HVDC

Transmission
PRESENTED BY-
ANKUR DAS
Electrical Engineering
Roll no- B-16/81
6 th sem
Table of Contents

1. Problems involved in AC transmission limitations of HVDC transmission.

2. Advantages of HVDC Transmission.
3. Limitation of HVDC Transmission.
4. Principles of HVDC control.
5.Types of DC links.
6. Equipment for HVDC transmission.
7. Application of HVDC.
1. Problems involved in AC transmission limitations of HVDC
transmission.

1. Heavy supporting structures and erection difficulties.

2. Corona loss and radio Interference.
3. Insulation requirements
4. Ferranti effect.
5. Environmental and biological aspects.
Heavy supporting structures and erection difficulties.

• E.H.V. lines carry large mechanical loadings on towers due to bundle

conductors, large air and ground clearances, considerable dynamic forces due to
broken conductors etc.
• The towers with fabricated steel member, are usually employed in E HV.
transmission. Since the cost of steel towers varies from 30 to 50% of the total cost
of line for voltages upto 500 kV, therefore, better and cheaper designs must be
evolved to effect economy.
• For the erection of E.H.V. lines, problems of transportation and erection arise
as the supporting structures are to be transported over long distances, moreover a
high standard workmanship is required
Corona loss and radio Interference.

Transmission line voltage level being a governing

factor in the corona loss, it is more acute in EHV.
Under bad weather condition, this loss further
increases. Since radio and TV have developed greatly
in the areas covered by power lines, the interference in
radio and TV has become a critical factor of
communication disturbance.
Insulation requirement.

• The required line insulation level depends upon the magnitude of likely
voltage surges which are caused due to Internal causes (switching operations)
or due to external causes (atmospheric disturbances like lightning).
• The protection of E.H.V. transmission lines against lightning etc. in most
cases is obtained by the use of ground wire and rapid auto-reclosing circuit
breakers.
• Switching surges, especially those due to arc restriking in circuit breakers
are dangerous as they may cause over-voltage of 24 times the normal operating
voltage. It is possible to control and minimize switching over-voltage with a
proper and effective design of relay- breaker systems .
Ferranti effect.

• It is a known fact that when a line is loaded with capacitive load its
receiving end voltage exceeds the sending and voltage (Ferranti effect).
• Furthermore, whenever the load on the generator is thrown off suddenly,
there is a rise in the sending end voltage. Care needs to be taken from these
aspects in case of E.H.V. AC. transmission system.
Environmental and biological aspects.

• The recent researches in this field show that EH.V. and U.H.V. lines generate
electrostatic and electromagnetic fields. These fields can induce current and voltage
in animals, human beings and birds. However, fortunately these effects are minimum
and within tolerate limits.
• In E.H.V. range, transmission lines also produce audible noise In line
conductor, however, these noises do not exceed the satisfactory noise level up to 500
kV.
2.Advantages of HVDC Transmission.

1. Undersea cables where high capacitance causes additional AC losses

(e.g., the 500-km Northern india and Western india Vindhyachal Back-To-Back
link).
2. Endpoint-to-endpoint long-haul bulk power transmission without
intermediate taps, for example, in remote areas.
3. Increasing the capacity of an existing power grid in situations where
additional wires are difficult or expensive to install.
4. Allowing power transmission between unsynchronized AC distribution
systems.
5. Reducing the profile of wiring and pylons for a given power transmission
capacity, as HVDC can carry more power per conductor of a given size.
6. Connecting a remote generating plant to the distribution grid; for
example, Mundra (gujarat) line in india (IEEE 2005).
7. Stabilizing a predominantly AC power grid without increasing the maximum
prospective short-circuit current.
8. Reducing corona losses (due to higher voltage peaks) compared to HVAC
transmission lines of similar power.
9. Reducing line cost, since HVDC transmission requires fewer conductors; for
example, two for a typical bipolar HVDC line compared to three for three-phase
HVAC
3. Limitation of HVDC Transmission.

1. Converter stations needed to connect to AC power grids are very

expensive.

2. In contrast to AC systems, designing and operating multi-terminal HVDC

systems is complex.

3. Converter substations generate current and voltage harmonics, while the

conversion process is accompanied by reactive power consumption. As a
result, it is necessary to install expensive filter-compensation units and
reactive power compensation units.

4. During short-circuits in the AC power systems close to connected HVDC

substations, power faults also occur in the HVDC transmission system for
the duration of the short-circuit.
5. The high-frequency constituents found in direct current transmission systems can
cause radio noise in communications lines that are situated near the HVDC
transmission line.To prevent this, it is necessary to install expensive “active” filters
on HVDC transmission lines.

6. Grounding HVDC transmission involves a complex and difficult installation, as it

is necessary to construct a reliable and permanent contact to the Earth for proper
operation and to eliminate the possible creation of a dangerous “step voltage.

7. The flow of current through the Earth in monopole systems can cause the electro-
corrosion of underground metal installations, mainly pipelines.
4. PRINCIPLES OF HVDC CONTROL.

In AC transmission systems the power transfer is governed by voltage

difference as well as angular difference between the sending and receiving end
whereas in DC systems the transmitted power is governed only by the
magnitudes of terminal DC voltages between the two ends. Thus the control
lability of HVDC power is fast and stable. The current flows from higher
voltage to lower voltage by proper
setting of the rectifier and inverter.
where, VR is the DC output voltage at the rectifier end and V, is the DC input
voltage at the inverter end. R is the resistance of the entire transmission link.
Thus dc power can be controlled by relative control of DC terminal voltage by
controlling the angles a and y. Tap changers in the AC side take care of the slow
voltage variations on the AC side.
5. TYPES OF DC LINKS.

HVDC links can be classified as follows:

(i) Monopolar link: In this configuration, only one conductor is used (usually
negative) and uses ground or sea water. Negative polarity is generally utilised as the
transmission conductor due to comparatively lesser radio interference.
(ii) Bipolar link: This configuration has two conductors, one positive and another
negative. In each terminal, two converters of equal rated voltages are connected in
series, neutral points being grounded. Two poles can operate independently when
both the neutrals are grounded. When the currents in the two conductors are equal,
the ground current is zero. In case of a fault in one conductor, the remaining
conductor, alongwith ground return can supply 50% of the rated load. The rated
voltage of a bipolar link is usually expressed as V volts.
(iii) Homopolar Link: It has two conductors but having same polarity, usually
negative. This link operates with ground return. In case of a fault in one conductor
the converter can be connected such that the healthy conductor can supply
power.
6. Equipment for HVDC transmission.

Thyristor valves are the most important converter station equipment and the other
main equipment include converter transformers, dc reactor, harmonic filtering
equipment, control equipment and reactive power compensation equipment.
1. Thyristor Valves: A thyristor valve has a better operating life and higher
consistency of performance than those of a mercury-arc valve.
The use of thyristors has resulted in a considerable simplification in the design of
conversion substation. The ratings of thyristors have increased remarkably during
the last one decade and the current ratings of the thyristors available now are of
the magnitudes of line current required for transmission.
2. Converter Transformers: Converter transformers are connected between
converter valves and the ac bus-bars and their main function is to transform the ac
voltage to a suitable value for feeding the converter. The other functions served by
the converter transformers is to supply the reactive power to the converter through
tap changing; control of fault level by suitable reactance offered by converter
transformers and help in harmonic suppression. Twelve- pulse operation is feasible
due to transformer connections—by suitable star-star and star-delta connections the
required phase shift of 30° for 12-pulse operation is achieved.
3. DC Reactor: In HVDC transmission systems the dc reactor, connected in
series with each pole of the converter plays an important role. It prevents
commutation failures in inverter by limiting the rate of increase of direct current
during commutation in one bridge when the direct voltage of another bridge
collapses.
The dc reactor is usually of air-core and oil-cooled type and has the non-linear
magnetic characteristics.
4. Harmonic Filtering Equipment:
The 3-phase bridge converter employed in HVDC transmission should convert pure
ac sinusoidal wave form to pure dc form but in practice the operation of converter
generates harmonic currents and harmonic voltages on ac side as well as dc side.
These harmonics do not interfere with converter operation but they flow through ac
and dc lines and thereby produce several harmful effects such as overheating of
capacitors and generators, overvoltages at points in the networks, interference with
protective gear, interference with nearby communication systems, radio interference
and television interference. These disturbances are not confined to the vicinity of the
converter station but spread over the ac network and dc line and surrounding
residential areas.
7. Application of HVDC.

1) CONNECTING REMOTE GENERATION

Some energy sources, such as hydro and solar power, are often located hundreds or
thousands kilometers away from the load centers. HVDC will reliably deliver
electricity generated from mountain tops, deserts and seas across vast distances with
low losses.

2) INTERCONNECTING GRIDS
Connecting AC grids is done for stabilization purposes and to allow energy trading.
During some specific circumstances, the connection has to be done using HVDC, for
example when the grids have different frequencies or when the connection has to go
long distances over water and AC cables cannot be used because of the high losses.
3) POWER FROM SHORE
Traditionally, oil and gas platforms use local generation to supply the electricity
needed to run the drilling equipment and for the daily need of often hundreds of
persons working on the platform. If the power is instead supplied from shore, via an
HVDC link, costs go down, emissions are lower and the working conditions on the
platform are improved.

4) DC LINKS IN AC GRIDS
HVDC links within an AC grid can be successfully utilized to strengthen the entire
transmission grid, especially under demanding load conditions and during system
disturbances. Transmission capacity will improve and bottlenecks be dissolved.
Thank you