The energy produced by Santo Antônio and Jirau hydroelectric plants (with a total power of about 6,500 MW) will be transported by a transmission system consisting of two dipoles of the DC in ± 600 kV, covering a distance of 2,375 km to São Paulo, and two 2 x 400 MW back-to-back converters, installed in Porto Velho for local supply.

The project incorporated new technologies, both in the generation, by the use of bulb turbines, as in back-to-back converter stations, which employ CCC (Capacitor Commutated Converter) technology.

The integration of the first generation units of Santo Antônio plant to the BIPS occurred in March 2012, through a 525/230 kV - 465 MVA transformer and an incomplete transmission system, i.e, with only one of the three 230 kV planned circuits for the system Acre-Rondônia. Thus, it was necessary to adopt a number of operating measures that allowed to securely explore the energy generated at Santo Antônio plant, reducing dependence on local thermal generation and increasing operational flexibility.

The start of operations of the back-to-back converter station occurred during the second half of 2012, providing greater reliability for both the system Acre - Rondônia as for Santo Antônio plant.

Studies regarding back-to-back converter demanded effort from the Operator and agents involved, since the equipment was designed considering the three 230 kV planned circuits to Acre-Rondônia. The technological solution found was to keep in operation the transformer used for the connection of the first units of Santo Antônio plant. The operation of a direct current system in parallel with an AC system represented a technological milestone for the Operator, since this operation is unprecedented in the world.

The year 2012 records the early implementation of the Continuous Current Transmission Systems Simulator at ONS facilities. This tool simulates the behavior of the power system in real scale of time and consists of twenty-three cubicles matching: one central device - the RTDS - and replicas of control modules and protection associated with the dipole converters I, dipole II and back-to-back connection, installed in substations Araraquara and Porto Velho of the Madeira River transmission system. The availability of this tool allows the Operator to evaluate the performance of such controllers to various events that may occur in the AC and DC grids simulated in RTDS, anticipating the consequences of these disturbances to the real system.

The following stage of the project is draining the energy generated at the plants of Santo Antônio and Jirau to the Southeast through a transmission system composed of one DC dipole in ± 600 kV. This operation is scheduled for the first half of 2013, and its main challenge is operating with a small number of generating units at the Madeira complex and the design of complementary control and systemic protection actions.