Received November 21, 2018, accepted November 29, 2018, date of publication December 6, 2018,

date of current version December 31, 2018.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2885010

Advanced Control Strategies of VSC Based

HVDC Transmission System: Issues and
Potential Recommendations
M. A. HANNAN 1 , (Senior Member, IEEE), I. HUSSIN1 , P. J. KER 1 , M. M. HOQUE2 ,
M. S. HOSSAIN LIPU 3 , (Student Member, IEEE), A. HUSSAIN3 ,
M. S. ABD. RAHMAN1 , C. W. M. FAIZAL1 , AND F. BLAABJERG 4 , (Fellow, IEEE)
1 Department of Electrical Power Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Malaysia
2 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh
3 Centre for Integrated Systems Engineering and Advanced Technologies, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi

43600, Malaysia
4 Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark

Corresponding author: M. A. Hannan (hannan@uniten.edu.my)

This work was supported in part by the Universiti Tenaga Nasional under Grant J510050797 and in part by Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia under Grant DIP-2015-012.

ABSTRACT The converters and their control strategies play an important role in converting, transmitting,
and improving the performance of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system. There are different types
of converter and their control strategies being employed in the HVDC system, such as line-commutated
converter and voltage source converter (VSC). However, the existing converter controllers have still some
limitations on certain deficiencies in certain aspects such as in weak AC grid or at high voltage and power
level. Thus, an advanced converter control strategy is very much important in order to ensure optimal
power transfer with minimal loss and stable voltage. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the
advanced control strategies to address the problems and enhance the performance of the VSC-based HVDC
(VSC-HVDC) transmission system. A detailed study on the overview of VSC-HVDC and their converter
classifications are investigated. The main contribution of this paper is to carry out the different types of
VSC-HVDC control strategies in controlling voltage, current, power, and the control parameters of the
HVDC transmission system. This paper also highlights several factors, challenges, and problems of the
conventional VSC-HVDC controllers. Furthermore, this paper provides some suggestions for the advanced
control for the future research and development of the HVDC system.

INDEX TERMS Converter, voltage source converter, line commuted converter, control strategies,
HVDC transmission.

I. INTRODUCTION on AC side [3]. In the 1940s, electronic or static type con-

In high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system, verter was built in the form of Line-Commutated Converter
converter becomes an interface between DC and AC networks (LCC) [4], [5] which was manufactured with electronic
where the conversion between the two signals takes place. switches to be turned on. The converter was comprised of
The converter could act as a rectifier to convert from AC to a set of valves which is the actual component that did the
DC signal, or an inverter to revert back from DC to an AC conversion. Before the 1970s, the mercury arc valve was
signal. Development of power electronics has innovated the used in the LCC while after 1970s, thyristor valve was used.
converter technology that further improves the quality of the LCC was typically used when very high capacity and effi-
output signal and stability of HVDC system control [1], [2]. ciency were required [6], [7]. However, the LCC type con-
Ever since HVDC was first introduced, the converter used verter had a shortcoming of having Short Circuit Ratio (SCR)
motor-generator set for electromechanical conversion that has more than 2 that resulted in instability and poor effi-
a series connection on the DC side and a parallel connection ciency [8], [9]. In 1997, Voltage Source Converter (VSC)

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M. A. Hannan et al.: Advanced Control Strategies of VSC-Based HVDC Transmission System

FIGURE 1. The topology of a two terminal VSC-HVDC transmission system [3].

was emerged and it was first commissioned in Sweden [10]. This review has summarized each of the control strate-
VSC was designed with electronic switches to be turned on gies, with advantages and disadvantages explained in details
and off, unlike LCC that can only be turned on [11]. in section IV. Before that, section II and III figure out
To date, the VSC type converter has brought many benefits the overview of VSC-HVDC control and development of
to the improvement of HVDC operation and stability. First VSC technology. Issues and challenges in the existing VSC
of all, VSC can eliminate commutation failure problems, based HVDC are later explained in section V. Finally,
especially during voltage drop or distorted. Its flexibility in the review ends with the conclusion and recommendation
controlling power makes it suitable to integrate with renew- in section VI.
able energy networks. Unlike LCC type converter that has
a limitation of SCR value more than 2, this VSC type con- II. OVERVIEW OF VSC-HVDC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
verter does not have such negative point which means it can The VSC uses transistors as the main component in its
interface with the grid without the necessity of synchronous operation. The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
generators, for instance, offshore wind power plants. Fur- is the most commonly used transistor that combines the
thermore, it also ensures continuous AC voltage regulation. good features of both bipolar transistors and Metal Oxide
With the VSC type converter, control of power flow can Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs). The
be reversible. Besides, the reactive power compensation is IGBT switching valves in VSC converter have a high input
not required in its operation. In addition, power cables are impedance of a MOSFET and exhibit lower on-state voltage
lighter in weight that results in lower installation cost. Lastly, drop and greater turn-off time than MOSFET. Furthermore,
the VSC type converter also exhibits low order harmonics and IGBT exhibits strong controllability, higher switching fre-
requires less space at the converter station [12]–[15]. VSC is quency and provides an output voltage at any preferred
incorporated with Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technique amplitude or phase angle [20], [21]. The topology of
based on the idea of solid state switches which has ‘‘gate- VSC-HVDC transmission system is presented in Fig. 1. The
turn-on’’ and ‘‘gate-turn-off’’ features. PWM offers benefits AC terminal A is a sending end from the AC network while
such as fast switching rate even at high voltage and current AC terminal B is a receiving end AC network. VSC1 is
rating [16]. a converter specifically as a rectifier that will convert the
Though VSC based HVDC provides a significant contri- AC signal from AC terminal A to DC signal. The DC voltage
bution in power transmission system, the limitations of this will then be transferred via a DC transmission line towards
converter have been reported, especially when the DC system VSC2 which is another converter specifically an inverter that
is connected to a very weak AC grid [17], [18]. When a fault will regulate the DC link voltage and invert back the DC sig-
occurs in a HVDC transmission system interfacing with a nal to AC signal [22]. The parameters of the two AC networks
very weak AC system, it is difficult to provide reactive power i.e. AC terminal A and AC terminal B could be different,
at the required rate [19]. This will cause severe voltage dis- for example, AC terminal A has 275 kV, 50 Hz AC sources
tortion and the converter will fail to operate correctly, hence while AC terminal B has 230 kV, 60 Hz AC system. This is
gives more commutation failure and provides slow recovery one of the advantages of using HVDC transmission system
of the system. To address the problems, many control strate- as compared to HVAC. The converter that accommodates
gies of VSC-HVDC transmission system have been explored. rectifier at sending end and inverter at the receiving end
Furthermore, HVDC is designed to further enhance the con- is comprised of IGBT switching valves. PWM technique is
trollability and stability of the system on various possible applied in these switching valves with a specific switching
cases that might occur in the system. In essence, VSC-HVDC frequency, for instance, 1620 Hz [23]–[25].
needs to be controlled in order to have a precise and accurate The basic VSC schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 2 which
active power, reactive power and the output frequency of the includes a six-pulse converter having six switching
inverter. devices [26], [27]. The switching devices are configured

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output voltage lags the AC supply voltage. The leading or lag-

ging output voltage can be determined by controlling the
phase angle between the voltages of the converter and the
AC system.
The reactive power exchange between VSC and power
system can be executed by controlling the output voltage
value, while the active power exchange can be performed by a
different VSC or an energy storage; for example, battery or a
superconducting magnet. The exchange of the real power and
reactive power between the VSC converter and power system
is executed on an individual basis. In the series-connected
FIGURE 2. VSC Schematic Diagram [26].
configuration, the output voltage of the VSC is inserted in
series with the AC line. The magnitude and phase of the
voltage can be controlled by changing the magnitude and
phase of the output voltage produced. VSC only produces
reactive power to the AC power system if the inserted voltage
is controlled with a quadrature relationship to the line current
and a different VSC or energy storage device is not needed on
the DC terminal. Multiplication of maximum output voltage
and maximum line current will give the VA rating of the
FIGURE 3. The equivalent circuit of a VSC connected with AC sources [22]. VSC. VSC will produce both active and reactive power if
the injected voltage is controlled with four-quadrant manner
(360 degree) to the line current and another VSC or energy
storage device will not be required on the DC terminal for
the power exchange. The ability to control the exchange of
the active power and reactive power makes it possible for
HVDC-VSC system not to use a rotating synchronous
machine as it has resembled similar operation of such
machine, giving an advantage of VSC type converter over the
LCC type converter [28]–[30].
FIGURE 4. Single line diagram of shunt-connected VSC [29].
III. HVDC BASED VSC CLASSIFICATION
Many configurations of VSCs have already been developed
in series or parallel in a high power converter. The equiv- and applied in numerous applications. VSC can be classi-
alent circuit of VSC converter connected to a three-phase fied into several different configurations such as two-level
AC source is shown in Fig. 3. The relationship of voltage and converter, three-level converter, modular multilevel converter
current between the converter and AC source is expressed (MMC) and hybrid VSC [10], [23], [28], [31]–[35]. However,
in (1) [22]. the investigation is required to address the challenges of the
The converter produces a three-phase output voltage either existing converters as well as to invent the new technolo-
in a square shape or in a PWM shape at the necessary fre- gies. The further research is still ongoing to search for new
quency [28]. The output waveform is determined by the pulse alternatives in order to develop a robust and the improved
modulation technique and the type of the circuit layout. The VSC type converter.
active and reactive power depends on converter configuration,
either shunt-connected or series-connected. The formation of A. TWO LEVEL CONVERTER (6-PULSE BRIDGE)
shunt-connected VSC is shown in Fig. 4. Two level converter in a three phase system is also known

dia as a six-pulse bridge. This converter consists of IGBTs with
va = va1 + ia R + jωL

inverse parallel diodes and DC capacitors [36]–[38]. Every

 dt
dib AC output phase voltage is operated within two discrete volt-

vb = vb1 + ib R + jωL (1)
 dt age levels with respect to the positive and negative terminals
di

vc = vc1 + ic R + jωL c of DC voltage as shown in Fig. 5.


dt This type of VSC converter features high switching loss
When the output voltage amplitude is reduced below the sup- when it is being applied with PWM to minimize har-
plied AC voltage, VSC converter generates reactive power. monic distortion of the converter. This switching loss comes
In contrast, when the converter output voltage leads the AC from the successive IGBT switching on and off (typically
supply voltage, active power is supplied by VSC supplies. twenty), hence the efficiency of the overall transmission is
The real power of VSC is absorbed from the AC supply if the declined. Besides, a number of series connected IGBTs would

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FIGURE 7. Three-phase MMC topology (a) MMC topology (b) Sub module
topology [43].

FIGURE 5. Three-phase, two-level voltage-source converter for HVDC [38].

C. MODULAR MULTI-LEVEL CONVERTER (MMC)

Like a two-level converter, modular multi-level converter
(MMC) is designed using six valves installed in three sub
modules. Each valve is connected from one DC terminal
to one AC terminal which is identical to the two-level
converter [41]–[43]. The difference is that each valve in
MMC has a controllable voltage source and each valve has its
own storage capacitor. Every sub-module (SM) is comprised
of two series connected IGBTs across the capacitor where the
common-point of them is connected to the AC voltage source.
The configuration of MMC is shown in Fig. 7.
Either one of the two IGBTs in each SM can be turned on.
During ON state, the IGBT will connect the capacitor into
the circuit, while during the OFF state, IGBT will bypass the
capacitor into the circuit.
Thus, the generated voltage from each SM could be either
0or Usm (SM capacitor voltage). Consequently, the valve can
produce stepped voltage waveforms that are very close to a
FIGURE 6. Three-phase, three-level, diode-clamped voltage-source sine-wave by connecting an appropriate number of SM in
converter for HVDC [38].
series. This kind of waveform will contain a very low level of
harmonic distortion [44], [45]. The flow of current is main-
tained endlessly in all converter valves for the whole cycle
require very high operating voltage to be switched simul- in the MMC, thus there is no ‘‘ON-state’’ and ‘‘OFF-state’’
taneously, which may result in electromagnetic interference like the other type of VSC converters. The DC current is
problems. divided equally into the three phases while the AC current
is divided equally into upper and lower valves of each phase.
B. THREE LEVEL CONVERTER The relationship between the alternating and direct current on
Three level converter has the significant contribution in each valve is shown in (2) and (3) [41].
improving the harmonic performance of the converter. It uti-
Id Iac
lizes three discrete voltage levels at every phase of the Uppervalve :Iv = + (2)
AC signal such as +1/2 Ud, 0 and −1/2 Ud, as shown 3 2
Id Iac
in Fig. 6. The DC capacitor is divided into two areas where the Lowervalve :Iv = − (3)
diode valves are connected between the capacitor mid-point 3 2
for one phase, the other two phases are at one-quarter and One of the advantages of having MMC in VSC-HVDC sys-
a three-quarter point between the two capacitors [38]–[40]. tem is that it achieves an excellent harmonic performance
The IGBTs are switched on in such way that first two, middle without the need any filter and PWM technique [46], [47].
two and last two are switched on for obtaining positive output Furthermore, power loss is much lower than the two-level
voltage (+1/2 Ud), zero output voltage, the negative output converter. Because of these strong points, MMC has become
voltage (−1/2 Ud) respectively. the most common type of VSC nowadays. However, a few

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IV. VSC BASED HVDC CONTROL METHODS

The effectiveness of grid interfaced VSC based HVDC sys-
tem depends on the control strategy. The designs of this
controller together with the correct selection of its parameters
will have a substantial impact on the system stability. In the
controller structure, each control loop has its own control rule
and parameters.

A. VOLTAGE CONTROLLER
This is the most basic control of VSC-HVDC system where it
uses voltage control scheme. In addition, it has direct control
of the reactive power controller and power angle controller.
In this scheme, the phase-angle shift, δ controls the active
power between VSC and the AC system. Power angle, δ is
obtained from terminal voltage and current value. The desired
power angle achieves an error which will be processed by
the angle controller to become reference phase angle. The
FIGURE 8. Three-phase hybrid VSC topology [49]. VSC voltage magnitude controls the reactive power. The
reactive power also depends on the modulation index.
The actual value of reactive power is called the reference
weaknesses are encountered, such as its control is more reactive power which obtains an error. This error will be
complex than a two-level converter. Also, it requires com- processed by the reactive power controller to become the
putation of power and high-speed communication between magnitude of the modulating signal. Phase Locked Loop
the central control and the valve. Besides that, its size is (PLL) will synchronize the output voltage of the inverter to
larger than a two-level converter because of the size of the grid [53]–[56]. This is a simple and easy process to be
each SM in the capacitor, thus requiring more space in the employed. However, the outcome from both reactive power
substation [41]. controllers and power angle controllers show that both active
and reactive power is the function of power angle, δ which
D. HYBRID VSC
means active power and reactive power cannot be controlled
independently [57]. Specifically, the control bandwidth of
This is an advanced type of VSC where it combines both two-
power angle controller is constrained by the grid frequency
level and MMC converters [34], [48]. The configuration of a
and a resonant peak and it cannot limit the current flowing
hybrid VSC is shown in Fig. 8. which includes a combina-
into the converter, thus issuing problems to the system if the
tion of soft-switched H-bridge converters, M2C cells and the
over current fault occurs.
H-bridge converters consisting of series IGBTs in order
to generate required voltage rating at the fundamental fre-
quency. The M2C cells are arranged such that it will provide a B. VECTOR-CURRENT CONTROLLER (VCC)
wave-shaping function, however, it only operates at part of the This method is designed to overcome the problem encoun-
main line current, hence its rating is lower than the alternative tered by the voltage controller that cannot control active
arrangements. and reactive power independently. It basically involves
The main objectives of this combination are to reduce a transformation from three phase steady state into the
power loss and to achieve the high harmonic performance of d-q axis to control active power and reactive power separately.
the MMC while maintaining its compact design with efficient The separate active and reactive power control is possible
capability and controllability. Besides that, a triple harmonic in this method by a fast inner current control loop with
modulation scheme can be added to the combination so it d-q composition technique. The current in the inner current
can enable voltage control for the purpose of real and reac- control loop is decoupled into d and q components using grid
tive power regulation [50], [51]. This combination can also voltage as a phase reference. The d and q components control
produce low distortion AC current and therefore AC filters the active and reactive power through a rectifier and inverter
may not be needed. In addition, if a DC fault occurs, enough respectively. The control of d and q current components
voltage might have been produced to control the inductor are executed within a Synchronous Reference Frame (SRF)
current [52]. Further research on enhancing the structure can and the synchronization is done by a PLL [20], [58]. Both
be explored by employing a half bridge where losses might be rectifier and inverter have identical control schemes but there
reduced. Using half bridge means the number of conducting is no communication between them. The converter acts as
IGBTs is halved, so the design will be more compact as a current source where the injected current will follow the
compared to full H-bridge. However, there is a possibility that current phasors. In a steady state condition, the three-phase
the converter will not be able to block a DC fault [52]. quantities, a-b-c are transformed into two-phase quantities,

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FIGURE 9. Vector current control (VCC) of MMC-HVDC [59].

of VSC-HVDC even though its function is to achieve

synchronization with the AC system when VSC is connected
to it [63].

C. ADVANCED VECTOR CURRENT CONTROL

This method is an enhancement of the normal VCC method to
be applied in VSC interfaced with weak AC signal. This con-
troller considers the non-linearity of the system design that
might affect the performance and efficiency. The approach
is to enhance the outer loop in conventional VCC method
discussed in IV.B. This enhanced outer loop allows superior
FIGURE 10. The control structure of advanced VCC [66]. regulation of the voltage and active power for operating VSC
in the feasible range [64]–[66]. The advanced outer loop
αβ and later is transformed into two axis block d-q [59], [60]. control structure of VCC is shown in Fig. 10. The outer loop
The configuration of VCC in MMC-HVDC system is shown control consists of extra four decoupling gains between the
in Fig. 9. voltage value and power errors before the Proportional Inte-
The independent active and reactive power controllability gral (PI) operates. In addition, it also incorporates parameter-
with the fast dynamic response is the main strength of the varying scheme so that it can overcome system non-linearity
VCC method. Besides, VCC delivers better power quality and achieve similar results. The goal of this outer loop is
where the converter is less affected by harmonics and grid dis- to improve the handling interaction between active power
turbances. In addition, the current flowing into the converter and voltage control. The d-axis and q-axis current outputs
can be limited naturally as it is current-control based tech- are shown in (4) and (5) and expressions of KU and KP are
nology. Moreover, VCC can provide protection against over presented in (6) and (7) [67]–[72].
current fault and can compensate for a line or grid harmonics. i∗cp = KP (s, p)(k1 (p) ep + k2 (p) eu ) (4)
However, this method is not suitably applied to DC link
i∗cd = K U (s, p)(k3 (p) ep C k4 (p) eu ) (5)
connected to weak AC network (2 < SCR < 3) or a very
weak grid AC network (SCR < 2), where it would deliver where;
poor performance in a VSC-HVDC system [61], [62]. The k1 (p), k2 (p), k3 (p) and k4 (p) = decoupling gains (propor-
interconnection will make the outer loop becomes unstable tional gains
that results in poor performance due to high power demand. KU (s, p) = (k p−u (p) s + ki−u (p))/s (6)
The low-frequency resonance can interconnect with the vec-
tor current control and affect the inner current control loop. K P (s, p) = (kp−p (p) sC ki−p (p) )/s (7)
This might limit the VSC control operation and performance. This method has made possible for VSC-HVDC to inter-
Besides, PLL dynamics might also affect the performance act with weak or very weak AC grid where it can better

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interconnecting network. The weakness of this method is that

if severe AC system fault occurs on the system, the controller
needs to change its mode to current control mode to avoid
over current on the converter valves. Furthermore, higher load
angles is another challenge that VSC-HVDC could interface
if it is interconnected with a weak AC system [76].

E. ABC FRAME CONTROLLER

ABC controller method can be applied to MMC based
FIGURE 11. PSC based VSC-HVDC system [64]. HVDC transmission system that is interconnected to a very
weak AC system as shown in Fig. 12. The schematic dia-
handle high power demand as compared to conventional gram of the ABC frame controller is presented in Fig. 13.
VCC controller. This is because it has been designed to In this method, VSC is regulated in ABC frame without
address severe non-linearity, highly-coupled active power and PLL operation. The active power and reactive power are con-
outage interactions under both normal and fault conditions, trolled exclusively at the point of coupling (PCC). ABC phase
thus injecting any value of active power to the converter reference current is determined from positive and negative a-
within its possible range. The drawback of this advanced b stationary frame sequence component voltage at PCC.
VCC is to ignore the asymmetrical fault and any sudden The outer control loop is designed to deliver more reactive
change during grid operation. power to AC voltage at PCC. In addition, the design offers
the maximum power exchange within the rating boundary
D. POWER SYNCHRONIZATION CONTROLLER of the converter in order to give fluent transition between
Power Synchronization Controller (PSC) approach can be weak and healthy AC networks. IrefABC is calculated from
applied to integrate VSC-HVDC with weak AC network. The the inversion of Clark transformation [75]. By reducing active
principle of PSC is the same as a synchronous machine in AC power during a fault condition, the average input active power
system that uses internal synchronization mechanism, hence and input reactive power can be exchanged with the AC grid
it does not require any addition short-circuit capacity of AC and DC link, thus avoiding the ripple active power of the
system [73], [74]. The VSC terminal gives voltage support to transformer. This method uses two separate controllers; one
the weak AC system during the operation of a synchronous is for controlling active power and DC voltage as shown
machine. The configuration of PSC is shown in Fig. 11. in Fig. 14; another one is for controlling reactive power and
It uses a phase angle to control active power, and voltage AC voltage as shown in Fig. 15.
value to control reactive power, identical to the power angle In the active power or DC voltage controller, the
controller as explained in section IV.A. The difference is that Pref output is used to reduce the power demand for keeping
it does not use a PLL to control the power synchronization. the DC voltage within the range. The limiter is used to
This method upholds synchronism between VSC and prevent AC current from being conducted above the nominal
AC system. The power control error is transformed to a value to ensure that the converter is in the safe process espe-
frequency deviation to change the angle. After, the angle from cially under a fault condition. Both limiters in Fig. 14 and
ref
the output signal ωt transforms the voltage reference vc from Fig. 15 can be combined into one and it can be prioritized
the d-q frame to the stationary frame of the converter. The law whether to select maximum active or reactive power during
of power-synchronization control is shown in the following a fault condition. Since this method does not depend on
equation, the PLL operation in its control, there is no possibility of
PLL problem like lack of synchronization when VSC-HVDC
d1θ connected to weak AC network. This method also has a
= kp (Pref − P) (8)
dt broader range in the current control loop, thus assuring fast
where, output of reference current. In the d-q frame of Synchronous
Pref = The reference active powe Rotating Machine (SRF), positive and negative sequence
P = The output active power from VSC components are extracted so that the delay in the feedback
kp = The controller gain currents is not required. Furthermore, adaptive filter is not
1θ = The controller output required in the grid voltage frequency variation and harmonic
The synchronization of VSC is achieved using 1θ . The distortion [30], [66], [77], [78].
control of the transferred power is executed by correcting
the output voltage phasor of the VSC. This method does not F. VOLTAGE DROOP CONTROL
depend on PLL so it eliminates the possible instability caused The voltage droop control technique is employed in Multi-
by PLL when connected to a weak AC system. In addition, terminal HVDC system, for instance, offshore wind farms
it does not have a pre-set current value which means it does as shown in Fig. 16 and node or branch scheme as depicted
not depend on an inner current loop like in VCC as explained in Fig. 17. Power source comes from wind farm grid
in IV.B. The transient power transfer is determined by the merging into wind farm converter. Grid side converter on

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FIGURE 12. (a) Transmission system of VSC-MMC (b) Equivalent circuit of VSC-MMC converter with transmission system (c) half-bridge cells based
MMC converter (d) equivalent circuit of MMC [73].

FIGURE 13. Schematic diagram of the ABC frame [75].

the load side will be controlled to maintain its DC volt- converter tries to extract maximum power without DC voltage
age and to execute power-sharing. When a severe voltage regulation [9].
fault arises in the AC grid, the fault current might drive Voltage droop control is based on frequency response anal-
the converter up to its current limit. Wind farm converter ysis [8], [9]. The performance specification takes into account
changes into voltage regulation mode while the grid source the desired voltage error and the maximum control input

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FIGURE 14. Control of active power and DC voltage [30].

FIGURE 17. Node and branch scheme of a multi-terminal HVDC

network [9].

FIGURE 15. Control of reactive power and AC voltage [30].

FIGURE 18. Droop control scheme in a multi-terminal grid [9].

Value of Kdroop depends on the entire of the multi-terminal

behavior both in normal and fault condition. It also takes
into account the multivariable system theory that every local
controller might affect the stability of the whole system
and DC voltage in another terminal. For a stable operation,
the value of Kdroop must be above zero since droop control
is synonymous with adding energy dissipation to the system.
The relationship between Kdroop and performance objectives
is analyzed by the frequency response of the system. Fre-
FIGURE 16. Typical HVDC multi-terminal network [9].
quency response shows a vector of sinusoidal signals of
frequency, ω being changed by the system. The objectives
of the performance specification are to reduce the effect of
disturbance on DC voltage as well as to keep the control input
current for choosing the desired droop gains. The control
within its range [9].
scheme is shown in Fig. 18.
Droop parameters are selected based on the steady-state
G. ADAPTIVE BACK STEPPING CONTROLLER
analysis. The distribution of power among different terminals
is executed without communications. In each converter, there Adaptive back stepping controller method can also be applied
is two level of control being designed; level one is an inner to offshore wind farm grids [79] like voltage droop controller
loop that controls current while level two is an outer loop that as explained in IV.F. The principle of adaptive back step-
regulates DC voltage. The outer loop is the one where the ping controller is based on the DC cable dynamics where
voltage droop control plays its role. It will provide a reference its objective is to maintain DC bus voltage at a rated value
current, Iref , hence deliver power to the inner loop. Control of and DC voltage at constant value all time. On DC side,
this reference current is based on (9) involving droop gain, VSC acts a controlled current source. The system is said to
Kdroop . be stable in overall when the regulation of local DC volt-
age on the DC side is stable [80]–[82]. The construction of
i∗ = Kdroop (E − E0 ) (9) a DC transmission line is shown in Fig. 19.
The controller might compensate for the current distur-
where E is the Vdc , E0 is the reference and Kdroop is the droop bance in capacitors of the DC side. DC cable model is
gain. designedinto a series of π sections, where every section

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When a fault occurs, active current reference will be altered

with reference to the change of reactive current reference in
order to restore the grid voltage. The output of the power con-
trol loops is denoted by i∗d and i∗q . Both current references
are regulated by the adaptive current limiter, which is shown
in the following equations,
 iq1 , −ilim < iq < ilim
 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

iq1 = i∗lim , i∗q ≥ i∗lim

∗
(12)
FIGURE 19. Simplified structure of the DC transmission line [79].
−ilim , iq ≤ −i∗lim
 ∗ ∗
 q
i ∗ , i∗ < i ∗ ≤ i∗2 − i∗2
q

 d dlim d lim

controls the preceding one to eliminate the accumulative  q ∗2
 q
i∗d1 = ilim − iq , ilim − iq < i∗d < i∗
∗2 ∗2 ∗2
(13)
error from previous steps. Errors accumulated come from ∗ , i∗ ≥ i∗
lim
all parameter uncertainties and state errors. The final control


 ilim d lim
i∗dlim,i∗ ≤ i∗dlim


signal of VSC is determined by Inner current loop based on d
the measurement of voltage and current values. where i∗lim
is the VSC current limit, i∗dlim is the lower
Afterward, the internal states of the DC cable might be boundary of active current from active power control loop.
projected. Power equality between AC and DC links the inner The operation of the adaptive current limiter is illustrated
current loop and DC side model. The voltage control law in Fig. 22.
demonstrates that the active and reactive power flow at PCC is Based on the AC voltage controller output, the reference
controlled in the d-axis and q-axis respectively, as shown in value of active current is assigned. Under little fluctuations of
the following equations [84]. grid voltage, the generated current references lay within the
3eus VNd circle. Therefore, the system achieves a new stable operating
VCd = + VNd + Lidref − ωLiq + Rid + kdp eid + θd point, M, where current references of i∗d1 and i∗q 1 remain
2ucs
equal to i∗d and i∗q , respectively [83]. Under extreme volt-
(10)
age drop condition, huge instabilities occur between active
VCq = VNq + Liqref − ωLid + Riq + kqp eiq + θq (11) power and AC voltage, which in turn rises the current signals
i∗d and i∗q considerably. The adaptive current limiter oper-
The variation of DC voltage and the stabilization time might 2 2 2
ates to set the VSC current limit, i.e. i∗d + i∗q = i∗lim .
be reduced by this method under power change condition and
After, the reference value of active current i∗d1 is changed in
a fault condition. The overshoot voltage will be reduced in
such a way that the current reference vector is directed in
both wind farm and grid side terminals, thus, the performance
clockwise direction along the current limit circle. Based on
of existing DC voltage controller has been improved. How-
the condition of fault, the current reference vector inclines
ever, this adaptive back-stepping method does not take into
to hold a new stabile operating point N , or remains rotat-
account the model uncertainties which could also affect the
ing until point D where the power capacity of VSC and
overall system performance. State observer might be utilized
current phase angle are employed for the reactive power
to estimate the internal states of the DC cable, for example,
support [83], [85].
capacitor voltage and inductor current that cannot be mea-
The capability circle of the VSC for various AC volt-
sured directly [80], [84].
ages is shown in Fig. 23. At particular operation mode,
the transmission of active power by the VSC-HVDC link is
H. FLEXIBLE POWER CONTROL METHOD unidirectional. Therefore, the capability circle of the VSC is
This method is suitable for Hybrid Multi-Infeed Direct Cur- drawn in two quadrants. The capability circle will shrink in
rent (HMIDC) application in which the transmission system various pattern with variation in voltage drops. The steady-
is designed using many DC links LCC and VSC type con- state operating point could maintain within the capability
verters. The system configuration for flexible power control circle, for instance, point I in Fig. 23. For a voltage drop,
method is shown in Fig. 20.The flexible method configuration the output power of VSC falls to the point, F, within a smaller
is shown in Fig. 21. In this configuration, there are many circle. The current vector reference might meet its boundary
layers of control scheme as below; instantly.
• The active power and reactive power controller which This method gives the possibility to have a stable voltage in
are operated independently by the Inner vector-current the HMIDC systems through the flexible power control on the
controller. VSC-HVDC link. However, this method does not consider
• AC voltage and active power controllers. AC grid dynamics and load effect. Not many information
• Intermediate adaptive current limiter to mitigate the on the impacts of the power capacity is considered, thus a
problem of pre-setting current limit at power controller quantitative method for voltage stability analysis is required
outputs. for further study [83], [85].

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 M. A. Hannan et al.: Advanced Control Strategies of VSC-Based HVDC Transmission System

FIGURE 20. Simplified one-line diagram of the built HMIDC system [83].

FIGURE 21. Flexible method configuration for HMIDC [83].

I. PROPORTIONAL INTEGRAL (PI) DECOUPLED CONTROL closed loop PI controllers including inner current, outer DC
This decoupled control on Proportional-Integral (PI) method voltage, outer active power and outer reactive power control
is based on selection and optimization of the parameters in the loops are shown in Fig. 25 26, 27 and 28 respectively. These
PI compensators in different control loops of a VSC-HVDC four controllers must be integrated at each VSC.
transmission system [86]. The control organization along The initial PI compensator parameters are obtained using
with current controllers and outer-loop controllers are shown frequency response design method from these four control
in Fig. 24. Reference values are produced by outer loop loops. All these parameters become inputs to the optimization
controllers in order to fasten the action of inner-loop current- algorithm based on simplex method application. The aim of
controllers. These reference values are tracked by active and these controllers is to compare the objective function values
reactive currents controlled by the inner loop controllers via at the N+1 vertices of a simplex. Then, the worst objective
feed-forward decoupled control. The real power is controlled function is removed and accordingly a new vertex value is
by sending end converter or rectifier while the DC voltage obtained. This process continues iteratively until the optimum
is regulated by the receiving end converter or rectifier. The point is found. The optimum PI compensators of the different
reactive power at the link ends is controlled distinctly by the VSC control systems supplying for the active network are
respective converters [52], [87]. The transfer functions of four obtained after this optimization. The dynamic behavior and

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M. A. Hannan et al.: Advanced Control Strategies of VSC-Based HVDC Transmission System

FIGURE 25. Inner current control loop [87].

FIGURE 22. Current trajectory with the regulation of adaptive current

limiter [83].

FIGURE 26. Outer DC Voltage control loop [87].

FIGURE 23. Capability curve of VSC under voltage drop [83].

FIGURE 27. Outer active power control loop [87].

FIGURE 24. The diagram of the inner and outer controllers for VSC [87].
FIGURE 28. Outer reactive power control loop [87].

performance of the VSC-HVDC system are enhanced signifi-

cantly with the optimum PI parameters. However, this method
does not consider the power losses of the transformer, the grid
filter and converter [52], [87], [88].

J. FUZZY ADAPTIVE PI CONTROLLER

This fuzzy adaptive PI controller can be applied to
VSC-HVDC connected to passive AC network. The constant
DC voltage and constant reactive power controls are used in
rectifier side of VSC while the AC voltage control is used in FIGURE 29. Fuzzy based PI control for VSC-HVDC system connected to a
inverter side of VSC [16], [88], [89]. The Fuzzy PI control passive network [90].
for VSC-HVDC system is shown in Fig. 29.
The α-β coordinate axis controls the AC voltage and
frequency, and hence a discrete mathematical model is devel- produces a reference voltage vector. The AC voltage
oped. The principle of this method is to transform the three- magnitude and frequency become controllable by alter-
phase output voltages intothe α-β frame which consequently ing this voltage vector. The extracted formulas are shown

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 M. A. Hannan et al.: Advanced Control Strategies of VSC-Based HVDC Transmission System

FIGURE 30. Structure of fuzzy adaptive controller [90].

FIGURE 32. Block diagrams of control loops. (a) DC voltage control.

(b) Reactive power control [93].

Two things are considered to implement this method.

Firstly, it uses a decoupled d-q vector control scheme that uses
a control algorithm which derives first-order-plus-time-delay
(FOPTD) of the non-linear system as shown in (16) and (17)
[93]. The system model and its controller operations in the
rotating d-q frame are expressed from (18) and (21) [93].
pac = vsd id + vsq iq (16)

FIGURE 31. Decoupled dq-vector control scheme used for DC voltage qac = −vsd id + vsq id (17)
control [92].
d-axis is aligned 90 degrees behind phase a, so the equation
becomes,
in (14) and (15).
pac = vsd id (18)
vα = va (14)
qac = −vsd id (19)
√
vβ = (2vb + va )/ 3 (15) Power on the DC side is shown in (20),
where va = Vm sinωt, vb = Vm sin(ωt − 2π 3 ), vc = Vm sin(ωt + Pac = vdc idc (20)
2π π
3 ), vα = V m sinωt, v β = Vm sin(ωt + 2) Using the power balance equation for both the AC and
The main function of the fuzzy adaptive module is to
DC side,
make the complex parameters in the conventional PI con-
troller to be auto-regulated and adapted automatically dur- id
vdc = vsd (21)
ing the changing work conditions and system fluctuations idc
when the system is running. This will ensure an effective Secondly, the optimum PI-tuning parameters are achieved
control over the AC voltage. Both fuzzy inference and con- by using a non-linear optimization algorithm based on less-
trol process is developed using the binary system and the ening the integral time absolute error (ITAE) performance
parameter values are processed by Digital Signal Processing index. The desired dynamic performance and zero steady-
(DSP). Fig. 30 presents a structure of the fuzzy adaptive con- state error can be obtained via two PI controllers as shown
troller. This method still keeps the advantage of conventional in Fig. 32.
control on top of the adaptive control that it can adapt to This method has some advantages. The real power and
the changes within the system and regulate the PI parame- reactive power can be controlled independently. Also, this
ters automatically. However, the robustness of this method method improves the performance of existing DC voltage
needs to be checked whether it can withstand the range of controller in comparison to the traditional PI controller. Fur-
disturbances [16], [90], [91]. thermore, the usage of optimum tuning parameters is avoided
because of the complex computation and time-consuming
K. PI CONTROLLER OPTIMAL DISTURBANCE REJECTION procedure. However, the method exhibits a few drawbacks.
This method advances the conventional PI controller by con- Firstly, the tuning approach of FOPTD yields quasi-optimal
sidering AC input voltage fluctuation and load disturbances tuning parameters [92]. In addition, the simulations are not
in VSC-HVDC system [92], [93]. The overall scheme of this extended to a full HVDC system, hence the robustness of this
controller is shown in Fig. 31. method is yet to be proven. This method can also be applied to

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TABLE 1. Comparative analysis of various control strategies.

different control strategies, for instance, direct power control V. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
topologies etc. A detailed comparative study of all the control Even though VSC has been dominant to conventional
strategies is presented in Table 1. LCC type converter, there are several shortcomings that need

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to be addressed. Firstly, grid interaction stability issue such inter-harmonics can be more difficult than harmonics. The
as angle and voltage stability limitations of VSC-HVDC. frequencies in inter-harmonics are not integer multiple of
Secondly, the limitation of the converter like the maximum the fundamental frequency, and the magnitude of voltage
current and voltage restrictions of the power converter. These waveform might fluctuate even in the condition of waveform
limitations need to be considered in designing an efficient distortions [103].
controller of VSC-HVDC system. Besides, the selection of
controller parameters is also a critical aspect of a controller VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
design as it will affect the system behavior. Inappropriate A comprehensive review of the different control strategies
parameter selection might lead to system instability. More- of VSC based HVDC is carried out. From the discussion
over, there are many problems that could possibly occur when on the various controllers of VSC-HVDC in section IV,
VSC-HVDC is interconnected to a weak AC network. it can be concluded that controller of HVDC transmission
system is open or flexible that it is not merely depends
A. HIGH DYNAMIC OVERVOLTAGE on protection scheme like a HVAC system. The design of
When there is an interruption in DC power transfer, reactive HVDC is improved with the applications of the VSC and the
power absorption by converter will drop to zero. Then, the appropriate selection of control parameters. The very basic of
AC voltage will be increased due to the shunt capacitor and VSC-HVDC control is voltage controller method, however,
harmonic filter. This will require high insulation of equipment the independent control of active and reactive power cannot
in the system, otherwise, this equipment will possibly be be achieved with this method. This has been overcome by
damaged because of this overvoltage [56], [65]. the VCC method, nevertheless, it cannot be applied to the
VSC-HVDC connected to weak AC network. Thus, an
B. VOLTAGE INSTABILITY advanced VCC is used to enhance the outer loop control as
In this scenario, direct current will be increased in order to well as PSC that eliminates the dependency on PLL.
restore the system to scheduled power. Consequently, firing Hence, the synchronization of VSC-HVDC is improved
angle at inverter will also increase to maintain the com- when connected to a weak AC network. Other than interfac-
mutation margin. Reactive power drawn by the inverter is ing with weak AC system, VSC-HVDC can also be applied
increased, however reactive power produced by the shunt in offshore wind farm application and voltage droop control
capacitor is low. This will cause AC voltage to drop yielding with the deployment of adaptive back stepping controller.
towards voltage fall [12], [56], [63]. The adaptive back stepping controller can reduce maximum
voltage rise and minimum voltage drop during a fault condi-
C. HARMONIC RESONANCE tion, thus voltage output is restored with the reduced settling
Harmonic resonance might come from parallel resonance time. The fuzzy adaptive PI controller is suitable for passive
at shunt capacitor and harmonic filters, also when the network application. HMIDC consists of both LCC and VSC
AC system operates at lower harmonics. The conversion which enhances the power control flexibility.
process at the converter station becomes more difficult with Apart from the design of the controller, an appropri-
the increasing demand of capacity link concerning to the ate selection of controller parameters is very important
increasing short circuit capacity at the commutating bus. in enhancing the stability of the VSC-HVDC transmis-
Since the converter produces harmonics in current on the sion system. Considering this, different optimization algo-
AC side and harmonics in voltage on the DC side, harmon- rithms based PI controller is designed to determine the best
ics generated by the DC link is also increased when the PI parameters as well as to improve the VSC-HVDC perfor-
DC power transmission is increased [94]–[96]. On top of that, mance. However, the cost of VSC becomes higher because of
the interaction between AC and DC in the converter station the installation of these controllers. Furthermore, the proba-
also generates small amounts of uncharacteristic harmonics bility to have commutation loss is high. VSC is capable to
even though an equidistant pulse firing scheme is in use. handle the limited voltage and power levels. Therefore, it is
It becomes worse when these uncharacteristic harmonics are recommended that further research on VSC-HVDC perfor-
injected into poorly damped resonant networks which will mance at various levels of voltage and power needs to be
make the operating condition of the HV DC/AC system more conducted.
difficult [97], [98]. If there is a DC side series resonance at the
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