1

Technology and Development of 800 kV HVDC Applications

M. HAEUSLER H. HUANG V. RAMASWAMI D. KUMAR
Transgridsolutions Inc. Winnipeg, Canada

Siemens AG, Power Transmission and Distribution 91056 Erlangen, Germany KEYWORDS UHVDC, Equipment Design and Testing, Converter Station ABSTRACT

Bulk Power HVDC transmission schemes over distances of up to 2000 km are currently under planning for various large hydropower stations in India and China. Ultra high dc voltage (UHVDC) up to 800 kV is the preferred dc voltage level for these applications. Currently world-wide existing HVDC schemes are limited to maximum voltage levels of 500 kV to 600 kV. Therefore, the impact of increased steady state and transient voltage stresses on the design of the main equipment for UHVDC stations has to be carefully investigated. This paper focuses on specific design aspects for key UHVDC equipment and system to be taken into consideration. The state of art of HVDC equipment technology and its application in UHVDC system are described and discussed in detail along with some examples from research and development works. UHVDC APPLICATIONS In the last decades many HVDC projects have been realized for power rating of 2000 3000 MW at 500 kV voltage levels. The first HVDC project with voltage above 500 kV, the Cahora-Bassa between Mosambique and South Africa (533 kV, 1920 MW), was built almost 30 years ago. The second HVDC project with voltage above 500 kV, constructed about 20 year ago, is the Itaipu HVDC project (600 kV, 3150 MW). Several UHVDC projects, with preferred operating voltage in the range 750-800 kV have been identified in China and India with power transmission requirements up to about 6400 MW over a single bipolar dc line. The length of dc line may be up to 2000 km and even more. The motivations for choosing UHVDC are very similar to the ones for HVDC projects and are briefly outlined here: Reduction of overall project cost compared to alternatives such as UHVAC Transmitting power from remote hydro / thermal power stations over long lines where maintaining stable transmission may be difficult over long ac lines. Conservation of right of way for transmission lines. Transmission of bulk power from narrow restricted right of way. Controlled transmission of power with perhaps preplanned matching with expected load cycles. Supporting the grid through frequency control and power modulation. Transmission of power across asynchronous power systems. Capability to provide flexible VAR support. The feasibility of UHVDC up to 800 kV has also been conducted by the international organizations such as IEEE and Cigre [1, 2]. All these working groups reported that the UHVDC system is technically feasible with some research and development efforts in few key areas.

2 2.0 UHVDC PROJECT CONFIGURATIONS Limits of equipment and comparison of series parallel configurations The design for UHVDC projects would follow several practices established for the existing HVDC projects of rating 3000 MW. However, as the power rating of a project is increased, some limit on equipment / devices may reach, thereby requiring change in the one 12 pulse bridge configuration per pole of a common bipolar HVDC system. By the term configuration here is meant number of twelve pulse bridges per pole, series / parallel connections of twelve pulse bridges, type of converter transformer, number of poles etc. Simple single line diagrams for basic configurations are shown at Figures-1 to 3. It may be noted that in these figures only single phase two winding converter transformers are shown as these are the most likely type to be employed for UHVDC projects. In addition to the reasons on account of limits of equipment and devices within HVDC project, the project configuration may also be influenced by a need for stage wise development of a project, connected ac system limitations or environmental, location based conditions.
12 pulse group

To the other pole

Figure-1: Single twelve pulse group per pole

DC Filter

12 pulse group

To the other pole

Figure 2: Two twelve pulse groups in series

DC Filter

12 pulse group

Figure-3: Two twelve pulse groups in parallel

DC Filter

To the other pole

3 Limits due to transformer With increase in the rating of the project, the most likely reason for adopting two twelve pulse groups per pole would be the weight or size of converter transformer which may reach to values that it is no longer feasible to transport the converter transformer to the destined site. For a project of 4000 MW transmission capacity under bipolar mode, the size of even a single phase two winding transformer is about 394 MVA. This transformer may be about 12x4.5x5 meter, weighing around 400 tons and might already be approaching the limits of transportation, which would depend upon the specific location of the converter terminals and influenced by the strengths o f bridges en route, limits of roads and rails etc. Limits due to thyristor A UHVDC project is generally required to meet steady state as well as overload conditions as determined by planners. The employed thyristors must be able to meet these conditions. With the present day capacity of about 4 kA for thyristors the overload capacity is not a problem even with series connected valves of about 6000 MW capacity bipolar project which has a rated current of 3.75 amps at 800 kV. With higher rating projects or lower rated voltage a parallel arrangement of bridges or a use of bigger diameter thyristor may be considered. Comparison of Series / Parallel arrangement When the need for two twelve pulse groups arise, generally the series group may tend to be adopted mainly because the series groups maintain balance in the two pole currents even during an outage of a series group and hence there are potentially no ground currents when one of the two series groups is out. In case of parallel groups the current in a pole is the addition of currents in each group, and hence, on outage of a group there would be an unbalance in the two pole currents giving rise to ground currents. With parallel groups, the currents in each group is only half of the pole current and there would be sufficient overload capacity left in the thyristor for the maximum size of projects under consideration. Therefore very high capacity links may find application of parallel groups on account of current rating of thyristors. On outage of group, the line losses would be considerably lower in case of a parallel group as compared to series group under similar outage, on account of fact that the pole current reduces to half in case of a parallel group outage. The parallel groups are highly adaptable to stage wise development. The parallel groups can easily be added to an existing pole with minimum of disturbance during commissioning. With parallel groups each group can easily be located at different places far from each other as per requirement or to reduce the cost of ac transmission system that connects at either end of the transmission for collecting and delivering power at different locations in the grid. This may have several system related advantages with regard to maintaining voltage profile, reliability, stability etc. From the discussion above it is seen that the operating voltage, current and configuration of a project will be strongly influenced by the amount of power that has to be transmitted, location and the connected ac systems. FOCAL POINTS The major focal points for a UHVDC project briefly discussed in the following sections are: System Integration Insulation Coordination Converter Transformer and Bushings Wall Bushings DC Yard Equipment

4 System Integration Due to the large amount of real and reactive powers associated with UHVDC projects each of the following aspects needs to be examined in detail and ensured: 1. the sending and receiving ac systems have adequate (transmission) capacity, taking into considerations the outage criteria of the system planner. 2. there is an adequate effective short circuit ratio for operation up to overload levels and under the outage conditions in the ac network. Strategies to cope with abnormal situations where effective short circuit ratio may reduce below at which project is designed. 3. suitable reactive power support under steady state and dynamic conditions. 4. ensure voltage / power stability under all operating conditions. Steady state, temporary and transient overvoltages beyond the specified values be avoided under unexpected conditions and following faults. 5. avoid low order resonance under all conditions such as maximum allowed reactive power support and low short circuit level conditions 6. for multi infeed HVDC configurations possibilities of any adverse i nteractions among HVDC or actively controlled projects should be examined and avoided. 7. system stability must be maintained for a group / pole outage as per specifications. System stability is also to be maintained following specified disturbances, faults and outages in the ac system. Insulation Coordination With respect to the UHVDC projects it would be important to reduce the size of equipment to the extent possible so that mechanical duties and costs are reduced and reliability is increased. This can be achieved by controlling the steady state, temporary, transient and lightning overvoltages with the help of system design, control systems, operating logic and arresters. The utilities have to play a major role in this by formulating a specification that is not overly pessimistic in assumptions about variations of system parameters such as short circuit levels and operating voltage range for determining the rating of equipment or for determining the overvoltages in the system. Similarly, it would be prudent to judiciously select the air clearances and creepage distances. Since the insulation withstand levels are directly dependent upon the protective levels provided by the arresters, the use of ZnO arresters would be very important to limit these overvoltages at precise levels for equipment such as converter transformers, smoothing reactors and valves. This may require placement of arresters near the valve side windings of converter transformer in the upper bridge or across smoothing reactors. An indicative placement of arresters for a series connected UHVDC scheme is shown below at Figure-7.

Figure 7: Placement of arresters in a series connected UHVDC scheme This scheme is basically similar to the existing HVDC scheme with an addition of arrester for the converter transformer secondary side connected to the high voltage dc side. The smoothing reactors have also been placed

5 on the neutral bus to reduce the ripples on dc voltage at the dc high voltage bus. The arresters shown across smoothing reactors are also not generally employed in normal HVDC schemes but are indicated here. Following insulation levels for dc equipment are expected. Table 2 : Expected Insulation Levels
Equipment / Location Transformer valve side, connected in the upper bridge Transformer Valve side, other in the upper bridge DC yard equipment, line side of smoothing reactor DC yard equipment, valve hall side of smoothing reactor Units kV kV kV kV SIWL 1600 1300 1600 1600 LIWL 1800 1550 1900 1800

External Insulation of the Equipment Designing equipment for correct external insulation means to take care of proper ? flash distances and ? creepage distances of the equipment housings. Flash distances Required flash distances determine the axial length of the equipment. Flash distances can be calculated fairly well based on the specified insulation levels for the equipment. For UHVDC equipment the switching impulse level will become the dimensioning factor. DC voltages are not decisive with respect to the flash distance. Corrections will be included for equipment to be installed at higher altitudes above sea level. Flash distances increase more than linearly with increasing switching impulse voltages. Finally the correct design will be verified by corresponding type tests of the equipment. Creepage distances As far as equipment will be installed outdoors the external insulation with respect to creepage distances is more complex compared to the flash distance as it severely depends on environmental and weather conditions, i.e. on the degree of pollution collected on the equipment and wetting conditions (rain, fog etc.) of the polluted housing surfaces. It must be accepted that pollution combined with wetting as it occurs under service conditions can hardly be determined for the purpose of test conditions. Artificial pollution tests as per the standards can only show the capability of a housing to cope electrically with a certain degree of completely wetted pollution. Another important role concerning the pollution flashover performance of housings is played by the shed profile of the insulators. From experience two types of shed forms should be taken into consideration for DC application which are the deep under-rib and the alternate shed profile. A decisive property of a shed profile is the ability to prevent wetting of the pollution, i.e. to maintain the effectiveness of the creepage distance on the surface as much as possible. Publications show that there is no straightforward advantage for one of the shed types. A well designed alternating shed profile can perform as good as a deep under-rib profile. The decisive understanding seems to be that an improvement in pollution performance cannot be achieved by only increasing the creepage distance without increasing the axial length of the housing. In other words: increasing the creepage distance by increasing only the overhang of the sheds and/or reducing the shed spacing is not effective. Hence, increasing the creepage distance must go coincidently with increasing the axial length of the housing. This shows that general rules to select the appropriate equipment housing in order to prevent external flashovers resulting from pollution and wetting conditions cannot be established. Site conditions, if available, with respect to amount of pollution collected on the housing and the ability of natural cleaning should be taken into consideration, as well. Such reflections are mainly applicable for porcelain type equipment housings. Alternative solutions are known and have to be looked at. From long-term experience with 500 kV DC outdoor equipment one alternative solution is housings with hydrophobic type of surfaces. The hydrophobic properties need not to be explained in detail here. Hydrophobicity is an intrinsic property of silicone rubber and is not achieved on any long term by additives or

6 surface treatment. Elements of the silicone rubber which cause hydrophobicity diffuse into contamination layers on the surface of the housing and thus are transferring this property to the contamination. A further advantage is that hydrophobic material prevents the formation of larger coherent wet zones on the surface under rain and humidity. This is an important precondition in order to maintain the effectiveness of the creepage distance against pollution flashovers. Silicone rubber housings having such advantages are available and successfully in service in DC stations since a very long time. From experience with existing projects the specific creepage distance of composite insulators can even be reduced by up to 25% compared to that of porcelain insulators. However, for some equipment porcelain type insulators are advantageous because of mechanical reasons. This refers to the support insulators in the DC yard and for air-insulated smoothing reactors and to the insulators of disconnect switches. Without taking remedy measures for such UHVDC equipment pollution flashovers cannot be excluded. Alternatives for improvement are needed. One possibility could be to coat the porcelain housings with hydrophobic material. This technology has been improved quite a lot in recent years. Yet, details need still to be verified especially the long-term behavior of the coating material. Another alternative for post insulators under investigation is in a very early stage. The idea is to use porcelain as core material providing sufficient mechanical strength and to equip this core with silicone rubber sheds, as it is done with composite housings (silicone rubber sheds on epoxy resin tube, mechanically reinforced with fiber glass). The method of booster sheds is also a well known possibility to improve the performance of porcelain insulators under DC stresses. As far as converter valves and associated equipment are concerned the design of creepage distance is not a problem as such equipment will be installed indoors in the converter valve hall like in the existing projects. The valve hall provides a controlled environment. For UHVDC equipment inside the valve hall the same specific creepage distance can be selected as for the existing 500 kV DC equipment. Consistent to this it seems reasonable to consider the installation of UHVDC yard equipment also indoors in a so-called DC hall. If this alternative is followed the DC hall has to be designed very thoroughly with the objective of achieving defined low pollution and humidity conditions inside the hall, conditions which do not depend on the outside environment. For indoor installation the specific creepage distance can be reduced to some extent compared to outdoor installation. Relative to existing equipment it can be stated that specific creepage distances neither for outdoor nor for indoor installation need not to be increased for UHVDC equipment in order to ensure safe performance against pollution flashovers. Furthermore, higher altitudes above sea level are no issue for the creepage distance. If the flash distance of the equipment is properly corrected with respect to the altitude above sea level influences of the altitude on the creepage distance, should any exist, will be covered. Converter Transformer and Transformer Bushings The operating conditions of HVDC converter transformer differ from conventional ac transformers in several ways such as presence of harmonic currents, possible small amount of dc currents, complex voltage waveform that has ac and dc components on the valve side windings, cleat leads and bushings having dc component stresses, stringent mechanical duties due to commutation process etc. Due to the combined ac and dc stresses the internal insulation system design comprise of considerable amount of paper insulation in addition to oil. The converter transformers may also have considerable duty on account of reactive power consumption by HVDC projects. As a result the size and weight of converter transformer is large compared to normal ac transformer of equivalent rating. The valve windings of the converter transformers connected with the upper six pulse group would see maximum rated dc voltage of transmission which may be +/- 800 kV plus the allowed tolerances. These windings may also see overvoltages originating from dc as well ac side. Thus the bushings, leads and winding insulation shall have to be rated for high voltage resulting in large dimensions for these equipment. It will be very important to uniformly distribute the steady state and transient voltage stresses across the insulation within the transformer and also in bushings.

Figure 4 : A two winding converter transformer for a +/- 500 kV dc project In line with the generally acceptable practice for modern high capacity projects dry type bushings with composite insulation are expected. Increased insulation levels in combination with larger rated power may lead to new solutions for the transformer design. A possible approach may be splitting up of the secondary windings and a new design of the connections between windings and bushings on the valve side as indicated in Figure-5. This part of the transformer will be crucial for its transportation data. As an example, transformer rating and preliminary shipping data for a system rating of 5000 MW with 800 kV DC are as follows: Table-1: Typical parameters transformer of 5000 MW rating
rating (MVA) length / width / height(m) weight (t) one 12p-group per pole 494 13.3 / 4.3 / 5.0 480

for

converter

UHVDC

two 12p-groups per pole 247 9.4 / 4.0 / 4.9 300

These data refer to the unit of the highest DC voltage level at the sending end; all other units of the system will not exceed such dimensions and weights. With respect to typical limits which might exist in case of railway transportation it is quite evident that improvement i s required especially as far as the transformer width is

Figure -5: Preliminary outline Drawing UHVDC Converter Transformer

8 concerned. If railway transportation is the only possibility, then in case of one 12-pulse group per pole arrangement additional investigations have to be done to achieve adequate transport conditions. Some important points that require attention in converter transformer are summarized below: to ensure uniform distribution of voltage for the leads taking into considerations the effects of harmonic currents and harmonic impedance to ensure that radial stress on components e.g. bushings is within the design limits under all operating conditions including the effects due to external pollution if these are exposed to atmosphere. achieve a balance between mechanical duties and electrical requirements. For example, the creepage distance should be chosen such that it meets the electrical requirements but does not result in unduly large mechanical dimensions. to manage external electrical stresses by proper design of electrode, shape of corona rings etc. the use of considerable paper insulation should not affect the thermal design of the transformer and proper cooling of all parts must be ensured. DC Wall Bushing Doubtless, the existing technology of wall bushings provides the best solution for UHVDC applications. Existing technology means composite housing with silicone rubber sheds for external insulation and internally with condenser core of oil-free resin impregnated paper and SF6 for insulation between core and inner surface of the housing. Both parts of the wall bushing, indoors and outdoors, are of the same design and are connected by means of a SF6 filled duct. This type of wall bushing is successfully in operation since more than 15 years under various pollution conditions. Figure-6 shows an outline drawing of a wall bushing as suitable for UHVDC applications. Figure 6: DC Wall Bushing Most important for this bushing technology is the appropriate coordination between internal and external insulation. The manufacturing capabilities in terms of length of housings and length of condenser cores play an important part in this context. Another area of concern with wall bushings is the mechanical stresses which needs thorough investigations. Further, it has been observed that the wall bushings require particular attention in their mounting since these are particularly prone to uneven wetting during rain which increases the risk of flashovers. For UHVDC projects, it would be necessary to check this aspect carefully with regard to the above mentioned radial stresses and probability of external flashover. The hydrophobic silicon material used for these bushings has proved to be is extremely effective in mitigating the problem of flashovers. Proper design of external clamps, connectors, corona rings etc would be essential. DC Switchyard Equipment The main DC yard equipment that would require special attention is the following: Smoothing Reactor Both, air- and oil-type smoothing reactors, have to be considered. Know-how and experience for both technologies are available. Oil-type Smoothing Reactor Two different arrangements are sown in Figure-8 and 9 for indoor and outdoor arrangements. For the outdoor part of this smoothing reactor bushing similar requirements as for the wall bushings regarding pollution conditions exist. Preliminary shipping data for a 300 mH, 800 kV smoothing reactor can be given as: length / width / height (m) 5.5 / 4.0 / 4.8 weight (t) 150.

Fig.-8: Oil-type Smoothing Reactor (Indoor)

Fig.-9: Oil-type Smoothing Reactor (Outdoor) Air-type Smoothing Reactor The operating dc current determines the largest smoothing reactor coil size which can be manufactured. As an example for a dc current of 3.3 kA a maximum coil size of approx. 100 mH is feasible. Fig.-10 shows the preliminary drawing of such an air-type smoothing reactor suitable for UHVDC application. The available technology and know-how for the coils of existing HVDC schemes can be fully used for UHVDC application. Assuming typical total smoothing reactor sizes of 250 to 350 mH a series connection of several coils might be needed as illustrated in Fig.-11. For reasons stated above parts of the coils might also be installed at the neutral bus. Porcelain support insulators are the main issues to be solved for air-type smoothing reactors.

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Fig.10: UHVDC Dry-type Smoothing Reactor Coil

Fig. 11: Example for Series Connection of Dry-Type Smoothing Reactor Coils DC Switchgear Disconnect Switch Disconnect switches are typically designed based on porcelain insulators specifically because of mechanical stresses resulting from operation. Such stresses are even increased if grounding switches are directly attached to the disconnect switch. However, designs based on composite insulators are currently under investigation. Fig.12 shows the preliminary drawing of an UHVDC double break disconnect switch.

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Fig. 12: UHVDC Double Break Disconnect Switch Bypass Switch If a transmission system consists of two 12-pulse groups per pole breakers and disconnect switches are needed for each 12-pulse group. In case of failures related to a 12-pulse group and its associated equipment this group can be by-passed with the other 12-pulse group of the pole still in operation. Regarding the disconnect switches needed for the by-pass operation the section above is relevant. The breaker to be used as bypass switch will be a proven standard AC breaker adapted for the DC application. It should be kept in mind that for the voltage-wise higher 12-pulse group the voltage between terminals is the group voltage whereas the voltage to ground is the UHVDC bus voltage. The steady state DC voltage capability between the terminals of the bypass switch, i. e. the DC voltage capability of the interrupting units is another very important subject which needs further investigation. This is part of the modification for DC application mentioned before. DC Yard Bus Work, Conductors In addition to current ratings of the diameters of dc bus work, conductors and their bundling would be influenced by operating voltage, corona, RI, audible noise, electric field considerations etc. CONCLUSIONS From above discussions general conclusions read as follows: The configuration of a UHVDC project would be decided from the rating and system considerations which influence converter transformer size and overload capability of the project From the main equipment point of view UHDC systems of up to 800 kV are technically feasible. In general UHVDC equipment can be designed and manufactured based on existing technology and know-how. For most of the station equipment only some or even no R&D is anticipated. However, converter transformers and bushings need more thorough R&D. External insulation of UHVDC equipment, especially for outdoor installation has been identified as one of the key issues. REFERENCES 1. HVDC Converter Stations for Voltages Above 600 kV, WG 14.32, CIGRE Publication, December 2002.

12 2. HVDC Converter Stations for Voltages Above 600 kV, - EPRI EL-3892-Project 2115-4 Final Report Feb 1985.

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF THE AUTHORS

Marcus Haeusler, born in 1966, received his Dipl.-Ing. Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1992. Since he joined Siemens AG in 1992, he has been working on HVDC system engineering for many HVDC projects world wide.

Ramaswami Velpanur, born in 1946 received his Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bangalore in 1969. He has been working in the HVDC field since 1980, first with Brown Boveri & Cie and then with Siemens

Hartmut Huang, born in 1963, received his Dipl.-Ing. degree and PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Braunschweig, Germany, in 1986 and 1992, respectively. Since he joined Siemens AG in 1992, he has been working on HVDC system engineering for many HVDC projects world wide. Currently he is manager of HVDC system engineering department at Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution Group.

Devinder Kumar, born 1958, received his B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi, in 1980. He joined NTPC, India in 1980 and later POWERGRID, India in 1990. Since 2005 he has been working with TransGrid Solutions Inc., Canada. He has worked on HVDC projects in the areas of planning, specification preparation, studies, and operation & main tenance.