The Powerformer breakthrough

Asea Brown Boveri, the Zurich-based international electrical engineering group, has introduced a high-voltage generator, which the group calls the 'Powerformer'. The machine can generate electricity and transmit it to a supply network directly without the intervention of transformers.
     The Powerformer can generate electricity at between 20 and 400 kilovolts. The first commercial generator of this kind will be installed at the Foundation Porjus Hydro Centre power plant in northern Sweden, and will be able to generate electricity at 45 kv.
     According to the ABB management, the Powerformer is different from conventional generators, which produce power at such low voltages that they cannot be supplied over long distances. Connecting them to high-voltage transmission networks requires stepping up the voltage. Because of this, they say, the Powerformer, which dispenses with the need for transformers, can bring about considerable savings in both project and operational costs of power generation and transmission networks.
     The development of the Powerformer took ABB ten years of research and development.