A NEW APPROACH FOR MODELING COMPLEX POWER SYSTEM

COMPONENTS IN DIFFERENT SIMULATION TOOLS

Per-Erik Bjorklund
ABB Power Systems
Ludvika, Sweden

Jiuping Pan
ABB Corporate Research
Raleigh, USA

Chengyan Yue
ABB Corporate Research
Beijing, China

Kailash Srivastava
ABB Corporate Research
Vasteras, Sweden

Abstract This paper presents a new modeling concept

underlining the development of complex models for advanced power system components using HVDC Light as an
example. Instead of writing the model for HVDC Light in
different simulation tools as user defined component, a
common component is developed which represents the
detailed control functionality of HVDC Light. This common component is then linked to different simulation tools
through appropriate user model interfaces. The common
component is quite general and can be interfaced with any
simulation tool that permits linking of an external application. This tool independent modeling approach is particularly useful for upgrade and maintenance of models with
utmost quality especially when the product is under constant development. The performance of the HVDC Light
models implemented in this novel way was evaluated for
PSS/E and Power Factory and found to be satisfactory for
power system dynamic stability analysis.

by the equipment manufacturers. This situation has

resulted in limitations in power system simulation studies for exploring more efficient transmission grid expansion alternatives. The following are the two problems for modeling complex power system components
in different dynamic simulation tools:

Keywords: HVDC transmission, dynamic response,

modeling, simulation, PSS/E, Power Factory

The work presented in this paper is based on the concept proposed in [6] concerning complex models for
advanced power system components in electromechanical transient programs. Instead of writing the
device model in different tools as user defined component, a common component is developed which represents the detailed functionality of the device. This common component is then linked to different simulation
tools through appropriate user model interfaces.
The feasibility of such a tool independent modeling
approach has been investigated in this work with
HVDC Light transmission system as an example. The
common component is general and can be interfaced
with any simulation tool that permits linking of an external application. The performance of the HVDC Light
model implemented in this novel way was evaluated for
PSS/E and Power Factory and found to be satisfactory
for power system dynamic stability analysis. The common component based HVDC Light model has also
been implemented in Netomac.

1 INTRODUCTION
The recent development in advanced transmission
technologies, such as HVDC Light and FACTS opens
up new possibilities for improving the reliability and
utilization of power grids. Detailed models for various
dynamic simulation tools such as PSS/E, Power Factory, PSLF, Simpow, Netomac, etc. [1-5], are needed to
enable electric utilities and regional transmission organizations evaluate the operational benefits of incorporating HVDC Light and FACTS devices as feasible
planning alternatives using the simulation tools of their
choice.
A model for power system simulation purposes can
cover different aspects from steady-state analysis to
dynamic response simulation. Also, a wide range of
simulation tools are used by different utilities. The focus of this paper is on the dynamic representation of
complex power system components in different simulation tools. Dynamic response simulations are used on a
very wide range of applications, from initial planning
studies by electric utilities to detailed project studies by
manufacturers. The credibility of simulation studies is
affected by the modeling accuracy of virtually every
major power system components. However, due to the
complexities of the device characteristics and the issue
of intellectual property protection, accurate models for
advanced power system components such as HVDC
Light and FACTS are mainly developed and maintained

1) Models available in the tool-dependent model libraries are either designed for specific projects or
over simplified, and thus may not adequately represent the characteristics of updated power system technologies.
2) Development of complex power system components in different tools as user defined component is a challenge because of significant implementation and maintenance effort and difficulties
to ensure consistent performance.

TOOL INDEPENDENT MODELING FOR

HVDC LIGHT

2.1 HVDC Light Technology

HVDC Light is a technology to transmit power underground and under water, also over long distances [79]. It offers numerous environmental benefits, including
invisible power lines, neutral electromagnetic fields,
oil-free cables and compact converter stations. With
extruded DC cables, power ratings from a few tens of
megawatts up to more than thousand of megawatts are

available. The converter station design is based on voltage source converters (VSCs) employing Insulated-Gate
Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) that operate with high
frequency pulse width modulation (PWM). HVDC
Light has the capability to rapidly control both active
and reactive power independently of each other, to keep
the voltage and frequency stable. Reference [10] gives
detailed description of HVDC Light technology.
HVDC Light was introduced in 1997. A number of
underground transmissions up to 350 MW are in commercial operation and more are being built. One recent
project is the Estlink Transmission System which operates at 150 kV DC and is rated at 350 MW of active
power in either direction. The link interconnects the
national grids of Estonia and Finland, enabling the exchange of electric power between the Baltic states and
the Nordel electric system for the first time.
2.2 HVDC Light Control System
Each HVDC Light converter is provided with an
identical control, independent of rectifier or inverter
operation. The principal control scheme of one converter station is shown in Figure 1. PCC is the Point of
Common Connection, i.e. the point of converter connection to the ac system, and the reference point for ac
voltage, active and reactive power orders.

power and voltage references are normally picked from

the load flow solution as the initial condition; the user
can modify these inputs to represent power order
changes or other step changes. The auxiliary inputs
Pref, Qref and Uacref can be used for modulation
to achieve desired frequency control, damping control
and voltage stability enhancement.
2.3 Tool Independent Modeling Approach
The technical concepts of tool independent model
development strategy for complex power system products involve the following two main steps:
1) Common Component - This tool independent
code represents the full control functionality of
the power system products described by the
block diagram or the system of differentialalgebraic equations (DAE). It performs computations related to initialization, time derivatives and
numerical integration.
2) Tool Dependent Interface - This is in general a
user defined model which directly communicates
with the simulation engine and the common component.
Figure 2 illustrates the technical approach of tool independent model development strategy for HVDC
Light.
Main Circuit and
Control System
HVDC Light
Simulation Models
Tool Dependent Implementation

AC System

Current
Injection

Pac=Pdc

Converter

DC System

User Model
Interface (UMI)

Common Component
HVDC Light Control System

Figure 2 Tool Independent Modeling for HVDC Light

Figure 1 Principal Control Scheme of HVDC Light

The control functions of HVDC Light include ac and
dc voltage control, active and reactive power control,
and inner current control. The control system also recognizes current output limitation and internal converter
voltage limitations. Figure 1 also shows the reference
inputs Pref, Qref, Uacref and Udcref as well as the
auxiliary inputs Pref, Qref and Uacref. For a twoterminal HVDC Light system, one of the converters
should control dc voltage (Udcref) and the other active
power (Pref). Each of the converters can be independently set as ac voltage control mode (Uacref) or reactive
power control mode (Qref). In dynamic simulation, the

The scope of common component is limited to the

control system of HVDC Light which communicates
with the ac system and the dc system through appropriate tool dependent user model interfaces (UMI). For
different tools, the ac system, the dc system and the
converters may be modeled in different ways depending
on the standard components available in the tool dependent model libraries.
In the design of common component, robust internal
integration method is one of the key requirements. This
is because some of the simulation tools use numerical
solution methods with a fixed time step. To minimize
the total simulation time, users often want to use a time
step in the range 5-10 ms for system stability studies.
For HVDC models in general, including HVDC Light,
such a large time step is a challenge in combination
with the time constants in HVDC control. Thus, in order

to ensure result accuracy, time steps in the range of 0.55 ms are recommended. In some other simulation tools,
variable time step algorithm is supported for numerical
integration, permitting the time step to increase automatically once the transients have died out. This feature
hastens the simulation process while maintaining the
same accuracy.
The common component can be implemented in different languages such as FORTRAN, C/C++, and Matlab/Simulink In some simulation tools, such as PSS/E
and Power Factory, the developed common component
can be linked into the simulation process as external
functions via appropriate user model interface mechanisms as shown in Figure 3.
PSS/E

interface which communicates with the common component (not shown in Figure 4). User has the flexibility
to select either the standard PSS/E integration method
or the internal integration method. In principle, if standard PSS/E integration method enabled, the performance of common component based HVDC Light model
can be expected to match that of the existing, tool dependent PSS/E model as will be shown in the next Section.

Fortran Model

PSS/E
Simulation
Engine

Fortran UMI

C/C++ Model
Matlab/Simulink Model

Power Factory

Fortran Model

Figure 4 Load Flow and Dynamic Models for HVDC

Light in PSS/E

C++ UMI

PF
Simulation
Engine

C/C++ Model
Matlab UMI

Matlab/Simulink Model

Figure 3 UMI of PSS/E and Power Factory

3

MODEL IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 Model Implementation in PSS/E

The modeling approach of HVDC Light in PSS/E has
been discussed in Reference [6, 11]. As shown in Figure
4, in load flow analysis, the HVDC Light transmission
is modeled by two generic generators, each representing
a converter with user specified active and reactive
power levels and voltage setting points. In this version
of implementation, DC system is not explicitly represented in the PSS/E load flow model. The total dc system losses are a priori assumed/estimated and considered by the difference in active power levels of the two
generators. The active power of sending end generator
is negative valued to represent rectifier operation. The
main circuit of HVDC Light station includes a converter
transformer and a shunt filter. The dynamic behavior of
the HVDC Light system is modeled by two user models: CHVDCL and DC_HL2.
The converters are represented via the PSS/E generic generator model, and the user model
CHVDCL is used to calculate the current injection by each generator.
The dynamic behavior of the dc system is represented by a simple 1/sT block, and the user
model DC_HL2 is used to calculate the dc voltages at both ends.
With the tool independent modeling approach, the
user model CHVDCL is designed as the user model

3.2 Model Implementation in Power Factory

In Power Factory, the main circuit of HVDC Light
station can be explicitly represented by standard components available in its library such as DC buses, DC
cables and PWM converters as shown in Figure 8. Since
the standard PWM converter is lossless, the converter
losses are a priori assumed/estimated and modeled by
equivalent resistance loads at DC buses. Figure 5 shows
the user-defined composite frame for the converter
control system, which consists of measurements, controller and PWM converter [12]. Controller receives the
network input signals from measurement devices and
sends out the modulation index to the PWM converter.

Figure 5 User Defined Composite Frame for HVDC

Light Control System in Power Factory

With the tool independent modeling approach, the

controller, implemented as a DSL model and associated
C++ interface, functions as the tool dependent interface
and communicates with the common component (not
shown in Figure 5). In principle, with appropriate setup
of simulation parameters, the performance of common
component based HVDC Light model in Power Factory
can be expected to be close to that of the PSS/E model
as will be shown in the next Section.
It should be mentioned that the models for HVDC
Light are continuously improved and developed as the
technology itself moves forward and more flexible usermodel interfaces are available in different simulation
tools. The focus of this paper is the principle of tool
independent modeling approach based on the concept of
common component.
4

MODEL VERIFICATION

4.1 Benchmark System

The benchmark system used to verify the implemented simulation models in different tools is shown in
Figure 6. This simple test system consists of two separate ac systems connected by the HVDC Light link. The
rated power of HVDC Light is 373MVA and the rated
dc voltage is +/-150kV. The strength of ac system is
weak on both sides represented by a short circuit capacity 3 times that of the converter rating at the point of
common connection.

Figure 6 Benchmark System for Model Verification

The single line diagram of the benchmark system implemented in PSS/E and Power Factory is shown in
Figure 7 and Figure 8 respectively.

Bus_1

Bus_2

Figure 8 Benchmark System Single Line Diagram in

Power Factory
4.2 Model Verification
A number of test cases have been used to verify the
performance of implemented HVDC Light models in
PSS/E and Power Factory. The defined test cases include step changes in active power reference, reactive
power reference, ac voltage reference, dc voltage reference, three-phase ground fault, etc. For each case, three
simulations were performed:
PSS/E-BM PSS/E with the existing, tool dependent HVDC Light model as described in [6]
PSS/E-CC PSS/E with the common component
based HVDC Light model
Power Factory Power Factory with the common component based HVDC Light model
In this verification, the performance of common component based HVDC Light models is benchmarked with
the results of the existing, tool dependent HVDC Light
model in PSS/E. As concluded in Reference [1], the
existing, tool dependent HVDC Light model in PSS/E
has
demonstrated
good
agreement
with
PSCAD/EMTDC simulation results for different time
steps from 0.5ms up to 10ms. The PSCAD/EMTDC
model is a replica of the complete HVDC Light control
system.
4.3 Step Change Examples
Figure 9 through Figure 11 give example cases involving step changes in active power reference, ac voltage reference and dc voltage reference respectively.
450

Ppcc(BUS1), MW

P S S /E -B M
P S S /E -CC
P ower Fac tory

Figure 7 Benchmark System Single Line Diagram in

PSS/E

400

350

300

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Tim e, s

Figure 9 Step Change in Active Power Reference

500

1.1
PS S/E -B M
PS S/E -CC
Power Factory

400
Ppcc(BUS1), MW

Upcc (BUS1), pu

1.05

0.95

PSS/E-BM
PSS/E-CC
Power Factory

300

200

100
0.9

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

Tim e, s

PSS/E-BM
PSS/E-CC
Power Factory

150
Udc (BUS2), kV

155
Udc (BUS2), kV

200

160

150

PSS/E-BM
PSS/E-CC
Power Factory

100

50

145

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

4.4 Three-Phase Ground Fault Example

Figure 12 through Figure 14 give an example case
involving three-phase ground fault at the PCC bus of
rectifier. The fault was applied at 0.1s and the remaining ac voltage is about 10%. The fault was cleared at
0.2s.

1
PSS/E-BM
PSS/E-CC
Power Factory

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

0.2

0.4

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Figure 14 DC Voltage @ Udc Control Converter

Figure 11 Step Change in DC Voltage Reference

Time, s

Time, s

Upcc (BUS1), pu

0.8

Figure 13 Active Power @ PCC of Rectifier

Figure 10 Step Change in AC Voltage Reference

140

0.6
Time, s

0.6

0.8

Time, s

Figure 12 AC Voltage @ PCC of Rectifier

The following conclusions have been obtained:

The performance of HVDC Light model in PSS/E
implemented based on the common component
matches that of the existing, tool dependent PSS/E
model perfectly as expected (red lines not visible in
plots).
The performance of HVDC Light model in Power
Factory implemented based on the common component is quite close to that of the existing, tool dependent PSS/E model, and thus satisfactory for stability simulation studies.

5 CONCLUSIONS
Accurate models of advanced power system technologies such as HVDC Light and FACTS are needed
in utility and regional transmission organization planning studies to explore more efficient transmission grid
expansion alternatives. A new modeling concept is
introduced in this paper concerning the development of
complex models for advanced power system components. The advantages of the proposed model development strategy can be summarized as follows.
Only one set of common component needs to be
developed so that the functionality and quality of
the common component can be guaranteed for
simulation studies in different tools.
Implementation in any tool is limited to the tool
specific part of the user model interface. With a

proven common component, the debugging will

be limited to the tool specific code.
With a common component, the model of products being continuously developed such as
HVDC Light can be updated in different tools at
the same time.

As an example, the HVDC Light model has been successfully implemented in PSS/E and Power Factory
based on the common component concept. The developed simulation models have been verified and found to
be satisfactory for power system dynamic stability
simulation studies. The common component based
HVDC Light model has also been implemented in Netomac.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]

PSS/ETM (Power System Simulator for Engineering),

http://www.pti-us.com/pti/software/psse.
Power Factory/DIgSILENT, http://www.digsilent.de/Software.

[3]

PSLF
(Positive
Sequence
Load
Flow
Software),
http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/utility_software/en
/ge_pslf.
[4] Simpow, http://www.stri.se.
[5] Netomac, http://www.simtec.cc.
[6] Per-Erik Bjorklund, Kailash Srivastava, William Quaitance,
HVDC Light Modeling for Dynamic Performance Analysis,
IEEE T&D Conference, Atlanta, USA, 2006.
[7] Asplund G, Erilsson K, Svensson K. DC transmission based on
voltage source converter. CIGER SC14 Colloquium in South
Africa, 1997.
[8] Stefan G Johansson, Gunnar Asplund, Erik Jansson, Roberto
Rudervall, Power System Stability Benefits With Vsc DCTransmission Systems, CIGRE conference 2004, Paris.
[9] U. Axelsson, A. Holm, C. Liljegren, K. Eriksson, L. Weimers,
Gotland HVDC Light Transmission Worlds First Commercial
Small Scale DC Transmission, CIRED Conference, Nice,
France, 1999.
[10] Its time to connect Technical description of HVDC Light
technology,
ABB
Power
Technologies
AB,
2006.
(http://www.abb.com/hvdc)
[11] ABB User Guide for the PSS/E Implementation of the HVDC
Light Model Version 1.1, October 2006.
[12] ABB User Guide for the DIgSILENT PF Implementation of the
HVDC Light Model Version 1.1, August 2007.