A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating current (AC) transmission systems. Most HVDC links use voltages between 100 kV and 800 kV.

HVDC lines are commonly used for long-distance power transmission, since they require fewer conductors and incur less power loss than equivalent AC lines. HVDC also allows power transmission between AC transmission systems that are not synchronized. Since the power flow through an HVDC link can be controlled independently of the phase angle between source and load, it can stabilize a network against disturbances due to rapid changes in power. HVDC also allows the transfer of power between grid systems running at different frequencies, such as 50 and 60 Hz. This improves the stability and economy of each grid, by allowing the exchange of power between previously incompatible networks.

The modern form of HVDC transmission uses technology developed extensively in the 1930s in Sweden (ASEA) and in Germany. Early commercial installations included one in the Soviet Union in 1951 between Moscow and Kashira, and a 100 kV, 20 MW system between Gotland and mainland Sweden in 1954. The longest HVDC link in the world is the Zhundong–South Anhui link in China a ±1,100 kV, Ultra HVDC line with a length of more than 3,000 km (1,900 mi).

High voltage is used for electric power transmission to reduce the energy lost in the resistance of the wires. For a given quantity of power transmitted, doubling the voltage will deliver the same power at only half the current:

$${\displaystyle {\text{power}}=({\text{voltage}})\cdot ({\text{current}})=(2\cdot {\text{voltage}})\cdot ({\tfrac {1}{2}}\cdot {\text{current}})}$$

Since the energy lost as heat in the wires is directly proportional to the square of the current ${\textstyle ({\text{energy lost as heat}}={\text{current}}^{2}\cdot {\text{resistance}}\cdot {\text{time}}),}$ using half the current at double the voltage reduces the line losses by a factor of 4. While energy lost in transmission can also be reduced by decreasing the resistance by increasing the conductor size, larger conductors are heavier and more expensive.

High voltage cannot readily be used for lighting or motors, so transmission-level voltages must be reduced for end-use equipment. Transformers are used to change the voltage levels in alternating current (AC) transmission circuits, but cannot pass DC current. Transformers made AC voltage changes practical, and AC generators were more efficient than those using DC. These advantages led to early low-voltage DC transmission systems being supplanted by AC systems around the turn of the 20th century.

Practical conversion of current between AC and DC became possible with the development of power electronics devices such as mercury-arc valves and, starting in the 1970s, power semiconductor devices including thyristors, integrated gate-commutated thyristors (IGCTs), MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs) and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT).