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http://www.cigre.org B1-306 Session 2004

© CIGRÉ

POWER TRANSMISSION OVER LONG DISTANCES WITH CABLES

GEORG E. NORBERT GUNNAR FRODE

BALOG* CHRISTL* EVENSET RUDOLFSEN
NEXANS SIEMENS NEXANS NORCONSULT
(NORWAY) (GERMANY) (NORWAY) (NORWAY)

Abstract

Transporting electrical power over long distances by cable, is the theme of this paper. Today’s there
are two main state of the art transmission principles available, AC or DC systems. A description of the
main features of the alternatives available today is the first part and the comparison of their costs and
effectiveness will be discussed in the second part. To be able to compare the cost-effectiveness, the
complete transmission systems, including the cost of losses are compared. In this paper the
comparison is based on compensated AC three-phase cable systems and bipolar DC transmission
systems over long distances, up to 200 km.

Keywords: Power transmission-Long distances-AC Three core-HVDC VSC bipolar

1. General

For long distance power transmission with AC cables the system is compensated so normally half of
the charging current flows to each end for submarine cables, while for land cables the comparative
cost of reactive power compensation versus cable cost decides the optimal system design. There are
two main principles for such parallel connected compensators, mechanically switched shunt reactors
MSR or dynamic (power electronic based) Static VAr Compensators, with SVC or STATCOM
capability.[1] The selected concept or combinations will depend on the network characteristics for the
both sending and receiving terminals. Such compensation will fulfil different complex functions as
steady state reactive compensation, dynamic and transient voltage control and last not least enhancing
the stability limits of the transmission system thus increasing the power transmission capability. There
may be requirements at the connecting points in the AC-net that may influence the design of such a
transmission system, such as stability conditions during steady state and transient fault conditions,
which can only be controlled by power electronics based SVC´s or STATCOM technology.[1] See
figure 1.

In case of DC transmission systems, line commutated converters, LCC, typically will be used only
between strong AC networks, while voltage source converters, VSC, can also be used for transmission
into remote isolated weak system areas, without installation of additional support by large rotating
phase shifters or other generators in the remote AC net. The preferred solution LCC versus VSC
depends on the system requirements such as short circuit capacity (strength of the grid), black start
network capability and economical parameters (space requirements, losses, dynamic performance,
investment, etc...).[2] See figure 1.
e-mail: georg.balog@nexans.com e-mail: norbert.christl@siemens.com
Figure 1. Single line diagram of the selected transmission systems

For the comparison in this paper a “medium size” transmission with approx. 250 – 300 MW was
selected and compared for distances between 50km and 200 km. The AC transmission scheme is based
on three-core cables in the sea or single core cables in tree foil formation on land with appropriate
compensators. The DC transmission is based on the bipolar VSC technology, with extruded cable
designs. Of course there are also other possible solutions, f.ex. it is possible to use single core cables
for AC transmission or to use Line Commutated Converter technology for DC transmission, but these
technologies will not be addressed, as these are mainly reserved for the highest power transfer
capacities. (500 kV AC system over 30km at 1200 MW, 450 kV HVDC LCC systems up to approx.
200 km at 600 MW are the present state of the art.).

In this paper the cost of the civil work for the stations or for the eventual offshore platform is not
included as the cost variation is to great to give any positive information. However, the area
requirement for AC system is much smaller than for an equivalent DC system.

2. AC transmission systems

2.1 Three core XLPE cables

Three core cables have been in use for voltages up to 145 kV, on low to medium power transmission
systems. Single core cables especially with XLPE insulation dominate the land cables because of the
pivotal position of transport, so single core cables are the cost effective alternative. In submarine
cables the transport of cables is solved and the laying and embedding cost increases with the number
of parallel cables, so in this case a single laying and burial of a three core cable is cost effective. Also
the induced current in the sheath and armour in the single core cable is of the same order of magnitude
as the conductor current, so derating, higher losses or costly armour with high conductivity must be
used to maintain the transmission capacity. As the quality and longevity of XLPE insulation are firmly
established, the use of such cables at ever increasing voltages follows. The development of the
Flexible Factory Joints, FFJ, and for large depths the Flexible Repair Joints, FRJ, is the main obstacle
the employment of such cables above 245 kV for long lengths.[3]

2.2 Voltage levels

At present the highest voltage level for three core XLPE submarine cable with FFJ is the 21 km long
170 kV 3x630 mm2 cable from the Horns Rev wind mill park to the Danish main land. However,
thorough calculations have shown that the most effective long-range transmission voltage with the
present insulation thickness is the 245 kV level. At the same time this level is at present a practical
limit for the three-core submarine cable size for production, handling and transportability.

2.3 Design

The design is a normal three-core design, with a water impervious barrier on each core, see figure 2.
To avoid the losses caused by longitudinal currents along the metallic sheath, the protective layer on
each core is conductive. The three cores are cabled together with fillers and armoured. Usually a fibre
optic cable is included into one of the interstices. The development of reliable flexible factory joint,
FFJ, is the main hinder in employing the XLPE insulated cable in submarine environment. This area
has been our major development project, and a large number of joints were tested before the process
was deemed stable.[5]

The testing of the long lengths and the FFJ is the other major challenge. Because of the statistical
nature of the insulation, each meter of the total length has to be screened by a high enough routine test
voltage, so no incipient failure may leave the factory. Employing powerful AC generators together
with compensation coils to create series resonance circuit with the cable solves this part.

Conductor 1000mm2

Conductor screen

Insulation, XLPE

Insulation screen

Lead sheath

Plastic sheath

Filler

Armour

Polypropylene yarn

Figure 2 Three core XLPE cable Figure 3 HVDC cable with IRC

2.4 Compensation schemes

Reactive Power Compensation schemes for long AC cables are likely parallel connected to the cable
terminals at both the ending and the receiving terminals. Under ideal conditions first the balance of
the capacitive charging current of the ac cables will be compensated by inductive fixed or
electronically controlled shunt reactors. In this case the reactive power exchange with the connected
AC systems will be minimised and (if step-down or steppe transformers are used) the reactive
charging currents of the cables will not cause any no load losses in the grid transformers. During
partial load or at full load of the transmission system both the reactive inductive longitudinal reactive
power of the cables and X*I2 of the transformers reactive component, Under these conditions both
voltage profiles and currents along the cables will be controlled within the appropriate limits. Voltage
control (undervoltage and overvoltage) during network disturbances will be achieved by fast
controllable SVC or STATCOM devices. SVC will be equipped with thyristor valves controlling
reactors or capacitors, STATCOM devices will be equipped with VSC converters performing
extremely high dynamic performances.[2]

3. DC transmission systems

3.1 General

The Voltage Source Converter, VSC, is the converter technology that allows the establishing of
transmission to remote loads with non or almost no power generation or to offshore locations where
the cost of space is very high. Since no polarity reversal is necessary for changing the direction of the
power flow both the state of the art MI cable and the extruded DC cable may be used.[1]

3.2 Mass Impregnated cables

The MI type of cable has a very long AC history and a DC usage since 1954. It has an excellent track
record and has been developed from the initial 100 kV level up to 500 kV at present. This type of
cable has been employed with LCC type of converters so it is fully usable for the new bi-polar VSC
type of converters. As it is based on lapped paper tapes and a highly viscous compound it is a “solid”
type, i.e. there is no discharge to the environment in case of damage. The nature of the insulation
ensures that a short length is representative for even very long lengths and that it can be tested with
HVDC voltage for the quality assurance.

The monopolar HVDC transmission system with VSC converters costs less than a bi-polar system for
same rating. However, as the earth/sea return with sea or ground electrodes is no longer allowed for a
number of reasons, an insulated metallic return path must be provided to complete the circuit.
Although it increases the cost, there is still incentive to use mono-polar system up to approx. 200 km.
The return conductor may either be a separate cable or an additional conductor incorporated co-axially
into the power cable, the IRC cable. This design has no external magnetic field. See figure 3.

3.3 Extruded cables

Extruded cables are rather new to the HVDC power transmission, although they are now pre-eminent
in the AC cable networks. Earlier experience with conventional XLPE AC cables in DC showed a
very high initial withstand level that declined very fast with time. Research has provided a number of
alternative materials that seems to withstand the DC stresses better. The VSC technology makes it
unnecessary to change polarity when reversing the power flow direction, and thereby contributes to
the employability of extruded insulation systems. For land cables a low cost, low weight system:
consisting of Al conductor, extruded insulation, Al-laminate and a sturdy extruded outer protection
sheath has been employed. For submarine cable the necessity of the better mechanical properties
requires a different design, with Cu conductor, lead sheath and armour, that decreases the cost
differential to an MI cable some what. The main difficulty with the extruded insulation is the quality
assurance requirement of routine testing of the complete production lengths. Today the only effective
routine test for extruded insulation is a HVAC test for a certain time. In order to be able to use this
method the insulation must be able to sustain HVAC as well as HVDC voltages.

3.4 The VSC converter

Rapid development in the field of power electronic devices with turn off capability like Insulated Gate
Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) and Gate Turn-Off Thyristors (GTO), makes possible long distance
transmission by Voltage Source Converters (VSC) for HVDC up to +/-150 kV DC. Especially feeding
AC systems with low short circuit power or even passive networks with no local power generation.
These properties, together with appreciably smaller footprint than necessary for the LCC type of
converter, makes it very attractive for operating with remote loads as offshore oil platform
electrification or energy transmission from offshore wind mill parks.[1] See figure 4.

Fig. 1c, shows a VSC based transmission scheme consisting of two stations, with main components:
valve groups, transformers and DC-side capacitors, (the voltage source) and connected to each other
by DC cables or a bi-polar cable link. This technology can also be operated in a mono-polar mode
with metallic return cable and floating converter midpoints. At present the technology is used for
transmission of up to 300 MW loads at ± 150 kV, but both levels may increase in the future.
See figure 4.
Advantages VSC / LCC system are, in addition to the ability of working into “dead load:”

• no polarity reversal on reversal of power flow direction

• independent VAr control at both AC terminals (STATCOM Functionality)
• smaller harmonic interference and smaller filters
• much smaller footprint required for the converter station
• better transient and dynamic performance
Disadvantages VSC / LCC:

• Present limitation is approx. ±150 kV DC

• higher losses in the converters
• fast and high transient voltage stresses for the DC equipment
Advantages VSC / AC system are:

• no length limitation
• galvanic separation of circuits
• assistance of maintaining remote AC system power quality
• no charging currents in the cables, e.g. higher degree loading the cables
Disadvantages VSC / AC:

• much larger area required than for the AC system

• higher losses
• at the offshore end the AC system may consist of only passive components

Control TCR TSC FC

Figure 4 :Valve for IGBT based VSC Converter Figure 5 : Arrangement SVC Static Compensator
4. Losses

4.1 AC system losses

AC system losses in the grid terminals are typically between 0.5 to 1.25 % for each station, if a step-up
/ step-down transformer and parallel Shunt Reactors combined with SVC are used. The contribution to
the losses is:
• Step-up/Step-down Transformers 0.2 to 0.3 % of nominal transformer rating
• Static Var Compensator SVC < 0.9 % of nominal at full inductive reactive power mode
• Mechanical Shunt Reactors MSR approx. 0.3 % of nominal reactive power rating

In the AC cables the main losses are ohmic losses in the current carrying conductors. The time varying
magnetic field in the conductor causes an uneven distribution of the current in the conductor, and the
magnetic fields from the nearby conductors reinforce this. The magnetic fields also induce currents in
all metallic layers in the cable. In case ferro-magnetic materials are used in the cable design or such
material is present in the environment near the cables, the losses may become excessive, and must be
taken into account when designing the cable. On the other hand in the three-core cables, or cables laid
in touching three-foil, the inducing magnetic field is only a residual field, so the additional losses are
small.
The dielectric losses are so-called voltage dependent losses. The very low power factor of the XLPE
gives only minor dielectric losses even at 245 kV. The dielectric losses in the SCFF are appreciably
higher and must be taken into account at lower voltages.
In long cables the design current is the vector sum of the load current and the charging current. If the
cable is compensated equally at both ends, the contribution of the charging current to the total losses
for the length is rather low even at 200 km for an XLPE insulated cable.
The sum of all losses in the cable or cables increases the temperature, and gives the maximum
transmission capacity of the cable. In case of long cables the design current changes along the length
so in principle different conductor cross-sections may be used along the route.[3]

4.2 DC system losses

The losses in conventional line commutated converters, LCC; HVDC including the converter
transformer losses are between 0.7 and 0.8 % per converter station. The corresponding converter
losses for a 150 kV VSC converter and transformer are 3% per converter station.
The nominal losses in DC cables are the ohmic-losses caused by the DC current in the conductor.
However, depending on the network on the DC-side some harmonic currents may enter the cable and
contribute to the losses especially at the ends.
In DC cables the voltage distribution, the local electrical stresses, are dependent on the geometry of
the cable and highly dependent on the temperature drop across the insulation, as the conductivity of
the insulating material increases exponentially with temperature. Therefore, there is a direct
correlation between the conductor losses and maximal electrical stress in the insulation in a load
carrying cable. Usually it is the design stresses and not the maximal allowable conductor temperature
that limits the transmission capacity of a DC cable.

5. Cost comparison

5.1 General

In any comparison the cost of the capitalised losses has to be included. For the cables this cost is
dependent on the philosophy towards the project. If the conductor cross-section is increased to reduce
these losses the capital cost is paid “up front” and will be redeemed through the lower cost of losses
during the operations. If the lowest allowable conductor cross-section is chosen the initial investment
is lower and but will be repaid later in the form of higher losses.
The cost of losses depends on a large number of factors. The main factors are: cost of energy, usage of
link per year and the load factor, life expectation, calculation interest rate
However, using sensible values for the above factors the most commonly quoted value for the
capitalised losses is approximately 1900 €/kW. In the following comparison the value of losses are
assigned this value. The cost comparison is made on a total cost/MW and km basis.

5.2 AC system cost

The cost of the AC system includes the substation equipment, cost of losses in the substation, the cable
and the cost of cable loss transport, laying and embedding. The cost of accessories is marginal
For the land cables the trenching, transport, jointing and accessories may become the largest cost item
for the system. The distance is 50 km between the compensators.

5.3 DC system cost

The cost of the DC system includes the cost of substation and converter equipment cost, the cost of
losses in this equipment, the cable cost and the cost of losses in the cables. The converter substation
costs are dependent on the voltage, here 150 kV DC and on the transmitted power. Each project is
special and there is a case by case decision whether a monopolar or a bipolar system is the most
economic solution. A typical level for a VSC converter station is approx. 200 – 250 €/kW for a rating
up to 250 MW. The new type of extruded DC cable is included for comparison.

6. Cost comparison

The cost comparison is based on transmitting 250 MW over three different distances, 50, 100 and 200
km in the sea with the AC 245 kV three-core cable, with passive compensation and DC VSC based
150 kV system with MI and extruded cables. On land only the AC 245 kV cables laid in three-foil
formation, with passive compensation every 50 km and the DC VSC system with extruded cables are
compared. On land the transport and jointing costs of the MI cables would be to high. The systems are
compared on per unit power and per unit length transmission cost basis. The 200 km AC per unit
transmission cost is set as unity.

PER UNIT TRANSMISSION COST 250 MW

5,00
4,50
Per unit trans. cost ,

4,00 AC
3,50 DC MI
3,00 DC Extruded
2,50
2,00
1,50
1,00
0,50
0,00
0 50 100 150 200 250
km
 PER UNIT TRANSMISSION COST 250 MW,
LAND CABLE

4,5
4 AC
3,5
Per unit cost ,

DC Extruded
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
km

7. Conclusion

The main conclusion is that up to 200 km and 250 MW transmission capacity the 3-core XLPE
insulated AC system is still the most cost-effective solution. If no special requirements are present, the
AC transmission should be the preferred system solution both for submarine and for land cables.
However, if the grid is weak locally, more efficient means of compensation, as for example SVC, must
be adopted for the AC system. This will lead to higher per unit transmission values for the AC
solution.

8. Bibliography

[1] F.Schettler, H.Huang, N.Christl “HVDC Transmission Systems using Voltage Source Converters – Design
and Application,” IEEE Summer Meeting 2000, paper 260.
[2] R.Voelzke, Y. Sassnick, N.Christl “Integration of large-scale wind farms into grids, technical aspects of
transmission system design and grid control,” European Wind Energy Conference, Madrid, June 2003
[3] G.Balog, G.Evenset, F.Rudolfsen “Power transmission over long three core submarine AC Cables,” 3rd
International Conference on Wind Power, Stockholm, April 2003.
[4] G.Balog, G.Evenset, F.Rudolfsen “ENERGY TRANSMISSION ON LONG THREE CORE/THREE FOIL
XLPE POWER CABLES,” JICABLE 03, 6th International Conference on Insulated Power Cables, Versailles
[5] B.Knutsen, S.Mikkelsen “Development, manufacturing and installation of the world’s most powerful 3-core
HV submarine cable for the Horns Rev Wind Farm,” XIIIth IHS Delft 2003