Submarine Power Transmission

Vahan Gevorgian, NREL Clinton T. Hedrington, VIWAPA June 15-16, 2010 St. Thomas, USVI

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History of Submarine Power Transmission Submarine power transmission has been around for more than a century.
Early usesisolated offshore facilities, lighthouses, etc. Mid 20th centurypower supply of near-shore islands Since 1960sconnection of autonomous grids for better stability and resource utilization, LCC HVDC Modern daysoffshore wind, longer-distance power transmission, network interconnections, increased number of islands connected to mainland grid, HVDC light, etc.
Mercury Arc Valves (Source: Wikipedia)

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Submarine Transmission Links

North America TransBay, CA (HVDC, 53 mi, 600 MW, $450 M), Siemens Vancouver Island, Canada (DC and AC) NJ to Long Island (HVDC, 50 mi, 660 MW) CT to Long Island (HVDC, 25 mi, 330 MW), ABB
Existing Under Construction Conceptual

Europe

Rest of the world Japaninterisland (50 km HVDC) Philippinesinterisland (21 km HVDC) New Zealandinterisland (40 km, HVDC) AustraliaTasmania (290 km, HVDC) S. KoreaCheju Island (100 km, HVDC)

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HVAC vs. HVDC

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HVDC Advantages Advantages

Long-distance transmission with lower costs and losses No high-capacitance effect on DC (no reactive losses) More power per conductor, no skin effect, 2 conductors only Connecting unsynchronized grids, rapid power flow control Buffer for some disturbances, stabilization of power flows Multiterminal operation Good for weaker grids Helps in integrating large amounts of variable generation

Disadvantages
High cost of power converters Complexity of control, communications, etc. Maintenance cost higher than for AC; spare parts needed HVDC circuit breakers reliability issue
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Submarine Cable Technologies

Major submarine cable suppliers: ABB, Prysmian, Nexans, Sumitomo, Fujikura Extruded XLPE cables for AC - 420 kV, 1000 MW

Source: Prysmian

Source: ABB

Extruded cables for DC VSC technology (HVDC light) - 300 kV, 1000MW Mass impregnated paper cables for DC - 600kV, 2000MW bi-pole HVDC ultra deep technology 1600 m (2000m possible)

Source: ABB

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Causes of Submarine Cable Damages

Suspensions 5% Cableship activities 1% Earthquakes 3% Fish bite 2% Dredging / Drilling 1%

Others 18%

CIGRE Investigation - 2009

Fishing 52%

Anchors 18%

7000 circuit km of submarine power cables 49 faults reported during 1990-2005 Only 4 faults identified as internal

Source: Submarine Power Cables by Thomas Worzyk, Springer, 2009 (page 212)

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Oahu Wind Integration and Transmission Study (OWITS)

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Oahu Wind Integration and Transmission Study Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI)October 2008
Multiyear initiative 70% clean energy by 2030 (40% by renewables) Agreement between state of Hawaii and HECO
400 MW wind from Lanai and/or Molokai to Oahu (Stage 1) 100 MW of Oahu on-island wind (Stage 2)

OWITS studies in support of HCEI and HECOFY09/10

Project Management/Steering Technical Review Committee (TRC)

GE Integration Study (HECO, DOE co-funded)

EPS Transient Study (HECO funded)

Supporting Data

Electranix Cable Study (DOE funded)

AWS Truewind and NREL wind and solar data HECO study of generator flexibility
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Inputs to OWITS Cable Study

Potential cable landing points and interisland routes have been identified in Ocean Floor Survey Report (DBEDT) Maximum water deptharound 800 m Sending and receiving end voltages138 kV PSSE load flow data from HECO Information from cable manufacturers Electranix expertise in HVDC technology

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OWITS Option Screening Methodology

18 options analyzed (AC, DC or combination of both)

Costs (HVAC)
AC cables AC substations Sea/land cable transition Fixed compensation reactors Other components

Costs (HVDC)
DC cables DC converter stations Sea/land cable transition Other components DC losses (20 years)

Only 6 selected for detailed simulation (AC and DC) and RFQ

AC losses (20 years)

Total HVAC cost

Koolau 200 MW Symmetrical Monopole

Total HVDC cost

Molokai 200 MW

Stage 1 200 MW Pole Lanai Maui 200 MW Iwilei 200 MW Pole - Stage 2
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HVAC Simulations

138 kV bus

Operation due Spontaneous breaker-open 70 mile AC to overvoltage operation undersea cable protection

34.5 kV bus

600 V bus

230 kV Bus

230 kV bus Sending end

200 MW of wind turbines

Receiving end

Fiberoptic link

230 kV / 733 A three-core XLPE cable

Not practical for 800m water depths due to heavy weight

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HVDC Simulations
LVRT/HVRT limits Voltage (pu)
Detailed models of VSC in PSCAD Traditional control strategy Sending endfrequency and AC voltage control Receiving endAC reactive power DC bus voltage control Contingency and protection scenarios simulations

Time (sec)

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OWTIS Budget Pricing Analysis

Requests were sent to Prysmian, Areva, Siemens, ABB, Sumitomo, Nexans, etc. 200 MW, 40 mi AC 200 MW, 40 mi DCmonopole

Almost same capital cost

3% ($10 M) more losses over 20 years

Final report goes public in July 2010. Contains conclusions, detailed cost and technical analysis for all preferred options.
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OWITS Future Detailed Simulations

More detailed study is needed for wind farm/VSC converter interactions Impact of turbines types on proposed cable system Possibility of wind farms to provide inertial response to the system Type 3partially rated power converter

Type 4fully rated power converter

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Cable Study for USVI Submarine Transmission

Peak loads: 88 MWSTT, 52 MWSTX Transmission voltage: 34.5kVSTT No short undersea route between STT and STX PREPA5.8 GW generating capacity/3.6 GW peak load 50 mi

80100 mi to stay above 2,000 m depths

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USVI Cable StudyNecessary Steps

Determine power capacity of Puerto Rico-USVI interconnect (several scenarios possible) Identify potential landing points, study existing infrastructure on both ends Environmental evaluation (routes, cable burial, sea/land transitions, etc.) Identify candidate cable configurations Examine capital costs, losses and reliability for HVDC and AC options Perform detailed technical evaluation and modeling of preferred options (PSCAD) Protection, control strategy, synchronization LVRT, severe contingency disturbances, impact on frequency, voltage stability Impact of faults on grids at both ends of the cable Impact of high penetration variable generation on cable operation Communications between both cable ends Requests for budgetary price estimates from manufacturers Final evaluations, report, RFQs
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USVI Cable StudyNecessary Steps

Studies can be done by WAPA/NREL team, or by a consultant Significant involvement from PREPA is necessary Models of WAPA and PREPA grids are needed (PSLF or PSSE) Results of cable study can be used by other working groups Future cost of energy Regulation/reserves Impacts on possible energy storage studies

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Questions?

Source: www.nexans.com

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