MODELLING OF

HVDC SYSTEMS
By
Prof. C. Radhakrishna
 CONTENTS

MODELLING OF HVDC SYSTEMS

Economics of Power Transmission
Technical Performance
Stability Limits
Voltage Control
Line Compensation
Problems of AC Interconnection
Ground Impedance
Disadvantages of DC Transmission
Reliability
Energy Availability
Transient Reliability
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 CONTENTS……

Application of DC Transmission
Component Models for the Analysis of AC/DC Systems
Converter Model
Simplified Continuous Time Model
Converter Control
Modeling of DC Network
Modeling of AC Network
Control of HVDC Systems
Basic Principles of Control
Basic Means of Control
Basic for Selection of Controls

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 MODELLING OF HVDC SYSTEMS

The relative merits of the two modes of transmission (AC and

DC) which need to be considered by a system planner are
based on the following factors:
1. Economics of transmission
2. Technical performance
3. Reliability
Economics of Power Transmission

The cost of a transmission line includes the investment and

operational costs. The investment includes costs of Right of
Ways (RoW), transmission towers, conductors, insulators and
terminal equipments. The operational costs include mainly the
cost of losses.
For a given power level, DC line requires less RoW, simpler and
cheaper towers and reduced conductor and insulator cost.
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 Economics of Power Transmission Cont……

• The power losses are also reduced with DC as there are only
two conductors (about 67% of that for AC with same current
carrying capacity of conductors).
• The absence of skin effect with DC is also beneficial in reducing
power losses marginally.
• The corona effects tend to be less significant on DC conductors
than for AC and this also leads to the choice of economic size of
conductors with DC transmission.
• The other factors that influence the line costs are the costs of
compensation and terminal equipment.
• DC lines do not require compensation but the terminal
equipment costs are increased due to the presence of converter
and filters.

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 d*=break –even distance
Fig 1: Variation of costs with line length

• The break even distances can vary from 500 to 800 km in

overhead line depending on the per unit line costs.

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Technical performance

• The DC transmission has some positive features which are

lacking in AC transmission.
• These are mainly due to the fast controllability of power in DC
lines through converter control.

1. Full control over power transmitted.

2. The ability to enhance transient and dynamic stability in
associated AC network.
3. Fast control to limit fault currents in DC lines. This makes it
feasible to avoid DC breakers in two terminals DC links

In addition, the DC transmission overcomes some of the problems of

AC transmission.

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AM
 Stability Limits

• The power transfer in AC line is dependent on the angle

difference between the voltage phasors at the two ends.
• The maximum power transfer is limited by the considerations of
steady state and transient stability.

Fig: 2 Power transfer capability vs. Distances

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 Voltage Control

• The voltage control in AC line is complicated by the line charging and

inductive voltage drop.
• The voltage profile varies with the line loading.

Fig:3 Variation of voltage along the line

The maintenance of constant voltages at the two ends requires reactive

power control from inductive to capacitive as the line loading is increased.

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Although DC converter stations require reactive power related to the
line loadings, the line itself does not require reactive power.

Line Compensation
In AC cable transmission, it is necessary to provide shunt
compensation at regular intervals. This is a serious problem in
underwater cables.

Problems of AC Interconnection
• The operation of AC ties can be problematic due to (i) the
presence of large power oscillations which can lead to frequent
tripping (ii) increase in fault level (iii) the transmission of
disturbances from one system to the other.
• The controllability of power flowing DC lines eliminates all the
above problems.
• In addition, for asynchronous DC ties, there is no need of
coordinated control.

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Ground impedance
In AC transmission, the existence of ground (zero sequence) current
can not be permitted in steady-state due to high magnitudes of ground
impedance which will not only affect efficient power transfer, but also
result in telephone interference.
The ground impedance is negligible for DC currents and a DC link can
operate using one conductor with ground return (monopolar operation).
Disadvantages of DC transmission
The scope of application of DC Transmission is limited by the fowling
factors:
1. The difficulty of breaking DC currents which results in high
cost of DC breakers
2. Inability to use transformers to change voltage levels
3. High cost of conversion equipment
4. Generation of harmonics which require AC and DC filters,
adding to the cost of converter stations
5. Complexity of control

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 Over the years, there have been significant advances in DC
technology, which have tried to overcome disadvantages listed
above except for (2).
1. Development of DC breakers
2. Modular construction of thyristor valves
3. Increase in ratings of thyristor cells that make up a valve
4. Twelve pulse operation of converters
5. Use of metal oxide , gapless arrestors
6. Application of digital electronics and fiber optics in control of
converters

Complexity of control does not pose a problem and can actually be

used to provide reliable and fast control of power transmission not
only under normal conditions but also under abnormal conditions
such as line and converter faults.

Reliability
The reliability of DC transmission systems is quite good and
comparable to that of AC systems.

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Energy availability

Transient reliability
• Both energy availability and transient reliability of existing DC
systems with thyristor valves is 95% or more.
• In comparing the reliability of various alternatives, it must be kept
in mind that bipolar DC line can be as reliable as a double circuit AC
line with the same power capability.
Application of DC Transmission
• The detailed comparison of AC and DC transmission in terms of
economics and technical performance leads to the following areas of
application for DC transmission.
• Long distance bulk power transmission
• Underground or underwater cables
• Asynchronous interconnection of AC systems operating at different
frequencies or where independent control of systems is desired.
• Control and stabilization of power flows in AC ties in an integrated
power system
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• The technical superiority of DC transmission dictates its use for
asynchronous interconnection, even when the transmission distances
are negligible.
• Actually there are many ‘back to back’ DC links in existence where
the rectification and inversion are carried out in the same converter
station with no DC lines.
Component Models for the Analysis of AC/DC Systems
The prediction of the system performance under various conditions
helps in assessing the stresses on the various system components and
preparing the specifications of the equipment.

Converter model
Simplified continuous time model

Fig.4: The Schematic of a converter transformer with Bridge

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 Fig.5: Simplified Continuous Time Equivalent Circuit of Bridge
Ed = Vdo Cos α & Vdo = aV
Where a= (3/π) √2 Ns /(Np T)
Ns /Np = nominal turns ratios of the three phases transformer,
T=off nominal ratio, V=line to line voltage at the primary.
In Fig.5 , Rc is the commutation resistance given by
Rc = (3/π) Xc
where Xc is the leakage reactance of the converter transformer,
Lc is the average inductance given by
Lc = (Xc /ωo) [2(1-k) +1.5k]
where
k=3u/ π, u=overlap angle
ωo= system frequency in rad/sec.
The equivalent circuit of fig. 5 is based on assumptions:

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Converter control
• Power control, auxiliary control and voltage dependent current
order limiter (VDCOL). The output of this block is the current order.
• Constant Current (CC) and Constant Extinction Angle (CEA)
controls. These are usually of feedback type. However, the
extinction angle control can also be of predictive (open loop) type.
The output of these controllers is a control voltage that determines
the instant of gate pulse generation. The input is taken as the
current order (generated locally or at the remote station) or the
extinction angle reference (generated locally). The communication
delay in transmitting the current order may have to be represented.
• Gate pulse generator which has input from the CC or CEA
controller and determines the instant of gate pulse generation for
each valve. There are basically two types of firing control schemes.

Individual phase control (IPC) and (ii) Equidistant Pulse

Control (EPC). The latter can be of pulse frequency
control (PFC) or pulse phase control (PPC).

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 Fig.6: Power and auxiliary controller block diagram
Modelling of DC Network:
The DC network is assumed to consist of smoothing reactor, DC filters
and the Transmission line.
Modelling of AC networks:
For some types of analyses, the AC network can be assumed to be in
steady-state (say for load flow analysis or long term stability analysis).

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Control of HVDC Systems
An HVDC transmission system is highly controllable.

Basic Principles of Control

It represents a monopolar link or one pole of a bipolar link.

(a) Schematic diagram

(b) Equivalent circuit.

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 (c) Voltage Profile
Fig.7: HVDC transmission link

The direct current flowing from the rectifier to the inverter is

Vdor Cos α – Vdoi Cos γ
Id = --------------------------------------
Rcr + RL – Rci
The power at the rectifier terminal is
Pdr = Vdr Id
and at the inverter terminal is
Pdi = Vdi Id = Pdr - RL Id2

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Basic Means of Control
• The direct voltage at any point on the line and current (or power) can
be controlled by controlling the internal voltages (Vdor Cosα) and (Vdoi
Cosγ).
• Power reversal is obtained by reversal of polarity of direct voltages
at both ends.

Basis for Selection of Controls

Following considerations influence the selection of control
characteristics:
1. Prevention of large fluctuations in direct current due to variations
in ac system voltage.
2. Maintaining direct voltage near rated value.
3. Maintaining power factors at the sending and receiving end that
are as high as possible.
4. Prevention of commutation failure in inverters and arc-back in
rectifiers using mercury-arc valves.

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There are several reasons for maintaining the power factor high
• To achieve high power factor, α for a rectifier and γ for an inverter
should be kept as low as possible.
• The rectifier, however, has a minimum α limit of about 50 to ensure
adequate voltage across the valve before firing.
• The rectifier normally operates at a value of α within the range of 150
to 200 so as to leave some room for increasing rectifier voltage to
control dc power flow.
• In the case of an inverter, it is necessary to maintain a certain
minimum extinction angle to avoid commutation failure.
• Typically, the value of γ with acceptable margin is 150 for 50 Hz
systems and 180 for 60Hz system.

REFERENCES

[ 1 ] Prabha Kundur : “Power System Stability and control” , The EPRI Power
System Engineering Series, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994.
[ 2 ] K. R. Padiyar : “HVDC Power Transmission Systems : Technology and
System Interaction” , New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers, 1996.

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 THANK YOU
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