Cepsi 2006
Cepsi 2006
Cepsi 2006
Keywords—800 kV HVDC, Bulk power transmission, Converter stations, HVDC, HVDC External insulation, HVDC reliability,
HVDC Equipment, HVDC Systems, HVDC transmission economy, Insulation coordination, UHVDC
Authors
U. Åström ABB Sweden
V. F. Lescale ABB Sweden
Abstract--The use of Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC), i.e. voltages above the highest in use, 600 kV, has been found to
be economically attractive for power blocks up to 6400 MW for distances above 1000 km. Several utilities in China, India and Brazil
are at present planning for the use of 800 kV as transmission voltage. In order to meet the demands, ABB has been running an R&D
program with the goal to develop and test equipment needed for 800 kV HVDC. The R&D work has focused on equipment connected
to the pole voltage, with special attention to converter transformers, bushings and external insulation. Due to the large amount of
power transmitted by these transmission systems, special attention must be given to reliability and availability. Thus a thorough review
of equipment, station layout, control and protection and auxiliary systems has been done.
I. INTRODUCTION
Worldwide there is an increasing interest in the application of HVDC at voltage levels above what is presently used. The main
reason is that most of the hydro power resources that are within convenient distance to the consumer centers have been exploited
by now, and in order to meet the increasing demand for clean, renewable energy, remote hydro generation plants are built. This
asks for efficient means for long distance, bulk power transmission, a typical scenario is 6000 MW to be transmitted 2000-3000
km.
In India hydropower generated at the Bramaputra River Basin in the North- Eastern regionwill have to be transmitted to the
region around New Delhi and also to the southern part of the country where the power is needed. In this case, also the
geographical restrictions ask for a very narrow right of way. See Fig. 2.
In China, after completion of the hydro power plant at Three Gorges, hydro resources further west are under development,
like in Jinsha River 1000-2000 km from the load centers. Also, one 800 kV DC connection is planned to connect the Yunnan
grid with Guangdong, distance 1500 km.
In Africa there is a great potential for power production at the basin of the Congo River near the location of Inga. Part of the
power is planned to be transmitted to South Africa
In Brazil vast hydropower resources exist in the Amazon region, while the power consumer centers are located along the
eastern coast.
The driving force to increase the voltage is of course the economy, but also the desire to limit the environmental impact. In
several investigations that have been carried out in the past, the common conclusion has been that for these big amounts of power
and long distances the use of 800 kV HVDC is the most economical solution. [1], [2].
The total cost for a HVDC transmission system is composed of the investment in converter stations and line and the
capitalized value of the losses. For a given power the cost for the stations increases with the voltage, while the line has a
minimum combined cost at a certain voltage.
A comparison of the total cost for transmitting 6400 MW over 1800 km at 800 kV AC, 800 kV DC and 600 kV DC has been
done. 1400 USD/kW has been applied when calculating the value of the losses. The result is that 800 kV DC is the most cost
effective alternative because of higher line capacity and lower line losses. The total cost for the 800 kV alternative is 25 % lower
than for 600 kV, see Fig. 1.
The environmental impact for transmission of 18000 MW is compared for different transmission alternatives, AC and DC at
different voltage levels, see Fig 2. It is obvious, that 800 kV HVDC is a very attractive alternative, compared with 800 kV AC
due to the reduced need for transmission lines and the reduced Right-Of-Way.
Several aspects of 800 kV HVDC that have been discussed earlier [3] will not be repeated in this text.
2
2000
1000 !
"
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 !
Percent line losses
800 kV AC 600 kV DC 800 kV DC
The authors HVDC group is therefore in the middle of an analysis and synthesis process. The different phenomena that have in
the past caused disturbances or trips, and at the same time, the different subsystems are being carefully considered in light of the
new requirements. One of the keywords is separation: between converter groups, and even more stringently, between poles. The
two poles in each station are regarded as practically two stations that happen to be neighbors.
The review process mentioned above is covering the main following areas:
A. HVDC Line faults
Of course, a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and the converter stations as well as the transmission line have to be
investigated. The scope of this paper is limited to the converter stations, but some considerations on HVDC lines are in order
here. The frequency of line faults is dependent on the length of the line. Bipolar faults can occur e.g. at tower failures or due to
icing and wind at extreme weather conditions, but are rare. The majority of the pole line faults are cleared easily within some
periods by retarding and restart. During the retard time the healthy pole compensates the power loss on the failing pole. At rare
occasions the line will stay tripped for longer periods, and will recover within a few hours. The time needed for dead line
maintenance will be added to the line unavailability.
For some DC systems special arrangements have been done to increase the power availability. In the Inga-Shaba HVDC
project, the two converters in the bipole can be paralleled and the power can be transmitted on one pole line. Switching stations
along the line allow for continued transmission even for simultaneous line faults on different segments along the line. For the
Itaipú HVDC project, with two bipoles, the converters can be connected in parallel to one bipole, in order to minimize the loss of
power at bipole line outage.
B. Converter configuration/station layout
The configuration of the HVDC main circuit has been carefully analyzed,. The large total transmitted powers make it necessary
to split the system into modules. This is necessary from the point of view of transformers, but also from the point of view of the
impact an outage will have on the host system. For example, a pole configuration, with two converter groups in series or in
parallel halves the power loss upon loss of a converter group, and with adequate switchgear, ensures that a group outage will not
result in a pole outage.
Figure 3 illustrates the different transmission power levels that can be handled with different configurations.
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= 6-pulse group
A parallel configuration will have a higher cost than a series configuration, since part of the insulation cost of the groups is
independent of the power, However, such configuration gives additional flexibility in terms of geographical location of the two
converter bipoles. Additionally, if there’s uncertainty as to when the full power will be needed, the transmission losses during a
half-power stage will be lower.
In addition to the converter configuration, special attention has been devoted to the dc neutral. It is usually regarded as one
electrical point, and is electrically common to both poles, but it is also a potential source for bipolar trips. The neutral circuit
configuration has to provide separable neutrals, allow for maintenance, and, even more important, it has to ensure faults can be
detected and cleared independently on each pole, even in normal operation, when the neutral has no voltage.
The ac switchyard and configuration is also under scrutiny. Again, a very important aspect in the considerations is avoiding
single or even double failures that can cause bipole outages.
C. Control and protection
A very important aspect has to do with ac system faults close to the inverter station: If an ac fault is close enough to the station,
it causes commutation failures in the converters. It is essential that the converters will not block for such events, else, the HVDC
power will not be restored when the fault is cleared. The valves produced by the author’s group have a firing system capable of
operation as soon as the ac system has enough voltage for the thyristors to start conducting, even if the voltage was zero for a
very long time before that, and the valve control system can resume operation in less than a microsecond. This ensures that this
requirement is fulfilled, and thus needs no new considerations.
The structure of the present control and protection system, is being revised, reflecting the different requirements on reliability
and availability and also the pole configuration. It is envisaged that, in the new control structure, the two poles will be totally
independent and that the groups in each pole will have a minimum of interactions. Ideally, the bipole should be built as two
separate monoples. This should also be applied for the AC-yard and DC neutral configurations, with possibility to entirely
disconnect the areas that are needed for each separate pole.
The philosophy of the transducers feeding the control and protection system is also being scrutinized, as is the routing of the
cables feeding signals in, and actions out.
D. Auxiliary systems
Station service power is being restructured, with proper separation between the associated poles and converter groups, and
proper management of incoming supplies via the circuit configurations and control and protection. The physical power cable
routing is also under scrutiny and rules are being defined.
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The valve cooling systems are also being provided with proper separation between poles and converter groups: one cooling
system per 12-pulse group, and with attention against human errors.
In the fire protection systems the main areas of review have to do with ensuring secure yet reliable sensing, and with the actions
the protective systems can cause, directly and secondarily.
III. EQUIPMENT DEVELOPMENT
A. General
In this section a summary of the R&D status, early June 2006, of the different 800 kV HVDC apparatus is presented. Since the
main focus for 800 kV development has been on converter transformers, bushings and external insulation, also these issues are in
focus for this presentation
The equipment affected by the increased voltage level is of course limited to apparatus connected to the pole bus, such as
converter transformers, wall bushings, thyristor valves, DC-voltage divider etc. The main part of the equipment within the
converter station is not exposed to DC, such as AC yard apparatus, control and protection and auxiliary systems. The most
significant difference between equipment for HVDC compared with equipment for HVAC is the need for proper DC grading.
When applicable, HVDC equipment is built up by modules where each module is provided with a proper resistive voltage
grading resistor as well as an AC/transient grading capacitor. With a proper voltage grading, the voltage stress in the modules
will be the same, regardless the module is part of an 800 kV apparatus or a 500 kV apparatus. For oil/paper insulation systems
the situation is more complicated, since it is not possible to arrange the DC grading with physical resistors, the DC grading must
be secured by other measures.
For outdoor equipment exposed to pollution and rain/fog, the coordination between the internal and external voltage grading is
an important issue. Bad coordination can result in damage of the insulators due to radial voltage stress.
B. Test levels
For 800kVDC stations, the basic ideas for insulation coordination are the same as those applied for lower voltages; i.e. to have
equipment with withstand characteristics above the expected stresses. Then, as is normal in medium or high voltage, the expected
stresses are controlled by a combination of arresters and shielding. The difference for 800kVDC is that it is economically
beneficial to control the expected stresses to an even higher degree, and to revise the steps leading from the expected stresses to
the desirable insulation withstand; i.e. the insulation margins.
One has to remember that both aspects aim at improving the economy of a given system. Too loose control results in costly
equipment, and too tight control results in costly arrester schemes and shielding. There is a human factor also: Adding margins
may save some engineering costs. However, for 800kVDC, mainly due to the high non-linearity in the relationship between
withstand and necessary clearances, the savings in engineering are far outweighed by the savings in equipment by a judicious
choice and application of margins
Insulation coordination studies has been performed for the dc side of an 800kV HVDC transmission system, by different
institutions, including ABB. The data for the system has been assumed based on the best available estimates, with regard to
preliminary design of the equipment expected for such an installation. Further, as the study progressed, it became apparent that
one fine adjustments to the configuration would yield significant benefits: Splitting the smoothing reactor function in two equal
inductances, one at the neutral, and one at the pole.
The different studies performed for series connected converters end up with very similar results, and the test levels used for
design of the 800 kV equipment are summarized in the table below:
C. Station insulators
It has been found that all outdoor insulation in the DC-yard, including post insulators for air core smoothing reactors, can be
done by using composite insulators. This has been verified by seismic studies of the different apparatus. This means, that by
utilizing the water repellant properties of composite insulators, the total height of the 800 kV insulators will be about the same as
what is used for 500 kV porcelain insulators for outdoor design and moderate pollution.
D. Converter transformers
Since resistivity of oil and paper vary with temperature
As has been described above, for most equipment real and aging, also the voltage grading will vary. Thus the
resistors takes care of the DC grading. This is not the case voltage distribution must be calculated for several different
for the insulation inside the converter transformers. The conditions, in order to ensure that the design will also be
insulation system in the transformers is built up by a system adequate at the worst possible combination of parameters.
of oil and paper, and thus the resistivity of these materials
will determine the DC- grading, in the same way as the
dielectric permittivity will give the transient voltage
distribution.
Furthermore, the resistivity of the media is time dependent. The electric conduction in oil is done by electrons as well as by
ions. When a DC field is applied across an oil gap, the ions will be drained out after some time, and thus the resistivity will
change. Thus, to be able to calculate the actual stresses and time constants during polarity reversal for example, a calculation
model including the ion conduction must be used. Such a calculation tool has been developed by ABB and is used for converter
transformer design [4].
A simplified transformer prototype has been manufactured, including all the insulation details for an 800 kV converter
transformer. The transformer prototype has been tested (See Fig. 4):
• DC withstand 1250 kV
• AC withstand 900 kV
The tests were successfully passed.
E. Transformer bushing
The transformer bushings are of the same design as in the installations of recent HVDC projects. The main insulation on the
valve hall side is obtained by gas, while the interface to the transformer is a capacitive core. The insulator on the air side is a
hollow composite design increasing the overall mechanical strength. The general design is used for projects up to 500kV. Since
the grading of a bushing is arranged both axially and radially, and the resistivities of the materials govern the field distribution,
one of the important challenges when increasing the size is to keep the internal and external field stresses balanced for a large
number of operational conditions. The design for 800kVdc is thus based on known materials and concepts having thorough
experience from the field.
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A prototype of the transformer bushing for the highest 6-pulse group has been produced, Fig. 5, and the initial testing done so
far is:
• DC withstand 1456 kV
• AC withstand 1032 kV
The complete type and routine test of transformer bushing together with the transformer prototype is planned to be completed
within short.
F. Wall bushings
The design and manufacturing of the 800 kV wall bushing is completed, the bushing has passed the pressure testing and the
dielectric testing will start within short.
G. Miscellaneous pole equipment
The status for the prototypes for the remaining equipment is summarized as:
• Pole arrester: Design and manufacturing completed, RI testing completed
• RI capacitor: Design completed, manufacturing ongoing
• Pole disconnector: design completed, development tests completed, manufacturing ongoing
• Voltage divider: Design completed, manufacturing ongoing
• By pass breaker: Design completed, manufacturing ongoing
The equipment as above will be delivered during the summer 2006 to be installed in a long term test circuit at STRI, Ludvika.
The civil works for the test circuit is ongoing, and the test operation is planned to start during autumn 2006
1. Transformer prototype
2. Wall bushing
3. Optical current transducer
4. Voltage divider
5. Pole arrester
6. Smoothing reactor prototype
7. RI Capacitor
8. Disconnector
9. Voltage divider, test equipment
10. By pass breaker
11. Voltage divider, test equipment
12. Transformer, test equipment
V. STATION DESIGN
A. Valve halls
The most decisive factors for the design of the valve hall are if there are one or two 12-pulse bridges per pole, and whether to
use double valves or quadruple valves. All these combinations are possible for 800 kV, as long as size of the converter
transformers fit into the transport limitations. A valve hall with double valves will in principle look the same as in the Three
Gorges projects. However, quadruple valves give some advantages:
• The size of the valve hall can be significantly reduced, and thus the civil costs
• The number of valve suspension sections is halved, that also give savings in costs.
For the alternative with two 12-pulse bridges in series per pole, with double valves, the space factor for the high voltage group
will be very low, since 7-8 m clearance is needed for 800 kV DC, and similar clearance will be needed at the 600kVDC six-pulse
side, also the thyristor valves will be quite small since the voltage across the 12 pulse group is only 400 kV, compared with 500
kV for the Three Gorges projects. Also, a new compact thyristor module suitable for 6” thyristors that is 50% more compact has
been developed.
In order to keep the transport dimensions within acceptable limits, single phase two winding transformers is the only realistic
alternative for a 6000 MW converter, and the converter should be split up in two 12-pulse bridges per pole, either connected in
series or in parallel. Using quadruple valves, this means that the converter transformers should preferably be installed on both
sides of the valve hall in order to simplify the bus bar arrangement inside the valve hall.
A proposed valve hall arrangement utilizing quadruple valves and series connected 12-pulse bridges is presented in Fig. 7. This
layout also gives very good separation between different poles and between converter groups, as is recommended due to the high
reliability requirements. A very similar arrangement of each valve hall can of course be used with the 12-pulse bridges connected
in parallel.
The size of the converter area with this layout is approximately 380x145 m.
An alternative layout is presented in Fig. 8, showing a converter station for 800 kV, 3000 MW, using double valves. This
layout is very similar to the what has been used for the Three Gorges 500 kV HVDC projects, but upscaled due to the higher
DC-voltage. Two converter schemes like this, connected in parallel, will of course deliver 6000 MW. The size of the converter
area is approximately 200x150 m.
Pole 1 area
Pole 2 area
Fig 8. 800 kV converter with one 12-pulse group per pole with double
Fig 7. 800 kV 6000 MW converter with two 12-pulse groups per pole valves and transformers on one side of the valve hall
with quadruple valves and converter transformers on both sides of the
valve hall
B. Indoor DC yard
In areas with high pollution level, or in case there is a possible but uncertain future increase of pollution level, indoor DC yard
is an attractive alternative. If high specific creepage distance is required, it will result in very long insulators. The diameters of
the bus bars in an 800 kV DC yard need to be about 400 mm, and this means that the wind loads will be considerable. In case
seismic requirements are added on top of this, the mechanical stresses on the support and apparatus insulators will result in a
very elaborate design with two, or even three insulators in parallel. According to the investigations done so far, 10 m insulator
length will result in a quite conventional design, and still all expected mechanical requirements will be fulfilled. 10 m insulator
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length means about 50 mm/kV for composite insulators and about 37 mm/kV for porcelain insulators As a rule of thumb, in areas
with expected ESDD level 0.1 mg/cm2, indoor DC yard should be considered.
The experiences from the indoor DC yard at Zhenping converter station, the receiving end of the Three Gorges-Changzhou 500
kVDC transmission system, are very good.
For an indoor DC yard for 800 kV special arrangement must be done to handle the loss dissipation from the air core smoothing
reactors.
The buildings for the DC yard will have the dimensions LxWxH ~ 125x30x30 m. The expected extra cost is less than 1%,
thanks to the savings in equipment and the elimination of additional support insulators.
C. Audible noise
To limit the environmental impact of installations in general has become more and more important in later years. For converter
stations the limitation of audible nose has become a key issue. Thus ABB has spent a lot of R&D to meet the strict requirements
that are given in the specifications. It is very important that the correct requirements that must be met are presented at an early
stage, because this must be considered already at the design of the equipment and the converter station. Noise reduction efforts
as a retrofit usually show to be more costly and less efficient. In recent specifications 50 dB(A) maximum noise level at the site
boundary has been requested, and in order to meet this strict requirement several precautions are needed. It should be noted that
50 dB corresponds to the sound level in an ordinary office, and 45 dB corresponds to the background noise level in rural areas!
The higher voltage level does not mean that the noise level will increase, but the higher power to be transmitted does. For an 800
kV, 6400 MW converter station, the number of converter transformers will be twice the number of those in a 500 kV, 3000MW
station, thus the number of sound sources will be doubled. The total size if AC filters will be larger, roughly also twice the size.
This means that the sound generated will be about 3dB higher for a 6400 MW converter. In order to meet 50dB(A) at site
boundary, actions must be taken on most of the equipment:
• Converter transformers: All converter transformers must be boxed in, regardless of valve hall arrangement. Low
noise cooling fans must be used
• Smoothing reactors: Air core smoothing reactors should be provided with top- and bottom sound screens, unless they
are located indoors
• AC and DC filter capacitors: Acoustical damped filter capacitors should be used
• AC filter reactors: Filter reactors with low current density and careful mechanical design will need to be used. Sound
screens can be added
• Valve cooling/Air conditioning: Low noise fans should be used. If needed dampers can be added.
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VI. CONCLUSIONS
800 kV HVDC is economically attractive for bulk power transmission, 6000 MW, over long distances, 2000-2500 km. With
the present progress of R&D converter equipment for 800 kV HVDC will be qualified within short. With proper separation and
proper structure of the control and protection and auxiliary systems, the reliability and availability will be as good as, or even
better than, for converters at lower voltage.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] HVDC Converter Stations for Voltages Above 600 kV, EPRI EL-3892, Project 2115-4, Final report February 1985
[2] HVDC Converter Stations for Voltages Above ±600 kV, Cigré Working Group 14.32, December 2002
[3] Power Transmission with HVDC at Voltages Above 600 kV, Urban Åström, Lars Weimers, Victor Lescale and Gunnar
Asplund, 2005 IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution Conference & Exibition: Asia and PacificAugust 14-18, 2005
Dalian, China
[4] Uno Gäfvert, Albert Jakts, Christer Törnkvist and Lars Walfridssson, “ Electrical Field Distribution in Transformer Oil”,
IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation, Vol27 No. 3, June 1992
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
Urban Åström was born in Njurunda , Sweden 1946. He received his M.Sc degree in physical engineering from the university of
Uppsala , Sweden 1973. In 1974 he joined ABB´s HVDC department and has worked with design, development and testing of control
equipment, thyristor valves, valve cooling and converter transformers. From 1995 to 2000 he was manager of the
HVDC Converter Valve Development department, when he joined the Three Gorges- Changzhou project team as commissioning
manager. Since 2004 he has been manager for the 800 kV HVDC development project
urban.astrom@se.abb.com
Lyviksvägen 3
77180 Ludvika,
Sweden
Victor Lescale Victor F. Lescale was born in Mexico in 1944. Graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the University of Mexico 1966. He
has more than 30 years of engineering experience, in, among other fields, protection relays and control, high and extra high voltage
installation commissioning, power system planning, special projects, HVDC control, HVDC system design, and in international HVDC
project engineering and management.
victor.lescale@se.abb.com
Lyviksvägen 3
77180 Ludvika
Sweden