Abstract: A converter station has two line-commutated converters for energy transmission via a bipolar high voltage direct current transmission line. In a first operating mode of the converter station the two converters are electrically connected in an anti-parallel circuit to the same pole of the high voltage direct current transmission link and one of the converters is operated as a rectifier and the other converter is operated as an inverter in an network. In a second operating mode the two converters are connected to different poles of the high voltage direct current transmission link and both converters are operated as either rectifiers or inverters in the AC network. In both operating modes a station active power exchanged between the converter station and the AC network is controlled by active power specifications for converter active powers which are exchanged between the converters and the AC network.