ABB has won an order worth about US$110m from Litgrid, the state owned electricity transmission system operator to supply and install a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station in Lithuania. The 500 MW HVDC converter station will help connect the 330 kV Lithuanian grid to the 400 kV Polish grid, thereby integrating the electricity networks of the Baltic states with the continental European power grid and contribute to the development of an EU electricity market. At present, the Lithuanian electricity system is connected only with the grids of Latvia, Estonia and the countries to the east. The new link will also bolster the NordBalt HVDC connection with Sweden, currently under construction by ABB.
ABB will design, engineer, supply and install the converter station including high-voltage equipment, such as power transformers and thyristor valves. The station will be built near the city of Alytus in Lithuania and is expected to be operational in 2015. A 160 km-long 400 kV alternating current (AC) overhead line will link the HVDC station in Alytus with a substation close to the city of Elk in Poland.