MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN, ART AND

TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING.
ELE 3215: POWER SYSTEMS ENGINEERING – HVDC Group Assignment

GROUP MEMBERS

STUDENT NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER

EMODIAI WINTER IMUSALABA 19/U/18205/PSA
GITTA JOSHUA MERCY 19/U/18212/PSA
KATEREGGA PETER 19/U/22597/PS
MUKASHABA GODWIN 19/U/0675
NAMUBIRU HAGAR 19/U/0701
OLWENY MOSES 19/U/28631
OWEMBABAZI TIMOTHY 19/U/18660/PS
OWENEEMA OLIVIA ACOM 19/U/21104
SSEMANDA ISAAC 12/U/2336
TOOLIT MARTINE 19/U/28377

COURSE: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BELE)

INSTRUCTOR: MR. PATRICK MUGWANYA

DATE OF SUBMISSION: Monday, 25th July 2022.

 HVDC POWER TRANSMISSION

Introduction

A high voltage direct current power transmission system (HVDC) is a better alternative system to the
HVAC system that is employed in the transmission of high voltage electrical power over long and very
long distances ranging up to 3000 km and above. High voltage is used in power transmission in order to
reduce energy loss due to resistance of conductors and the power system components. While transmission
of high voltage power is most suitable with DC, generation and utilization of electrical power still remains
wit AC and hence DC transmission requires conversion from AC to DC (rectifier) at the sending end and
vice-versa (inverter) at the receiving end. This summarises power HVDC transmission as detailed in the
referenced book chapter [1].
Relevance of HVDC over HVAC

HVDC is environmentally friendly, economically attractive and the power flow can be controlled
accurately. It improves stability and power quality which in turn improves the performance and efficiency
of the connected AC network.

Comparison between DC and AC transmission systems

The comparison between DC and AC transmission technology is made in consideration of

i. Technical features
ii. Economic factors and
iii. Environmental consideration

Each of these is further dissected below.

1. Technical features

Power per circuit: Land rights for HVDC transmission are much cheaper to acquire than for HVAC
transmission since the HVDC transmission requires a narrower channel of land compared to an AC link.
This is due to the fact that for the same power per circuit, a DC link requires only two conductors while an
AC link requires three conductors. Considering the ratio of DC power per circuit the ac power per circuit
is as shown below;

𝑃𝑑𝑐 2√2𝐸𝑎𝑐 𝐼𝑎𝑐 0.9428

= =
𝑃𝑎𝑐 3𝐸𝑎𝑐 𝐼𝑎𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑

1
It can be observed that the DC power per circuit is inversely proportional to the power factor.

Stability limits: According to the equation;

|𝐸𝑠 ||𝐸𝑅 |
𝑃= 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛿
𝑋

where 𝐸𝑠 is the sending end voltage on a loss free AC transmission line, 𝐸𝑅 is the receiving end voltage on
the same line and X, the reactance of the line, 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 is inversely proportional to X, which in turn increases
the with distance. This means that the capacity of an AC line to transmit power decreases with distance
which is not the case with DC power transmission. This is demonstrated in figure 1.1 below

Figure 1 Power Transmission Capacity as a Function of distance

This renders DC transmission a better option for very long transmissions than ac. Additionally unlike an
AC transmission line, DC transmission has no stability problems and hence suitable for asynchronous
connections.

Voltage and current limits: At every EHV of AC, switching surges are if greater concern than lightning.
Switching surges in DC links are less severe and are of over 1.7 times the Normal voltage. Furthermore,
DC overhead lines are not as susceptible to radio interference (RI) especially in bad weather as AC lines
and also the cable insulation with DC transmission is able to withstand a DC voltage which is higher than
the normal peak ac voltage. This is an added Advantage of DC over AC transmission.

Reactive power control and voltage regulation: In DC link, no reactive power is either produced or
absorbed and the only voltage drop is due to, IR, the line resistance unlike the AC transmission which also
includes the shunt capacitance and series inductance. For this reason, there is no restriction on the distance
of transmission by underground or underwater cables. However both AC and DC transmission lines require
controlled reactive power supplies.

2
Circuit breakers and short circuit currents: Efforts to develop circuit breakers for HVDC have not yet met
with success due to the absence of a natural zero in the DC circuits. However this disadvantage doesn't
cause any impact one there are other methods that provide a solution to this. When AC systems are
interconnected by a DC link, the level of the short circuit fault is reduced unlike a case where the fault
increases with AC interconnections.

Reliability: Unlike a double circuit AC system, in case of a fault on one conductor of a two-conductor
bipolar DC link, the supply of power is maintained via the combination of the healthy conductor and ground
as return for the period of time the fault is being repaired. This implies that a two bipolar DC link is as
reliable as a double circuit AC system.

Terminal equipment: Factor such as cut-off voltage of lighting arrestors and continuous current rating if
circuit breakers on both AC and DC side also impose limitations on current, voltage and power.

Harmonics: Filters act as a source of reactive power in both AC and DC systems which is an advantage.

Control of tie-line power: It's very easy to control the power in the tie line power with the VDC power
transmission.

2. Economic factors

All costs incurred during installation and use of an HVDC link can be categorized as either cost of terminal
station equipment or cost of the transmission line. The cost of transmission line simply includes the cost of
overhead lines and cables, as well as the right-of-way, both of which are lower in the case of HVDC. Initial
losses are higher with HVDC, but they do not vary with distance as is the case with AC. Considering the
above factors of economics, it especially becomes more economical to use HVDC links beyond certain
distance as the line cost over long distances is much lower since single-wire earth return is used (two
conduction paths) unlike in AC transmission where three conductors must be used, one per phase, thus have
higher transmission line cost. DC terminal cost is, however, greater than that of AC. Compounding all these
costs as well as losses shows that HVDC is the cheaper option for transmission over long distances, as its
losses and cost increase at a slower rate than that of AC transmission, despite its higher terminal cost.

3. Environmental considerations

Improved energy transmission possibilities contribute to a more efficient utilization of existing power
plants. HVDC system is highly compatible with any environment and can be integrated into it without the
need to compromise present-day environmental issues. For example, the land coverage and the associated
right-of-way cost for an HVDC overhead transmission line is not as high as high-voltage ac line thus, an

3
HVDC transmission line can have a lower visual profile than an equivalent ac line contributing to a lower
environmental impact. There are other environmental advantages to a dc transmission line owing to the
electric and magnetic fields being dc instead of ac.

There are, however, some environmental issues which must be considered for the converter stations, such
as audible noise, visual impact, electromagnetic compatibility, and use of ground or sea return path in
monopolar operation.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HVDC SYSTEM

ADVANTAGES

 Power per conductor is more.

 Simple construction (fewer number of conductors, smaller transmission towers).
 Each conductor can be operated as an independent circuit by using ground as return path.
 Since power factory is always unity, no reactive power is needed for power factor correction.
 For a given rms voltage and conductor size, corona loss and RI is lower, particularly in bad
weather.
 Stability is of no concern since synchronous operation is not required.
 No restriction on distance due to stability problem.
 Technically, operation of interconnected ac networks at different frequencies is possible.
 Short circuit fault level is low.
 No contribution to the short-circuit fault level of an ac system.
 No charging current.
 No skin effect.
 Easy to control tie-line power.
 Bidirectional flow of power.
 Need for right-of-way (ROW) is lesser.
 High availability and reliability rate.
 Compatible with any environment.

DISADVANTAGES

 Converter equipment is expensive.

 The requirement of reactive power in converters is higher.
 Converters act as a source of harmonics; hence, filters are required.

4
  Overload capability of converters is minimal.
 Difficulty of breaking current in dc network resulting into high cost of dc breakers.
 Complexity of control.

AREAS OF USAGE OF HVDC TRANSMISSION

 When 500MW or more power is to be transmitted over distances above 500 km.
 When power is to be transmitted under water bodies wider than 30 km.
 When asynchronous operation is necessitated or when ac systems operating on different
frequencies are to be interconnected.
 When ROW for ac overhead lines is difficult to obtain, or when us e of ac cables, due to lengths
required become uneconomical, or when power is to be transmitted in thickly populated areas.

HVDC TECHNOLOGIES

The basic process which takes place in an HVDC system is the rectifier action (conversion of ac to dc) at
the sending end and the inverter (conversion of dc to ac) at the receiving end. There are three ways of
achieving this conversion;

a. Natural Commutated Converters: Its most fundamental device to the process of conversion is a
thyristor, which is a controllable semiconductor capable of blocking high-voltages up to 10kV
and high current capacity of 4kA.The thyristor valve operates at net frequency i.e., 50 or 60 Hz.
b. Capacitor Commutated Converters (CCC): A number of capacitors called commutation
capacitors are connected in series between thyristors and transformers. The arrangement is
usually used when converters are employed to weak networks, since the commutation capacitors
improve the failure performance of the bridge.
c. Forced Commutated Converters: The thyristor valves in these converters are assembled with
semiconductors with the ability to turn-on and turn-off and are known as voltage source
converters (VSC).

HVDC CONVERTER OPERATION

An HVDC converter converts electric power from high-voltage alternating current(ac) to high-voltage
direct current (HVDC), or vice versa. Almost all HVDC converters are inherently bidirectional. They
either rectify or invert. A complete HVDC transmission system always includes at least one converter
operating as a rectifier and at least one operating as an inverter. Line-commutated converters are made

5
 with electronic switches that can only be turned on. Voltage-sourced converters are made with switching
devices that can be turned both on and off.

Three-Phase Bridge Rectifier

The basic LCC configuration of HVDC transmission invariably uses a six-thyristor bridge converter
circuit. The three-phase thyristor bridge (also known as Graetz circuit) is shown below. The bridge circuit
is connected to a balanced three-phase voltage through a Y-Y connected transformer. The transformer
connections maybe Y-, -, or -Y without any change in dc output, except for a phase shift of 30 in
the output. In the figure, each thyristor connects one of the three phases to one of the two dc terminals.

The bridge rectifier can be arranged in two forms either with overlap or without overlap.

Figure 2 Three-Phase Bridge Rectifier

Operation with overlap takes place in three modes depending on the overlap angle, which increases with
the load current in an HVDC converter. These modes include:

 Mode 1; the two- and three-thyristor conduction for overlap angle less than 60°.
 Mode 2; the three-thyristor conduction for overlap angle equal to 60°.
 Mode 3; three- and four- thyristor conduction for angle of overlap greater than 60°.

This division is due to the fact that commutation begins every 60° and conduction lasts for 60°- the overlap
angle.

Three-Phase Bridge Inverters

An inverter is no different from the rectifier except in the sense of operation. A converter acts as an inverter
when the DC polarity is reversed, allowing power to flow from the DC to AC side. The inverter voltage is
thus considered negative in general converter equations and only positive with respect to itself. They are
usually controlled at constant excitation angle and have the equivalent circuit shown below.

6
 Figure 3 Three-Phase Bridge Inverter

3𝜔𝐿𝑐
In the above circuit, the direct voltage and current are related by the equation𝑉𝑑 = 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 + 𝜋
𝐼𝑑 .

Control characteristics of converters

These show the behavioral response of converter direct voltage Vd with current Id at different operating
conditions. A converter is equipped with different controls producing the characteristic graph below.

Figure 4 Behavioral response of converter direct voltage Vd with current Id

 The Natural Voltage (NV) and Constant Ignition Angle (CIA) characteristics of a rectifier are
parallel to each other, and have a drooping quality that is proportional to the direct current.
 The Constant Excitation Angle (CEA) characteristic shows how direct voltage varies with current
under inverter operation mode. Inverters are usually operated in this region.
 The Constant Current Control (CCC) characteristic is meant to be a vertical line under ideal
conditions but in practice, the DC link current used is of specified magnitude, restricted within a
narrow boundary of values and as such, it has a negative slope. The CC controller maintains this
magnitude during short circuits and normal operation by adjusting the ignition angle. Rectifiers are
usually operated in this region.

7
A complete HVDC link however has a rectifier on one end and an inverter on the other, and can thus be
seen as a case of compounded converters with the schematic arrangement below.

Figure 5 Compounded converters

The resultant characteristic of the above compounding is shown in the characteristic below, with that of B
inverted for comparison.

It should be noted that power transfer occurs at the intersection of the CC and CEA controls of the rectifier
and inverter respectively, or in this case A and B, from the former with higher NV characteristic voltage
than the latter’s CEA characteristic. However, if voltage polarity is reversed, B works as the rectifier and,
A as the inverter, bringing about a reversal of power flow.

8
Frequency control can be achieved using a DC system with greater or simply comparable power rating to
that of the AC system. This is done by employing a frequency discriminator equipped with a reversing
switch, which detects frequency variations from the nominal value and computes a signal that advances or
retards the ignition angle of the thyristors. A drop in frequency at the inverter end results in advancing of
the ignition angle on the rectifier end, corresponding to a decrease in sent power and increase in received
power. This process is similar to that of current control, where the converter with higher voltage controls
the frequency and its counterpart controls the DC line voltage.

CONFIGURATION OF HVDC CONVERTER STATIONS

A converter has two roles, it acts as a rectifier that converts ac to dc at the transmission side and as an
inverter converting dc to ac at the receiving end. A rectifier is dual purpose and can act as both an inverter
and converter. This is why the two ends of HVDC transmission line are identical.

The transformers, filters and phase correction capacitors are placed outdoors while the valves and control
equipment are placed in a closed air-conditioned building and this is why the converter station requires an
appreciable amount of land for its set up. The different parts of the converter station are discussed in the
text below.

 A converter unit has thyristor valves. A valve is constructed from one or more thyristors in series.
Valves can be divided into single valve, double valve cluster or quadruple valve cluster. A standard
bridge has six valves or valve arms if it is a full bridge connection. The six-valve pulse valve group
is connected to a three-phase ac system through a transformer in star connection.

Figure 6 Converter unit

9
  Almost all HVDC power converters with thyristor values of twelve-pulse configuration are
converter bridges. Quadrivalves are defined as the outlines around each of the three groups of four
valves in a single vertical stack. One thyristor has several thyristors connected in series to their
auxiliary circuits. A quadrivalve has hundreds of thyristors connected in series because the voltage
of HVDC transmissions is hundreds of KV. In locations susceptible to earthquakes, quadrivalves
are suspended from a ceiling of a tall valve hall. Valves can be cooled by air, oil and other
substances.
 Converter transformers include three phase transformers that are connected between AC bus bars
and valves. Transformers are connected in star-delta with the neutral point insulated from the
ground at the valve side while transformers are connected in parallel and in star configuration with
neutral points earthed for AC side. They are usually single-phase three winding type. The
magnitude of the leakage reactance of the transformer restricts the short circuit current passing
through a valve. Converter transformers are found in the switch yard and if the converter bridges
are located in the valve wall, phase isolated bus bars are used to make a necessary connection
through the wall.
 Filters are used for elimination of harmonics from both ac and dc sides of a converter. There are
three types which include ac filters, dc filters and high frequency filters. The ac side of a twelve
pulse HVDC converter produces 11th, 13th and higher orders of harmonics. Tuned ac filters are used
to eliminate these harmonics.
 A twelve-pulse converter produces dc harmonics of the order twelve n. Harmonics created by
HVDC converters cause interference in telecommunication networks and specially designed dc
filters are used to reduce this interference. When transmission is partially through an overhead line,
DC filters are required. DC filters are less expensive than AC filters.

High frequency filters also called radio filter are used to block high frequency currents. These high
frequency currents are found between the station ac bus and the converter transformers. These filters are
necessary for connections between the dc filter and dc line and on the neutral side too.

Converter stations require reactive power of an order of about 50% of the power supply. Part of this
requirement is met by ac filters and part of the requirement is provided by switched shunt capacitors, r
synchronous condensers. A linear series reactor is used to prevent intermittent current, smoothening of dc
current wave form, limiting dc fault currents and preventing resonance in dc circuits. The reactor is of oil
immersed, outdoor magnetic shield type construction.

10
The main purpose of surge arrestors is to protect the equipment against over voltages. Modern HVDC
substations use metal oxide arrestors and they are chosen considering insulation coordination design. High
speed microprocessors are part of the control system and have functions including monitoring and
supervisory roles. Different levels of control perform various functions like station control equipment
supervises the connection of harmonic filters and blocks converters during abnormal conditions.

The converter level control provides firing control and delivers the control pulses to valve control while
pole control level has a power control desk where current command and start stop commands are given.
Valve control is concerned with supervision and distribution of pulses to valves as optical signals.

TYPES OF DC LINKS.

A dc link is the auxiliary equipment and terminal of the transmission line of an HVDC system. The three
types of the links used for transmission of bulk dc power transfer are a monopolar link, bipolar link and
homopolar link.

1. A monopolar link uses a single conductor with negative polarity. A monopolar link is at its most
useful when power is to be transmitted below sea level since it saves on the cost of a second
submarine cable. Operating a monopolar link with ground as an electrode over long periods of time
is ill advised because of corrosion and interference of telecommunication circuits.

Figure 7 showing monopolar DC link

2. Bipolar link consists of two conductors with both terminal stations grounded one that acts as the
positive electrode and the other as the negative electrode. Reversing the polarities of the electrodes
reverses the flow of power in a bipolar configuration. Bipolar configuration is used for long
distance transmission and is shown below.

11
 Figure 8 Bipolar Link

3. A homopolar link has two or more conductors. All conductors have the same polarity, usually
negative with the return path provided by the ground or a metallic return. The ground current is
usually twice the current in each conductor. In the event of a fault using a homopolar link the entire
converter can be connected to the remaining healthy conductors. Insulation requirements are less
stringent for homopolar than bipolar configurations. Corona effects using homopolar
configurations are less felt because of the negative polarity of the conductors. A homopolar link is
shown below.

Figure 9 Homopolar link

The methods of controlling the internal voltage of the HVDC link are grid control and alternating voltage
control. The internal voltage can be controlled by controlling the ignition angle. A decrease in the ignition

12
angle leads to a decrease in internal voltage from the ideal no load voltage. A tap changing transformer is
employed for ac voltage control.

The future of HVDC transmission in the modern power sector lies within the development of technology
where advances in VSC based technology and new polythene dc cables have made it feasible to transmit
power up to 200MW over distances as long as 60km. The cornerstone of deregulation has become
competitive trading because the bidirectional flow of power on the HVDC transmission line provides a
competitive edge. It is feasible to change the direction of flow of power to meet the demand.

CONCLUSION

With the growing tendencies to protect the climate and create an ecofriendly planet with protection and
conservation of forests and wildlife HVDC systems are the only viable solutions to develop power
connections that would not only meet the demand in the shift in policies but also ease integration of
renewable energy like solar and wind energy into the grid.

REFERENCE

[1] "An Introduction to HVDC Power Transmission," in Power System Analysis, 2014, pp. 619-655.

13