Global sustainable energy technology leader Hitachi Energy and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) national electricity company Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL) have signed a long-term service agreement to secure power supply along the country’s most important power transmission asset: the Inga-Kolwezi high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link.

The 1 700 km link supplies up to 1 000 MW of emission-free electricity from the Inga Falls hydropower plant in the far west of the country to the Kolwezi mining region in the south.

As part of the long-term service agreement, Hitachi Energy will assess the precise service needs of the converter stations and develop a preventive maintenance programme and supervise its implementation over the next five years.

The agreement includes training, knowledge sharing and expertise enhancement of SNEL service personnel.

The agreement, which also enables the DRC to export surplus power to member countries of the Southern African Power Pool, is an extension of the close collaboration between SNEL and Hitachi Energy over the past 40 years to ensure the link operates at maximum availability and reliability over its long operating life.

“We are delighted to be continuing our long collaboration with SNEL to protect the nation’s investment in its most important power transmission link,” says Hitachi Energy HVDC and service global product group manager Andreas Berthou, adding that the long-term service agreement demonstrates how the company works closely with the customer to secure availability and reliability over the entire lifetime of the asset.

“Hitachi Energy has been a close and valued partner of SNEL for almost 50 years, when we first collaborated on the design of what was then a groundbreaking HVDC link with the world’s longest transmission line,” adds SNEL CEO Jean-Bosco Kayombo Kayan.