Proc.

of the 4rth International Conference on Power Generation Systems and Renewable Energy Technologies (PGSRET)
10-12 September 2018, Islamabad, Pakistan

Research on the Protection of Hybrid HVDC System

Muhammad Tanveer Riaz*,1, Yang Fan1, Jawad Ahmad1, Muhammad Zeeshan khan1, Muhammad Abbas Khan2, Eman Manzoor Ahmed3
1State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, School of
Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
2Changchun University of Science and Technology, Jilin Sheng, 130012, China
3Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

tanveer.riaz@ieee.org, jawadahmad@ieee.org, zeeshankhanee@cqu.edu.cn, engineerabbaskhan111@gmail.com

Abstract— The traditional and conventional HVDC system has
the advantages of lower installing cost and it is a mature state of
the art, but it also has some drawbacks like huge reactive power
absorption and commutation fault in the system. Similarly, HVDC
based on VSC (Voltage Source Converter) is easily operational
and flexible in control but it needs high cost for the installation
that’s a drawback. A theoretical type of hybrid HVDC
transmission scheme is presented in this manuscript after the
combination of above-mentioned advantages of two HVDC
systems. In this proposed scheme two control techniques are
merged like PCC (Phase Control Converter) at sending terminal
and VSC at receiving terminal of HVDC transmission system.
Furthermore, the stability and steadily operation of the proposed
system are verified by generating single phase to ground fault or
short circuit fault in all phases. After getting the simulation
results, it is observed that proposed hybrid HVDC system is
capable of restoring the system rapidly by minimizing the effect of
these faults.
Keywords: HVDC, VSC-HVDC, Simulink HVDC Model,
Hybrid Transmission, Power System Protection
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the first HVDC contact line in the world was put into
commercial operation in 1954. HVDC is an increasingly mature
technology and it has been widely used in long distance high-
power transmission, submarine cable transmission and
asynchronous communication between the two communication
systems. However, HVDC also has the danger of the need for
rotating motor in the receiving grid and the danger of
commutation failure. So, the converter needs more reactive
power and other limitations in the operation of the converter
[1]–[3]. Therefore, the high performance self-commutating
converter is studied in literature [4]–[6].
With the development of fully controlled power electronic
devices, power electronics and the power system itself, the new
type of high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) based
on Voltage Source Converter (VSC) [7] and Pulse Width
Modulation (PWM) technology have been studied and applied.
The systematic model of VSC-HVDC [8]–[12] control policy
[13]–[16] and running characteristics [17]–[20] are analyzed
and studied in this manuscript.
The economic power of VSC-HVDC can be ranged from
*Corresponding Author: Muhammad Tanveer Riaz, Chongqing University.
Mob: +8613206025065, Email: Tanveer.riaz@ieee.org
tens of megawatts to hundreds of megawatts and it mainly has
the following advantages [21]–[23];
 It can operate in passive inversion mode and transmit
electricity for long distance isolated loads[24].
 It can simultaneously and independently control active and
reactive power and is more flexible and convenient to
control. At the same time, it can also be used as a static var
compensator (Static Compensator, STATCOM);
 Because VSC is controlled by the AC side current, so it
will not increase the short circuit capacity of the system
[25];
 VSC usually uses sinusoidal pulse width modulation
technique (Sinusoidal Pulse width Modulation, SPWM)
the switching frequency of the technology is relatively high
and the capacity of the required filter device is relatively
small;
Because the VSC-HVDC technology are short of research
and application time, the technical maturity is far less than that
of traditional H V D C. VSC-HVDC requires the use of
insulated gate bipolar transistors (Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistor, IGBT) and SPWM in both the transmission and the
receiving terminals of the transmission system. So, the cost for
the manufacturing is still relatively high.
On the basis of comparing the advantages and disadvantages
of traditional HVDC and VSC-HVDC, a new hybrid DC
transmission mode is proposed in this paper. The structure,
technical characteristics and operation characteristics of the
Hybrid DC transmission are comprehensively discussed.
Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the Hybrid DC
transmission are confirmed by the preliminary simulation
research materials.
II. STRUCTURE AND BASIC PRINCIPLE OF NEW
HYBRID HVDC TRANSMISSION MODE
A. Structure and Working Principle
The basic structure of the Hybrid DC transmission is shown
in figure 1. From the sending end there is a traditional HVDC
controller (Phase Control Converter, PCC) which is used along
with a commutation bridge arm consisting of 6 sets of thyristors

978-1-5386-7027-9/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1

 THREE PHASE RECTIFIER THREE PHASE INVERTER GRID
DC Line 300 KM
GRID STATION
+ + +
STATION TRANSFORMER Uc1 SA+ SB+ DC SA+ SB+
Uc2 TRANSFORMER
SC+ Fault
SC+

Us1 _SA- SB- SC- _ _SA- SB- SC- AC

Us2
Fault
AB C
PCC VSC

AC Filter
A B C

AC Filter
Z
Z

Figure 1: Proposed and configuration diagram of hybrid HVDC system

and diodes in reverse parallel configuration. A converter
transformer and AC filter is also used at sending end. The
receiving end converter uses VSC, which consists of a
converter bridge, a commutation bridge, a DC capacitor and an
AC filter. In the diagram, Us1 and Us2 are the effective values of
the voltage base components for sending and the receiving ends
respectively. Similarly, the Uc1 and Uc2: are the effective values
of the fundamental components of the AC voltage for PCC and
VSC respectively.
This new hybrid DC transmission system combines the
advantages of traditional HVDC and VSC-HVDC system,
which can control the power and phase angle of the system and
does not increase its installing cost. For the sending end, if the
trigger lag angle is α and the angle of commutation is γ then the
DC voltage of the sending terminal is Ud1.
3 2
U d1 = U s1[cos α + cos(α + γ )]
2π
For the receiving end, assuming that the voltage modulation
ratio is m and the DC line resistance is Rd, the DC voltage at the
receiving end is Ud2 and the DC current is Id.
U d 2 = 2U s 2 / m
From equation (1) to (5) the basic formulas to describe the
operational characteristics of HVDC is presented. In the
formula (4), (5) it can be seen that the active power depends
mainly on the phase angle δ, the reactive power is mainly
determined by the Uc2 and the Uc2 is controlled by the
modulation (Pulse Width Modulation, PWM) of the VSC.
Therefore, the active power of the system can be controlled by
controlling the angle δ and the reactive power emitted or
absorbed by the VSC can be controlled by the controlling the
Uc2.
For Hybrid DC transmission systems, the operation and
control of PCC and VSC are very different from the operation
and control of the dual end PCC of the traditional HVDC. In
order to make the system operate smoothly and have good anti-
interference ability, the HVDC transmission system can use the
angle α at rectifier side to adjust the DC current and DC voltage
of VSC at the inverter side through the adjustment port. When
(1) the current fluctuates, the system has the characteristics of
automatically keeping the fluctuation decreasing.
However, due to the traditional HVDC and VSC-HVDC are
dependent on the polarity of current and voltage to change the
power flow. Therefore, the power flow reversal cannot be
(2) realized by Hybrid DC transmission.

I d = (U d 1 − U d 2 ) / R d (3) B. Analysis of technical characteristics

 The transmission power range of HVDC transmission is
If it is assumed that the commutation reactor is lossless and
from tens of megawatts to hundreds of megawatts. Most of
harmonic component is also ignored then there is no active
the equipment at the inverter side converter station is
power P and reactive power Q transmitted between the
encapsulated at the manufacturer end, that’s why it is
converter and the AC power grid. P and Q are given below
convenient and quick to install and debug.
respectively
 The terminal V S C current can be switched off and can
U U
P = s 2 c 2 sin δ (4) work in passive inverter mode without additional
X2 commutation voltage, but it cannot rely on the AC system
to maintain the stability of voltage and frequency. In
U s 2 (U c 2 cos δ − U s 2 ) normal operation, V S C can control active and reactive
Q= (5) power independently and its control is more flexible and
X2
convenient.
The phase angle difference between Uc2 and Us2 is δ, the
 VSC doesn’t need to provide reactive power on the AC
identified X2 is used as the reactance of the converter reactor.

2
 side, but also can dynamically compensate the reactive operating without any fault. Later some faults are generated in
power of the AC bus and stabilize the AC bus voltage. it for the observation of grounding current and restoring time
which are the main concern of this research.
 Because the current side of V S C can be controlled, it will
not increase. With increase of short circuit capacity of Table 1: Parameters description for the proposed system
system, the protection setting of the AC system does not
need to be changed after the new HVDC transmission lines Sr. Parameters Sending Receiving
are added. Multiple VSC can be connected to a fixed No End End
polarity DC bus, which is easy to form a multi terminal DC 1 Power 5000 MVA 10000 MVA
system with the same topology as the AC system and the Capacity
operation control mode is flexible and changeable.
2 Line 500kV 345kV
 The Hybrid DC transmission technology combines the
Voltage
advantages of traditional H V D C technology, low cost and
good adjustment performance of VSC-HVDC technology 3 Frequency 60 Hz 50 Hz
which can be easily extended to a Hybrid DC transmission
system on the traditional HVDC system. But its
transmission power is not as big as that of traditional H V
D C and its adjustment flexibility is not as good as that of
VSC-HVDC.

III. PROPOSED SCHEME FOR REQUIRED SYSTEM

In this section, the proposed scheme for the HVDC system

is explained with the comparison of some other schemes. For Sending
the simulation and theoretical work, there are two HVDC end
models which are selected and then designed in Simulink
MATLAB. After designing it is tested that how these models Receiving
end
work in the presence of faults and for this purpose all the
possible faults are generated in these models.
These proposed models for the MATLAB simulations are Figure 2: Matlab model of single line HVDC system
given in figure 1, as there are many transmission schemes for
HVDC but in this research only two schemes are discussed in
details. These two schemes are monopole and dipole models for
transmission.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this section the proposed scheme for HVDC system in

figure 1 is designed in Matlab Simulink. In figure 2, it is shown
that which blocks are used for the designing of this scheme.
There is an AC power generation unit at the sending point
which is then converted into DC power for long distance
transmission purpose. There is a 300km DC transmission line
selected for this HVDC system. At the receiving end there is
inversion of DC power into AC power for the domestic users.
There is HVDC Single Line Model which is also called Figure 3: System response in normal conditions
monopole transmission system as shown in figure 2. The
selected model for single line HVDC have the parameters A. Fault in DC transmission line
mentioned in table 1. After the normal operation of HVDC system a fault of DC
line to ground is generated at t=0.7s and its impact on system is
AC systems are installed at sending and receiving ends while observed by the help of scopes in Simulink model.
the transmission between them is totally DC. For this purpose,
there are rectifier and inverter are also installed in this system. Figure 4 shows the DC line fault while the amount of current
In figure 3 the normal working of proposed system is presented. during the fault suddenly goes to 7000A at t=0.7s as it is
In this figure all the signals of voltage and current are smoothly observed from the figure.

3
 Figure 4: DC fault curve in the system
Figure 6: Grounding current flowing towards the ground electrode
Since, there are protection control schemes like PCC and
VSC which are used in this hybrid HVDC model therefore, in
figure 5 system goes to stable and normal working condition at
t=0.77s. It is also clear that system have the ability to restore a
sudden fault in transmission lines, but the problem faced here
is the long restoring time. Fault is occurred at t=0.77s but the
system gets completely restored after the t=1.05s. The gap
between system shutdown and restored normal condition is a
large for the users so in future suggestions it is needed to
improve the protection scheme which minimize the restoring
time. These signals are captured at rectifier of sending end side
while the signals at inverter side are same with it.

Figure 7: DC voltage after the fault in system

B. Fault in AC transmission lines

Similarly, with respect to DC fault now fault in AC lines is
generated at t=1.3s and its impact on system is monitored.
Figure 8 is showing the AC line to ground fault for a short
duration of time and in figure 9 the V-I response of the system
is shown after the impact of this fault.

Figure 5: Rectifier side V-I response after the fault in system

Observations of ground current during the DC line to ground

fault is the main consideration to conclude the performance of
hybrid DC system. For this purpose, an ammeter is installed
with the rectifier and it is connected to scope as shown in figure
2 already. Figure 6 represents the grounding current according
to the fault in system. As the fault occur at t=0.7s so it is obvious
from the figure that the grounding current goes to more than
Figure 8: AC fault curve in the system
4000A. It is the difficult task to build a device which can
measure such a huge amount of current. In figure 7 DC Voltage Usually, VSC-HVDC links are protected by conventional
during the DC line-ground fault in system is also shown. AC side circuit breakers (CBs). For the AC CBs it is observed

4
that de-energization of whole system mostly happens and at the
result there is huge infeed loss. These phenomena are not
suitable for the grids associated with DC transmission.
According to reliable protection, it is required to isolate the
faulted line from HVDC grids so that remaining lines can
operate normally. Also, the braking time should be minimized
for the improvement of DC CBs[26].
Figure 9: Rectifier side V-I response
Figure 10: Current flowing towards the ground
Figure 11: DC voltage after AC fault in system
5
The grounding current with the impact of AC fault in system
is shown in figure 10 which also goes to 4000A as its maximum
value. The DC line voltage is also shown in the figure 11 which
goes to negative after the AC fault. It is also observed that
system voltage is going to stable after t=1.45s because of fault
controlling schemes in it.
V. CONCLUSION
The hybrid HVDC transmission system proposed in this
paper adopts the traditional HVDC and PCC technology at
sending converter, while the receiving converter uses VSC
technology. The Hybrid DC transmission technology combines
the advantages of traditional HVDC with mature technology,
lower cost and good adjustment performance of VSC-HVDC
technology. It can be conveniently extended to hybrid HVDC on
the traditional H V D C system.
The hybrid (HVDC) transmission system can carry out the
power transmission steadily, and the stable operation of the
system can be quickly recovered when the single-phase
grounding fault and three-phase short circuit fault occur in the
DC and AC systems, respectively.
The Hybrid DC transmission is a new type of transmission
mode. For more detailed operation characteristics of the system,
the fault analysis and related protection strategy still need to be
further studied. The interaction between the control mode and
the communication system should be deeply studied for the
operation characteristics of the multi terminal DC system
composed of this transmission mode.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research
Funds for Central Universities (No. CDJZR14155501), the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51477013)
and the science project of state grid headquarters (No.
GYW17201600045). The authors would like to thank the
anonymous reviewers for their instructive comments.
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