The Technology

HVDC: Safe, Reliable, Time-Tested Technology

Buried HVDC cables have been used worldwide for nearly 80 years. Some of the first commercial uses for HVDC lines date back to the early 1950s, and many are still in service today. These include projects right here in our backyard. In the New York metropolitan area, the Neptune project safely connects New Jersey and Long Island via an HVDC cable that runs right through New York Harbor.

Buried HVDC has many benefits, including:

• Minimizing impacts on the environment including protecting New York’s scenic landscapes.

Resilient technology that will not fail in the face of extreme weather events.

• Avoids visual impacts of overhead transmission projects with out of sight installation—either underwater or underground.
• Minimal electrical energy losses in comparison to traditional overhead HVAC transmission lines, making it well suited for a project covering this distance.

Buried HVDC has a proven history, HVDC submarine cables have been used for more than 70 years in the U.S., Europe, and the South Pacific. Working examples include:

• The Cross-Sound project from Shoreham, Long Island, to New Haven, Connecticut.
• The Neptune project from Sayreville, New Jersey, to New Cassel in Nassau County, New York.
• The Trans-Bay HVDC cable project in California connecting Pittsburg in the East Bay to San Francisco.
• A large number of working HVDC submarine cables transporting power between Europe and Scandinavia, between the UK and France, between the islands of New Zealand, and between Italy and Greece, just to name a few.