Proc.
of the 2017 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON), Malaysia, November 5-8, 2017
Reactive Power Optimization and Voltage Control
for Half-Wavelength Power Transmission System
Hao Tian
Key Laboratory of Power System Intelligent Dispatch and
Control of Ministry of Education
Shandong University
Jinan, China
tian1992hao@126.com
Dong Yang
State Grid Shandong Electric Power Research Institute
Jinan, China
yangdong_epri@163.com
Abstract—The steady state voltage characteristics of the half-
wavelength power transmission (HWPT) line is analyzed and a
multi-objective optimization method is presented for its voltage
control. The voltage profile along HWPT line fluctuate
significantly with different loads and power factors, while easily
resulting in partial overvoltage when overload or low power
factor. An adaptive weighting coefficient selection method is
proposed to consider each optimization objective under different
operating conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that the
voltage control method can ensure voltage safety and to reduce
active power loss for the HWPT system.
Keywords—half-wavelength power transmission; voltage
characterstics; voltage control; multi-objective optimization;
adaptive weighing
I. INTRODUCTION
Half-wavelength power transmission (HWPT) is regarded
as an attractive technology for long-distance large-capacity
power transmission. It was first proposed by Soviet experts in
1940s [1]. In the next few decades, theoretical analysis and
engineering experience were reported successively [2-6].
According to previous studies, it can be seen that the voltage
distributions along the HWPT line are obviously different
from those of the conventional transmission lines. But
research on HWPT technology is still in the exploration stage,
and no further theoretical analysis on voltage characteristics
have been proposed. On the other hand, it is necessary to find
a new voltage/reactive power control method suitable for the
special characteristics of HWPT system. The traditional
voltage optimization control is to ensure the bus voltage level
and to reduce the system loss as the objective. The
maximization of voltage stability margin was considered in
VAR planning [7]. Ref. [8] considered to limit the traversing
reactive power between different voltage level grids in
reactive power control model. Reactive power optimization is
becoming a multi-objective, multiple control variables,
multiple constraints, mixed integer and continuous variables
nonlinear optimization problem. Conventional mathematical
methods include linear programming, nonlinear programming,
This work is supported by the State Grid Corporation of China under contract
SGSDDKOOKJJS1600149
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Yutian Liu
Key Laboratory of Power System Intelligent Dispatch and
Control of Ministry of Education
Shandong University
Jinan, China
liuyt@sdu.edu.cn
Xiaohui Qin
China Electric Power Research Institute
Beijing, China
qinxh@epri.sgcc.com.cn
quadratic programming and interior point method. Literature
[9-10] is based on intelligent calculation method including
genetic algorithm, particle swarm algorithm, Tabu search and
others.
In this paper, the power frequency voltage characteristic of
HWPT line is analyzed based on distributed parameter model
for transmission line, and the factors that may cause partial
overvoltage are summarized. The reactive power optimization
and voltage control for HWPT system is proposed aiming at
preventing the partial overvoltage. Finally, the simulation of
HWPT system is established to verify the proposed method.
II. VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF HALF-WAVELENGTH
TRANSMISSION LINE
The length of HWPT line is approximately 3000km for
50Hz system. The lump parameter circuit model is not suitable
for the analysis of HWPT line characteristics. Hence, the
distributed parameter model for transmission line is adopted
instead. The voltage and current relationship on both sides of
the transmission line can be represented by the hyperbolic
function of the sinusoidal steady-state solution
U x = U 2 ch(γ x ) + I2 Z c sh (γ x )

   U 2 (1)
 I x = I 2 ch(γ x ) + Z sh(γ x )
 C
Where γ = α + j β = Z 0Y0 is the line propagation coefficients;
Z c = Z0 / Y0 is the line characteristic resistance; Z0=r0+jx0
and Y0=g0+jb0 are the line impedance and admittance per unit
length, respectively.
As for lossless HWPT line, let receiving terminal
voltage U 2 = U 2 ∠0° and Sn = U 22 / Z c is capacity reference. The
relationship between voltage along the line and terminal
power is described as
U x = cos β x + Q2 sin β x + jP2 sin β x (2)
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 Proc. of the 2017 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON), Malaysia, November 5-8, 2017

Fig.2 Voltage profiles along HWPT line for different power factors (P=1, Q<0)

The charging reactive power and reactive power loss of l- Comparison results of the maximum voltage along the
length line are expressed by susceptance b0 and reactance x0 HWPT line (3000km) and a short line (300km) with the
per unit length in integral form change of power factors are shown as Fig.3. The maximum
voltage of HWPT line increased significantly at low power
 l factor. It is much more easily to appear steady-state
 U b Z dx
2
QCl = x 0 c
overvoltage, which could result in line insulation damage and
 0
 l
(3) hazard safety of system operation. Therefore, under certain
x
Q =
 I Z dx
2 0
 Ll 0
x active power transmission, how to economically and
c
effectively enhance the power factor is becoming the focus of
When the line length exactly equals the half-wavelength, HWPT system voltage control.
the line charging reactive power is equal to the reactive power 1.30
loss. HWACT line (3000km)

Maximum voltage along HWACT line (pu)

1.25
Tranditional line(300km)
1
QC = QL = [( P22 + Q22 )π + π ] (4) 1.20
2
Thus the voltage at both sending-end and receiving-end of 1.15

line has same amplitude. It does not appear voltage rise under 1.10
light load or voltage drop under heavy load at end of line like
tradition transmission line. At the same time, voltage 1.05

fluctuations along the line cannot be ignored. 1.00

According to Equation (2), when Q2=0, the voltage profile 0.95

along the HWPT line with change of active power is shown as 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96
Power factor/cosφ
0.98 1

Fig.1. When the transmission power exceeds the natural power, Fig.3 Maximum voltage along transmission lines with different power
the voltage rises at the midpoint of the line and the voltage factors (P=1).
amplitude is proportional to the active power. Transmission
line overload have to be avoided in the operation. III. MULT-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION FOR REACTIVE POWER AND
3.0
VOLTAGE CONTROL
P*=3.0
The HWPT technology is generally used in high voltage
2.5
P*=2.5 level, large-scale and long-distance power transmission
2.0
scenario which is more concerned about the safety and
P*=2.0
reliability of transmission. But the partial overvoltage is a
Voltage/pu

1.5
P*=1.5
crucial risk to the safety operation of HWPT system. The
existing traditional voltage control method is not available for
1.0 P*=1.0 HWPT system. Therefore, the new objective functions are
0.5 P*=0.5
P*=0.75
proposed to limit overvoltage, guarantee the power quality and
P*=0.25 operation economy at the same time.
P*=0
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Distance/km A. Objective functions
Fig.1. Voltage profiles along HWPT line for different active power (Q=0) • Maximize the power factor of HWPT line. Referred to
When P2=1.0p.u., the voltage distributions along the the analysis of the voltage characteristics of the HWPT
HWPT line with different power factors are shown as Fig.2. line, it can be seen that the power factor is the key
The voltage along the line appears to be sinusoidal trend, and factor to reduce the risk of line overvoltage. Therefore,
the lower the power factor, the greater voltage amplitude limiting the reactive power transmission will be
along the line. considered in optimization model.
1.20 min f1 = Qline (5)
PF=0.92
1.15
PF=0.94 • Minimize the voltage deviation of all load buses.
PF=0.96
1.10
Generally each bus voltage has to ensure qualified and
1.05
PF=0.98
reducing deviation as small as possible comparing with
the reference value.
Voltage/pu

1.00
PF=1
m

| U − U
0.95
min f 2 = ΔU = i ref | (6)
0.90
i =1
0.85
• Minimizing network active power loss.
0.80
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Distance/km min f 3 = Ploss (7)

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The equality constraints including buses active power and 0.6

reactive power balance equations; shunt capacitor/ reactor f1

0.5
bank switching equations. The inequality constraints including

Weights of objectives ωi
voltage limitations of load buses, maximum voltage limitation 0.4
of HWPT line, reactive power and voltage constraint of
f2
generators. 0.3

In the process of multi-objective optimization, each f3

objective has different unit, dimensional and magnitude which
could affect the control scheme selection. So it is essential to
unify the raw criteria data into same standard. The dealing
approach is shown in (8).
Where, min and max are the minimum and maximum of
each objective through single-objective optimization
individually. After transformation, three objectives are all
monotonic and in the range of [0,1]. It is normal to use linear
weighting to judge the schemes.
ˆ max f1 − f1
 f1 =
 max f1 − min f1
ˆ max f 2 − f 2
 f2 =
 max f 2 − min f 2
ˆ max f 3 − f 3
 f3 =
 max f 3 − min f 3
B. Adaptive Weight Selection Based on Operating Conditions
The linear weighting method can transform the multi-
objective optimization problem into a single-objective
optimization problem, which is easy to solve. However, the
weighting coefficient has the direct effect on the optimization
results. It is determined that the weighting coefficient is a key
step in solving the multi-objective optimization problem by
linear weighting method. Because of the difference in the
importance of each objective in different operating modes, an
adaptive weight selection method based on the active power of
HWPT line was put forward.
Based on the analysis of the voltage profile characteristics
of HWPT line in section 2, it can be found that when the
transmission active power is less than the natural power, the
voltage profile curve shows the droop characteristic along the
line and the possibility of steady-state overvoltage decrease.
Therefore, the weight of objective f1 should be reduced. On
the contrary, when the transmission line is overloaded, the
weight of objective f1 should be increased. Objective f3 is an
economy index, which can reduce the weight when the system
security margin is small.
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Active transmission power PL*
Fig.4 Adaptive weight of each objective
C. Genetic Algorithm
In this paper, the voltage optimization control model of
HWPT is a typical multi-objective, multi-variable and multi-
constrained mixed nonlinear optimization problem. As the
system buses increase and the control measures increase, the
computational complexity grow exponentially. Genetic
(8)
algorithm is adopted in this paper which has been widely used
in voltage optimization control [9-10].
IV. CASE STUDY
A. Parameter Settings of simulation systeml
In order to verify the effectiveness of the voltage
optimization control method of HWPT system, a simulation
system is set up as shown in Fig.5. It simulates the electricity
transmission scenario from Northwest China to “North China-
Central China-East China” load center. The sending-end grid
is including G1, G2 and G3 generator groups form a loop
network and the voltage level is 750kV. The receiving-end
grid is in IEEE 9 bus system structure and the voltage level is
1050kV. The sending-end grid is connected to the receiving-
end grid by the HWPT line. The parameters of generators,
loads and lines are listed in appendix. Generator buses voltage
is allowed to the range of 0.9-1.1p.u.; load bus voltage is
allowed to the range is 0.95-1.05p.u., UHV half-wavelength
line along the steady-state voltage requirements of less than
1.05p.u. Buses 1, 2, 5, 7 and 9 substations are installed four
shunt capacitor banks and two shunt reactor banks. Single
capacity of capacitor bank is 210Mvar and single capacity of
reactor bank is 240Mvar.
Bus2 Load Load Bus6 Bus8 Load

The weighting factors of each objective proposed in this G1 G4

paper are shown in Fig.4. In the actual system operation, the
Bus1
selection of the adaptive weight can be adjusted according to Bus3
Half-wave-length
Bus5 Bus10

the experience or the expert preference. Control scheme G2

Load Load
line Load Load
G6
assessment usually uses linear weighted method to evaluate
the merits of each scheme. In fitness function (9) ω1, ω2 and
ω3, are weighting coefficients and satisfy the constraint
G3 G5
ω1+ω2+ω3=1.
Load Load Load
Bus4
F = ω1 fˆ1 + ω2 fˆ2 + ω3 fˆ3
Bus9
(9) Bus7

Fig.5 Architecture of grid-to-grid HWPT case system

Consider heavy-load and light-load as two typical
operating conditions. Under heavy-load operating condition,

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the load is 1.2 times than normal operation and the transmitted 1.05
Initial node voltage under heavy load
power of HWPT is 4700MW. The bus voltage of receiving After voltage optimization
system is below rated value and the lowest value is 0.935pu at
bus 9. The maximum voltage along the HWPT line is 1.078pu

Voltage of load node (pu)

1.00

at approximately 1800km from the sending end. Under light-

load operating condition, the load is 0.8 times than normal
operation and the transmitted power through HWPT line is
0.95
3600MW. The bus voltage of receiving system is exceeding
rated value and the highest value is 1.062pu at Bus 3.

B. Simulation Results 0.90

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No. of load node
The fitness function under heavy-load condition and light-
load condition are obtained by equation (10) (11) respectively. Fig.6 Load buses voltage before and after optimization under heavy-load
condition
The control variables including power generations G1-G6, the 1.08

shunt capacitor/ reactor bank at bus 1, 2, 5, 7, 9. After

Voltage distribution along HWACT line (pu)

1.06
optimization, the voltage control schemes are display in Table
I, which includes the generator terminal voltage and capacitor/ 1.04

reactor switching status. 1.02

Under heavy-load operation, the load bus voltage before 1.00

and after optimization is shown in Fig.6 After optimization,
the low voltage of the receiving-end grid can be improved 0.98

evidently. In the meanwhile, the maximum voltage along 0.96

HWPT line voltage under heavy load

HWPT line is limited (in Fig.7). After voltage optimization

0.94
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Under light-load operation, the load busses voltage and the Distance (km)

HWPT line profile, before and after optimization are shown in Fig.7 HWPT line voltage profiles before and after optimization under heavy-
Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 respectively. It can be seen that after the load condition
1.08
optimization the voltage of the entire power system operates
Initial node voltage under light load
within a reasonable range, and the voltage along HWPT line 1.06 After voltage optimization
meets the requirement.
1.04
Voltage of load node (pu)

The optimization effects (in percentage) compare initial

states with results of optimization are shown in Table II. It is 1.02
concluded that this method can effectively decrease voltage
fluctuation, reduce active power loss and enhance voltage 1
stability of HWPT system.
0.98
Eheavy _ load = 0.5 fˆ1 + 0.3 fˆ2 + 0.2 fˆ3 (10)
0.96
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Elight _ load = 0.44 fˆ1 + 0.3 fˆ2 + 0.26 fˆ3 (11) No. of load node
Fig.8 Load buses voltage before and after optimization under light-load
condition

TABLE I. VOLTAGE CONTROL SCHEME UNDER DIFFERENT OPERATION MODES

Voltage optimization VG1 VG2 VG3 VG4 VG5 VG6 Qn1 Qn2 Qn5 Qn7 Qn9
control scheme /pu /pu /pu /pu /pu /pu /Mvar /Mvar /Mvar /Mvar /Mvar
Under heavy-load
1.062 1.053 1.056 1.043 1.047 1.041 630 840 -240 840 420
operation
Under light-load
1.037 1.043 1.033 1.027 1.025 1.021 0 -240 210 -240 -480
operation

TABLE II. COMPARISON OF INITIAL STATES AND RESULTS OF OPTIMIZATION

Optimization Optimization Optimization
Voltage control scheme f1 f2 f3
effect of f1 effect of f2 effect of f3
Initial state under
735Mvar — 0.365pu — 498.3MW -
heavy-load operation
Optimization results under
57Mvar 92.2% 0.191pu 47.8% 492.2MW 1.21%
heavy-load operation
Initial state under
678Mvar — 0.325pu — 387.4MW —
light-load operation
Optimization results under
214Mvar 68.4% 0.168pu 48.3% 379.7MW 1.99%
light-load operation

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 Proc. of the 2017 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON), Malaysia, November 5-8, 2017

1.08 [7] Chattopadhyay D and Chakrabarti B B, “Reactive power planning

HWPT line voltage under light load
Voltage distribution along HWACT line (pu)
incorporating voltage stability,” International Journal of Electrical
After voltage optimization
1.04 Power and Energy Systems, 2001, vol.23(5), pp.349-358.
1
[8] Xiong H, Xiang T Y and Zhan X. “An Optimal Control Strategy of
Reactive Power and Voltage for UHVAC Power Transmission System,”
0.96
Power System Technology, 2012, vol.36(3), pp.34-39.
[9] Malachi Y and Singer S. “A genetic algorithm for the corrective control
0.92 of voltage and reactive power,” IEEE Trans. on Power System, 2006,
vol. 21(1), pp.295-300.
0.88
[10] Liu Y T, Ma L, Zhang J J, “Reactive power optimization by GA/SA/TS
combined algorithms,” International Journal of Electrical Power and
0.84
Energy Systems, 2002, vol.24(9), pp.765-769．
0.80
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Distance (km) Appendix
Fig.9 HWPT line voltage profiles before and after optimization under light-
load condition
TABLE III. THE TRANSMISSION LINE PARAMETERS OF SIMULATION
V. CONCLUSION MODEL

Reactive power through half-wavelength transmission line No. of transmission line R+jX(pu) G/2+jB/2(pu)
easily produce partial overvoltage which hazardous to the line Bus1-Bus2 0.0003+j0.0061 j1.992
Bus2-Bus3 0.0005+j0.0111 j3.641
insulation. Increasing transmission power factor of HWPT line
Bus3-Bus4 0.0006+j0.0134 j4.396
as one of the objectives, a multi-objectives voltage Bus4-Bus1 0.0005+j0.0096 j3.159
optimization model is proposed. Aiming at the distinction of Bus5-Bus6 0.0001+j0.0037 j3.990
the importance of each objective under different operating Bus5-Bus7 0.0001+j0.0037 j3.990
conditions, an adaptive weighting coefficient selection method Bus6-Bus8 0.0001+j0.0051 j5.560
based on the active transmission power of the HWPT line is Bus7-Bus9 0.0002+j0.0064 j6.883
put forward. This voltage optimization control model Bus8-Bus10 0.0001+j0.0035 j3.764
mentioned could balance both safety and economy. The Bus9-Bus10 0.0001+j0.0034 j3.764
*Bus4-Bus5 -7.95×10-4+j9.45×10-6 2514+j29.87
simulation results show that the reactive power optimization
*: Bus4-Bus5 is half-wave-length transmission line. The processing method in
and voltage control model is applicable to HWPT system power flow calculation refers to literature [5].
effectively.
TABLE IV. GENERATORS AND LOADS PARAMETERS OF SIMULATION
MODEL
References
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