2054
4, October 1995
Control Sensitivity Indices for Stability Analysis of HVdc Systems
O.B. Nayak? A.M. Gole? D.G. Chapman* J.B. Davies*
(Member) (Member) (Senior Member) (Non- Member)
University of Manitoba?, Manitoba Hydro*
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Abstract - This paper presents a new concept called the Control
Sensitivity Index or CSI, for the stability analysis of HVdc conver-
ters connected to weak ac systems. The CSI for a particular con-
trol mode can be definedas the ratio of incrementalchanges in the
two system variables that are most relevant to that control mode.
The index provides valuable information on the stability of the
system and, unlike other approaches, aids in the design of the con-
troller. It also plays an important role in defining non-linear gains
for the controller. This paper offers a generalized formulation of
CSI and demonstrates its application through an analysis of the
CSI for three modes of HVdc control. The conclusionsdrawn from
the analysis are confirmed by a detailed electromagnetic tran-
sients simulation of the addc system. The paper concludes that
the CSI can be used to improve the controller design and, for an
inverter in a weak ac system, the conventional voltage control
mode is more stable than the conventional y control mode.
Keywords: HVdc, Weak Ac Systems,VoltageStability, Electromag-
netic Ikansients Simulation, Control Sensitivity Zndex.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years several authors [1],[2],[3],[4] have pres-
ented methods for the stability analysis of HVdc converters
terminating at ac system locations having low short circuit
capacities. These methods have usually been based on
steady state models, assuming fundamental frequency op-
eration. They provide valuable insight into the basic mecha-
nisms of phenomena such as voltage instability. They are
more realistic than earlier approaches which used concepts
such as the short circuit ratio (SCR) or the effective short
circuit ratio (ESCR). Ainsworth [l] has introduced the con-
cept of Maximum Available Power ( M A P ) for the case of
a transmission system with the rectifier in constant power
control and the inverter in constant extinction angle (y) con-
trol. Hammad et al. [2] have introduced the concept of
Voltage Stability Factor (VSF) which is the incremental
change in the ac busbar voltage at the converter bus due to
a change in reactive power supply at that bus, i.e., dV/dQ.
95 WM 277-4 PWRD A paper recommended and approved
by t h e IEEE Transmission and D i s t r i b u t i o n Committee
of the IEEE Power Engineering Society f o r p r e s e n t a t -
i o n a t t h e 1995 IEEE/PES Winter Meeting, January 29,
t o February 2 , 1995, New York, NY. Manuscript sub-
mitted J u l y 25, 1994; made a v a i l a b l e f o r p r i n t i n g
December 28, 1994.
0885-8977/95/$04.00 0 1995 IEEE
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 10, No.
Normally VSF is positive (voltage increases with reactive
power increase); a negative value indicates voltage instabili-
ty. Hammad et al. have successfully used this method to
develop optimal methods for voltage control at the conver-
ter bus. FrankCn and Anderson [3] use a similar technique
to study the voltage stability under various converter control
modes and tap changer control. They also show the equiva-
lence between the M A P index of Ainsworth [11and the VSF
[2], [5] of Hammad et al. Pilotto et al. [ 6 ]demonstrated the
application of the VSF method in the analysis of a converter
connected to a weak ac system and verified their results with
EMTP simulation.
The Control Sensitivity Index approach presented here is
based on analyzing the sensitivity of the power system re-
sponse to a change in an output quantity of the controller
under consideration. The CSI approach focuses on the
characteristics of the system which are directly associated
with the controller. It is to be noted that nowhere in the
formulation of CSI is any controller parameter used.
Instead, the system characteristic is analyzed from the point
of view of a controller output quantity. The CSI approach
will be useful to HVdc control engineers as well as system
planning and design engineers.
In common with MAP and VSF methods mentioned
above, the CSI calculation is also based on the steady state
network equations, assuming fundamental frequency ac
voltages and hence, considers only the steady state instabili-
ty associated with a control mode. The results from CSI
analysis are confirmed with digital simulation using an elec-
tromagnetic transients simulation program (EMTDCTM).
The system studied uses design parameters from the
CIGRE benchmark system [7].
11. THE FORMULATION
The HVdc power flow is discussed in Section II-A. The
CSI formulation is discussed in Section II-B.
A . Power Flow Formulation
The method used in these investigations is explained with
the aid of a HVdc inverter connected to an ac system equiva-
lent of impedance Z, as shown in Figure 1. The ac filters and
fixed capacitors are shown as an impedance Zf.
I . Power Flow Equations: The steady state operation of
the HVdc system, shown in Figure 1, is fully described by
the six power flow equations given below [SI.
 2055

h Here, & is the vectorxwith steady state solutionvalues. The

+ cosy ) = o
xc I d
- T ( cosa relation between a nearby estimated solution X and the
steady state solution X i is given by Equation (8).
cos@ - rosaicos
) = 0 F(X0) = F(X) + mX) (8)
and hence F(X) = - A F ( X )

and AF(X) =
""x"] AX
[7-
(VI- + R, V I G, + where IaF(X)1 is the Jacobian J of matrix F a t X
L
axJ

and AX = Xo - X (9)

(-?+!A + X, V I G, - Thus, F(X) = - J d X (10)

Only the elements corresponding to the design variables
R, V d Id tan @ vectorx, are non-zero in Equation (9) (other elements ofX,
VI
+ R, V I Bf - E , sin 6
say3 are fixed, and the corresponding Axj terms are zero).
Hence, Equation (10) can be written with a reduced Jaco-
Pd - v d Id =0
bian J, which contains only those columns of J that corre-
Where the variables are: spond to elements in X, .
V I : Line to line voltage at the ac busbar Thus, F ( X ) = - J , AX, (104
X, : Commutation impedance
Id : Dc current and AX, = - J;' F(X) (11)
T : Transformer turns ratio From Equation (9) and (ll),the new values of X, can be
a : Inverter jiring angle estimated as follows:
y : Inverter extinction angle x, = x, + A X , (14
@ : Power factor angle of inverter ac current The steady state solution is obtained by iteratively solving
Vd : Inverter dc voltage Equation (11) and (12) till F(X) given by Equation (loa)
P d : Inverter dc power equalszero. The system JacobianJ is given in the Appendix.
2,: Ac filter impedance, ( G, + j B, )-' B. CSI Formulation
E, : Ac system source voltage magnitude
The CSI concept is explained in the next Section 11-B2.
6 : Phase angle between E, and VI The mathematical formulation of CSI is presented in Sec-
+

p&k,TG
yT=i$-jj[
Z, : Ac system impedance, ( R, j X, ) tion 11-B3.
1. Controlled and Controlling Parameters: The operating
variables are those quantities which willvary during dynamic
fl operation. There are seven operating variables in this setup,
out of which one variable should be controlled. HVdc sys-
a xc tems are operated in various control modes such as constant
-- extinction angle control (CEA) and constant power control
Figure I :Inverter Connected to Ac System mode. Any given controller is designed to directly control
one of the operating variables by directly varying one other
2. Design Variables: Out of the many design variables operating variable ( the remaining variables are affected
present in the above power flow equations, and as given by indirectly according to Equations 1-6 ). In this paper, these
vector X below, only a reduced set of 6 variables ( design parameters are referred to as the controlled parameter and
variables, X, ) is determined by the power flow solution (see the controllingparameter, respectively. In CEA mode, for
next section). The remaining quantities are specified. example, the controller attempts to maintain extinction
T-
-[ VI I d a y @ T v d E, 6 P , B
I angle y (controlled parameter) at a specifiedvalue by direct-
ly varying inverter firing angle a (controlling parameter). A
x,' = [LI @ vd
pd]
conventional CEAcontroller design is based on the fact that
an increase in a order causes the system to respond with a
3. Load Flow Solution: Equations (1) - (6) can be repre-
decrease in y . A shift in the system characteristics will
sented in matrix form as follows:
change the controller performance and can even lead to
W O ) = 101 (7) unstable operation.
2056
2. Control Sensitivity Index: From the above discussion, it
is imperative that the system characteristics with respect to
the controlled and controlling parameters should match the
controller characteristics for fast control and stable opera-
tion of the system. The system characteristics necessary for
the proper design of a controller is called the Control Sensi-
tivity Index (CSZ) for that controller and is defined as "the
rate of change of controlledparameter with respect to the con-
trollingparameter ".
3. CSZ Calculation: Once the power flow solution is ob-
tained ( see Section 11-A3 ), the CSI can be computed as
follows:
The RHS of Equation (10) can be written as:
J AX = AX, + J , dy (13)
Here& is a square matrix consisting of columns of theJ that
are related to X, variables ( which are all the operating vari-
ables except for the controlling parameter ), and Jy is one
column of J that corresponds to the controlling-parameter
y. In steady state, Equation (10) is zero and hence, Equation
(13) can be re-arranged as:
1 AX,
- = 4;'J , (14)
dY
The CSI, for the desired controller is the entry &/dy of
Equation (14), where x is the controlled parameter. For
Constant Extinction Angle (CEA) control, for example, the
CSI, would be dylda . The same formulation can also be
used to obtain VSF by selecting the appropriate X , and y
variables. Description of the operating Jacobian& the con-
trolling Jacobian .$, and the operating vector X, for CEA
mode of control are given in the Appendix.
111. ANALYSIS OF CSI
To demonstrate the applicability of CSI for analyzing the
stability of HVdc systems, the indices for the case of Con-
stant Extinction Angle, Constant Power and Constant Volt-
age Control modes are presented here. The flow chart in the
Appendix shows the approach taken to obtain the CSI of a
particular control mode with varying SCRs ( SCR =
h/& pu I ). The CSI plots (Figures 3,7 and 8) are developed
by starting at a large SCR magnitude and gradually reducing
it to a point a little past the point of instability. Note that the
inverter is fully compensated in all these cases and the
ESCR is computed on this basis. In the formulation of the
CSI, the converter dynamics are neglected, i.e., the HVDC
control is assumed to be instantaneous. Likewise, the ac
voltage control for the system equivalent is neglected, i.e., it
is assumed that E, in Figure 1 is constant for a given SCR.
The system data are given in the Appendix.
1 .I Constant Extinction Angle Control
Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a typical extinction
angle controller. The index dylda is the control sensitivity
a
Figure 2 :Inverter Connected to Ac System
index (CSI,) for the constant extinction angle mode of con-
trol since y is controlled by a. The gains & and K, of the
controller are normally positive, which means that if the
measured extinction angle yis larger than the order yrYref, the
error causes the firing angle order a to increase. This strate-
gy assumes that the increase in a will cause yto decrease, i.e.,
that the quantity dylda is negative. A positive value of CSI,
would indicate instability. Also the magnitude of CSI, is a
measure of the sensitivity of the system response to a change
in a order, and thus the knowledge of CSI, aids in the selec-
tion of controller gains. A high magnitude of CS1,indicates
that a very small change in a would result in a large change
in y.
Figure 3 shows dy/da as a function of the Effective Short
Circuit Ratio (ESCR) of the ac system where the inverter is
fully compensated. It is assumed that the rectifier is operat-
ing in constant current control mode and hence the dc cur-
rent Id is assumed fixed (at a value of 1.0 pu for the plots in
Figure 3 ). Figure 3 shows CSI plots for three different SCR
angles (damping angles of the system equivalent impedance
&).For an angle of 75", the critical ESCR is about 0.4 (SCR
= 0.9). For a smaller damping angle of 65", the critical ESCR
is larger (about 0.6) whereas if the equivalent is purely in-
ductive 90",the system is stable even at very low ESCR
values. This appears counter intuitive because it indicates
that a system with very low damping can be stable at ex-
tremely low ESCR values. However, evaluating the critical
ESCR from simulations using a full scale electromagnetic
transient program confirms CSI, results as shown by the
dark squares in Figure 3 .
4
I I
experimental poini
-3 -
Note: ESCR is based on fully compensated inverter
-4 I I I I I I I I I
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50
IESCRI
Figure 3 :Calculated and Simulated CSI dyrda,Id = I pu
 2057

In the simulation, the inverter was first operated with a

constant firing angle corresponding to the steady state solu-
tion. A step change A a was made and the corresponding
extinction angle change Ay was measured from which the
index was calculated.
Figure 4 shows how the CSI, varies with the level of dc
current, for a fixed ESCR (system impedance angle as-
sumed fixed at 75" for all cases). For an ESCR of 0.3 (SCR
0.8) , the dc current cannot exceed 1.0 p.u. without loss of
stability. For stronger systems, this current can be larger
than rated, indicating a stable overload capacity ( provided
other conditions are acceptable).

+1 - y Controller Sign
C
.Do 0 -

4
1
-l.O: -1
p -1.4- 30
Extinction Angle
-0
-1.8-
-1.8 ---__
2 15

0
2.5( 1.96)
-2.2
-2.2, 8 I
I II I II II I
I I II II tt ._._I-

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 .o 1.2 Inv. Firing Angle

2
U
142
Id, Pu I30

Figure 4 :CSI dylda v/s Id for Various Fixed ESCR

Another application of the information shown in
Figure 4 would be to design an adaptive non-linear gain
block for the extinction angle controller. For a given short
circuit ratio, the gain could be adjusted according to the
reciprocal of the dylda index, as the current varies.
Figure 5 shows the block diagram for such a controller. This
ensures uniform sensitivity of they response over the entire
operating range. It should be noted that the use of a differ-
ent characteristic for each SCR may be impractical due to
the difficulty of determining the SCR at an HVdc converter
station. However, Figure 4 shows that for SCRgreater than
2.0 (ESCR > 1.47) , the characteristics are closer together
and one can use an average characteristic in the controller.
J L
Figure 5 :Adaptive Extinction Angle Controller
The results of Figure 3 indicate yet another interesting
possibility. If the sign of the controller gains were reversed,
I I I I I I I 1 I I
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 I .a
Time (s)
Figure 6 :Simulated Converter Responses with Conventional
Gamma Controller and with its Sign Reversed
It is to be noted that the authors do not claim at this point,
that the above control strategy is a practical one. However,
they strongly feel that it is an area that is worth investigating
further.
Although the critical ESCR can be calculated using the
VSF approach, a straightforward calculation of VSF would
indicate that y control is never possible below the critical
ESCR. For example, the VSF calculation for constant y
controlin [2] uses the constraint Ay= 0, thus, eliminatingany
reference to y. By focusing directly on the controllable
quantity (such as y in CEA control) as in the case of CSI
calculation, the reason for stable operation of the modified
controller, with system ESCR below the critical value, be-
comes directly apparent.
B. Constant Power Control
When the rectifier is in constant power control operation,
the power controller normally adjusts the current order so
that the ordered power is maintained. Thus the index dpd!
dId could be used as the Control Sensitivity Index (CSI,).
This criterion is the same as the M A P criterion by Ains-
2058
worth[ 11and has been shown to be exactly equivalent to the
VSF at the critical point by FrankCn et al. [3]. The inverter
is assumed to be in constant extinction angle (CEA) control.
Figure 7 shows the CSI, (dPd/dId) for the test system with a
very strong rectifier ac system and an inverter ac system of
varying short circuit ratio. As can be seen, the critical ESCR
value is in the neighborhood of 1.47 (SCR 2.0).
Figure 7 also shows the variation of the CSI with different
equivalent system damping angles. The damping angle does
not appear to play as important a role in this case as in the
case of the extinction angle controller since the critical
ESCR is virtually independent of the damping angle.
e;
-2{ -",' //scR
I I I I I I I I I Figure 10 shows CSI graphs and Table 1 . 1 summarizes
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50
IESCRI
Figure 7 :CSlpfor Constant Power Control
C. Constant Voltage Control
In the calculation of CSI, for voltage control at the invert-
er the rectifier is assumed to be operating at a constant
current (AId=O). The inverter dcvoltage is maintained con-
stant by controlling the inverter firing angle. The relevant
CSI, is thus dVd/da. Figure 8 shows CSI, as a function of
ESCR and the critical ESCR appears to be 0.25 (SCR 0.74).
Figure 9 shows digital simulation results for a 5% in-
crease in dc voltage order for an inverter connected to a
system of ESCR 0.3 (SCR 0.8). As can be seen, the change
in the firing angle is 0.5 degrees which gives a value for CSI,
3] as calculated from Figure 9
a-
m ------________
-3a
3a>
-3
Figure 8 :CSI,,for Constant Voltage Control
of 0.1 pu/deg, which agrees with the theoretical calculation
in Figure 8 . The critical ESCR is also confirmed through
simulation. The CSI, value from Figure 8 indicates that a
voltage controller should have smaller gains if the system
ESCR is in the vicinity of critical value as the system is ex-
tremely sensitive to firing angle changes.
1.054 I
Dc Voltage
21 -
D O -
4 20
L
Extinction Angle
19 I k r , I I
I
D. Comparison of Three Modes of Control
the critical SCR and critical ESCR (CSCR, CESCR) values,
for the three control modes discussed above. It is clear that
the critical ESCR is smallest (0.25) for the inverter in volt-
age control with the rectifier at constant Id, indicating this to
be a superior control mode (amongst the three control
modes) for inverters connected to very weak ac systems. For
the inverter in constant extinction angle control with the
rectifier in constant current operation, the critical ESCR
(0.4) is slightly larger than that in the constant voltage con-
trol mode. The critical ESCR (1.47) is highest when the
rectifier is in the power control mode. Also, with constant
gamma control (CSIy), the critical ESCR is reduced when
the damping angle of SCR is close to 90". On the other hand
with constant power control (CSI,), the critical ESCR is
virtually unaffected by the damping angle in the practical
2
-Constant Power, CSI,
I Constant Voltage, CSI,
0 0.5 1 .o 1.5 2.0
0
IESCRI
Figure 10 :CSI for Three Control Modes

range of 65 to 90. The latter conclusion has also been
reported in Section 2.5 (Calculation of critical short circuit
ratios) of the joint IEEE/CIGRE Guide [4].
Table 1 .I :Summary of Critical SCR and ESCR values
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The Control Sensitivity Index is a new approach for analy-
sis of dc converters in weak systems. This method has clear
advantages over other methods as it establishes a direct
association between the system instability and the control
mode. The paper also successfully demonstrates how the
knowledge of this association can be used in the design of a
stable controller. The critical ESCRs given by the CSI are
consistent with those obtained by other approaches where
available. Also, the theoretical calculations of CSI conform
very well with the digital simulation results.
The paper presents CSI calculations for three control
modes for the same HVdc system. For a weak inverter sys-
tem, the most stable control option is to have the inverter in
voltage control and the rectifier in constant current control.
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project was carried out under a research grant from
Manitoba Hydro. This sponsorship is gratefully acknowl-
edged.
VI. REFERENCES
[l] J.D. Ainsworth, et al., Static and Synchronous Compensa-
tors for HVdc Transmission ConvertersConnected to Weak
Ac Systems, CIGRE Conference, Paris, 1980, Paper No.
31-01.
A.E. Hammad, et al., A New Approach for the Stability
Analysis and Solution of Ac Voltage Stability Problems at
HVdc Terminals, International Conference on DC Power
Transmission,Montreal, June 1984, pp 164-1 70.
B. FrankCn and G . Anderson, Analysis of HVdc Conver-
ters Connected to Weak Ac Systems, IEEE Transactionson
Power Systems, Vol. 5 , No. 1, February 1990, pp 235-242.
[4]IEEEKIGRE, Guideforplanning DCLinks Terminating
at Ac Locations having Low Short Circuit Capacities -
Part I: AC/DC System Interaction Phenomena, IEEE
Standards Department, 1993.
[5]A.E. Hammad, W. Kuhn, A Computation Algorithm for
Assessing Voltage Stability at AC/DC Interconnections,
2059
IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 1, No. 1, Febru-
ary 1986,pp 209-2 16.
[6] L.A.S. Pilotto, et al., Transient Ac Voltage Related Phe-
nomena for HVdc Schemes Connected to Weak Ac Sys-
tems, IEEE Transactionson Power Delivery,Vol. 7, No. 3,
July 1992, pp 1396-1404.
[7] M. Szechtman, et al., First Benchmark Model for HVdc
Control Studies,Electra, Vol. 135, April 1991, pp 55-73.
[8] E.W. Kimbark, Direct Current Transmission - Volume I ,
Chapter 3 , John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1971.
VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Om Navak received his B.E. (hons.)
from Mysore University, India in 1984 af-
ter which he worked with Bosch for one
year and with Siemens as a Project Engi-
neer for two years. He received his M.Sc.
and Ph.D. degrees from the University of
Manitoba in 1990 and 1993, respectively.
At present Dr.Nay& is a Research Engi-
neer at the Manitoba HVDC Research
Centre. His research interests include
HVdc controls and various aspects of digi-
tal simulation of electromagnetic tran-
sients in power systems.
Ani Cole obtained the B. Tech. (EE) de-
gree from IIT Bombay in 1978 and the
Ph.D. degree from the University of Man-
itoba in 1982. He is currently an associate
professor in the department of Electrical
and ComputerEngineeringat the Universi-
ty of Manitoba. He is a registered Profes-
sional Engineer in the Province of Manito-
ba and a member of the IEEE PES society.
Dr.Gole is Vice-chairman of IEEE PES
5 WG 15.05.02 DvnamicPerformance and
Modeling ofDC andPower Electronicsfor
Transmission Systems.
received his B.Sc. (EE)
from the University of Manitoba in 1968
and the Ph.D. degree from the University
of London (Imperial College) in 1973. He
is currently responsible for the planning of
HVDC systems and system control at
Manitoba Hydro. Dr.Chapman is a regis-
tered Professional Engineer in the Prov-
ince of Manitoba and an Adjunct Professor
with the University of Manitoba.
Brett Dav ies obtained the B.S.E.E. and
M.Eng. degrees from the University of
Manitoba in 1973 and 1977 respectively.
Since 1975he has been with Manitoba Hy-
dro where he works on control problems
related to ac and dc transmission. He is a
registered Professional Engineer in the
Province of Manitoba.
2060

VIII. APPENDIX

(y)
Initial Conditions & 12 Pulse
INVERTER

5.0 2kA 990MW I 7.505 83.43 0.22 0.0843

I I 0

0
0
Load Flow Solution
CSI Calculation
Change SCR, ESCR 194.4
It
Damped
IOW
frequency

ymin=l5
I
I+
a=l5
(Z) -11

13.055
Fixed
Capacitor

Flow Chart for CSI Calculation Total +0.028+1/(,b28.13e-6)

All Resistances in Inductances in H, Capacitances in p F
Complete System Data

I -J5xc I
-fiXcIdsina I -J5~,1,siny
T(cosa + cosy) T(cosa + ~ o s y ) ~ 1 T ( c o s+a cosy):
0

L L
-sin+ 1 0 0

-3 2 3 0 0
4 T c o s y j+

1 + U + R s G f -
v: (7. 0 0
v,cos2+
.v,x
J= I XV
y t aI n + + X,Bf) I ?tan+) 1

5x1 1