Colin Davidson, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Consulting Engineer at GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions business, has received the IEC 1906 Award.
The 1906 Award is granted in recognition of exceptional recent individual achievements – a project or other specific contribution – which helped advance IEC activities in a significant way. With more than 30 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution (T&D) industry, Colin has been instrumental in the design and development of several HVDC products at GE, including the development and evolution of GE’s Voltage Source Converter (VSC) valve technology and the design of GE’s state-of-the-art valve test facility in the UK, which features industry leading capability to test HVDC valves. In addition, Colin has worked with industry bodies, including CIGRE and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), to drive the standardization of HVDC valves.
Having previously been awarded the IEC 1906 Award in 2012 and 2020, this year marks the third time that Colin has received this award. For the 2022 award, Colin is specifically cited “in recognition for his exceptional recent organizational and technical contribution to maintenance work related to IEC 60633:2019: HVDC transmission - Vocabulary, IEC TR 62543:2022: HVDC transmission using VSCs and IEC 62751-1 :2014/AMD2: Power losses in VSCs for HVDC systems – Part 1: General requirements.”
Earlier this year, Colin also received the IEEE Uno Lamm Award. The Uno Lamm High Voltage Direct Current Award was established in 1980 and is the highest honor in the HVDC global community, recognizing no more than one person each year. These industry recognitions are further evidence that GE is making significant contributions to evolving HVDC technology and the solutions that utilities and developers are seeking to help them deliver the energy transition.
Colin is based at GE Grid Solutions’ Stafford site in the UK. Colin, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK, graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Physics.
