[1] The design and equipment for the Eel River HVDC station was provided by General Electric with its commissioning being completed in 1972.
The Eel River Converter Station consists of two separate 12-pulse bidirectional solid-state non-synchronous HVDC ties of 4800 thyristors [2] (each nominally rated 160 MW) connecting 230-kV transmission systems of Hydro-Québec and NB Power.
The station was built to provide Hydro-Québec with its first major power interconnection with the remainder of eastern North America to enable export of surplus energy made available by the completion of the Churchill Falls hydro-electric project in Labrador.
A recent engineering study of the Eel River facility recommended the replacement of the HVDC converter stations controls and the upgrades of the air cooled thyristor valves with conventional liquid cooled thyristor valves.
[3] Eel River Converter Station was successfully upgraded by ABB and went into operation in November 2014.