear, transformers, filters, etc. This includes testing of LVAC and DC systems, as well as full system functionality testing at three HVAC stations and two HVAC/HVDC conversion stations with voltage ratings ranging from 230kV to 735kV. These substations resulted in the construction of new switchyards, power transformers and switchgear. Some of the switchgear used included circuit breakers, disconnect switches, ground switches, current transformers, voltage transformers, surge arrestors, and all supporting structures. Supplementing this high voltage equipment are protection relays and metering devices to adhere to the planned single line diagram functionality.
