High Voltage Direct Current (HDVC) Power Transmission

History
The development of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission systems has its
origins in the 1930s with the invention of mercury rectifiers. The first contract for a
commercial system was placed in 1941: 60 MW was to be supplied to the city of Berlin
through an underground cable of 115 km in length. The system was ready for operation in
1945; however, due to the end of the Second World War, the system never became
operational and was subsequently dismantled (Kim et al., 2009).
In HVDC and FACTS Controllers - Applications of Static Converters in Power Systems,
Sood (2004) states that HVDC technology was first used commercially in the 1950s in sub-
sea and long distance transmission networks, using converters with mercury arc valves; these
were common until the 1970s when line-commutated converters using thyristor valves were
introduced, which were themselves common until the subsequent introduction of Capacitor
Commutated Converters (CCC). According to Sood, these themselves will eventually be
replaced with, thyristor based, self-commutated converters due to the economic availability
of high-power switching devices with their superior characteristics (2004).

Rationale & applications
DC energy transmission is considered very desirable as the power loss in a DC line is less
than that in an equivalent AC line; as low as 3% per 1000km (Pittock, 2009), and the
environmental impact can be very low as well. This is due to the fact that the cables are able
to be buried beneath the ground, enabling vast networks to be hidden, meaning that it is more
feasible, and economically pleasing, to move electricity over vast distances, especially
between countries and continents. HVDC transmission can deliver electric power in ranges
typically upwards of 100 MW through to 3000 MW utilising overhead or under-ground/sea
lines or cable networks. However, to achieve this, high voltage/low current transmission is
required in order to avoid energy loss through heat dissipation, caused by electrical the
resistance to current flow in cable lines.
Typical HVDC applications include (ABB Ltd., 2012):
Long undersea cable links (> 50 km).



Long overhead lines (> 600 km).
Interconnection of different grids or networks.
Where control of transmitted power is of importance.
Combinations of the above.

Economics
Transmission costs include requirements for cabling, towers, conductors, insulators and
terminal equipment, as well as operational losses, although DC lines are capable of
transmitting power using two conductors, whereas an equivalent AC system requires three;
therefore DC line requirements are less expensive with regards to tower, conductor and
insulator costs (Sood, 2004). Right of Way (RoW) considerations are also reduced
significantly as the footprint of a DC tower is smaller (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Comparison of RoW for AC-DC transmission systems (Sood, 2004)
Traditionally, DC transmission was only economically viable over long distances and high
energy; this is because although DC transmission cabling is less expensive with lower losses
than AC lines, additional terminal equipment raises the costs making DC transmission
expensive over short distance.
As the technology involved has advanced, the break-even distance for the selection of HVDC
over HVAC point-to-point transmission has decreased. Some studies now indicated that the
distance is as low as 50 km to favour the HVDC technology (Delea and Casazza 2010);
whereas overhead lines break-even distances are said to vary between 400-700 km (Sood,
2004). Yet, progress in the development of thyristor valves has made HVDC interconnections
more competitive, and factors need to be considered when economically comparing AC and



DC system feasibility. Factors such as (Arrillaga et al., 2007):
Sub-marine cable charging current carrying capacity, limited for AC to under 50km
Ability to maintain synchronicity of systems in extreme conditions
Practicality of generation and frequency control
Synchronous interconnections exceeding fault levels of connected systems
All of these factors are avoidable when using DC transmission. There is no technical
limitation imposed on DC submarine cable; interconnected systems do not require
synchronism; power transfer is independent of impedance, phase angle, frequency and
voltage (Arrillaga et al., 2007).

System Components

Figure 5: (Bahrman & Johnson, 2007)
A basic HVDC system, as seen in Figure 5, contains the following components:
Converter Transformers
Thyristor valves are solid state semiconductors used to convert current between HVAC and
HVDC. There are two basic converter technologies in use within modern HVDC
transmission systems; these are conventional line-commutated current source converters
(CSCs) and self-commutated voltage source converters (VSCs) (Glover et al., 2008):
CSCs
Conventional HVDC transmission will typically use line commutated CSCs with thyristor
valves. These converters require a synchronous voltage source in order to operate. Each valve



is comprised of a suitable number of series-connected thyristors to achieve the desired DC
voltage (Glover et al., 2008).
VSCs
VSC based HVDC technology is a suitable solution for DC transmission systems through
underground or undersea DC cables (Rashid, 2011). HVDC transmission with VSCs can be
beneficial to overall system performance; VSC technology can rapidly control both active
and reactive power independently of one another. This control capability gives total
flexibility to place converters anywhere in the AC network since there is no restrictions on
minimum network short-circuit capacity (Glover et al., 2008).
Transformers
Transformers are used to step voltages up and down as required. A transformer is generally
built with two valve windings, one in star and one in Delta, which enables the dominant
harmonics of either of the valves to be cancelled out against one another (Bahrman &
Johnson, 2007).

Harmonic Filters
AC Filters
AC harmonic filters connected to the terminals of HVDC schemes fulfil two primary
functions; to compensate for part or all of the reactive power absorbed by the converter; and
to limit the current distortion caused by the converter harmonics to an acceptable level (Kim
et al., 2009).
DC Filters
The harmonics in the DC voltage across the converter contain both characteristic and non-
characteristic orders; these harmonics result in current harmonics in DC lines and cause noise
in telephone circuits (Padiyar, 2005).Ryan states that the main purpose of the DC filter is to
reduce the levels of interference induced onto the telephone circuits and nearby AC power
lines, and that the filtering of the high voltage DC lines is best achieved by connecting the
filter between the high voltage line and the neutral at the converter station (Ryan, 2001).

Shunt Capacitor Banks (SCBs)
SCBs are installed to enable compensation of capacitive and reactive values. They are a



relatively inexpensive, easy to install and can be placed anywhere in the system, not just at
either end of the HVDC transmission. They also have other benefits that make the system
more efficient, including better voltage stability at load, better voltage regulation, aiding the
transformers in their tapping. The main drawback with them is that the reactive power
output obtained from them is the proportional square of the voltage coming in, so, when the
voltage is low, and the system is in most need of them, they are at their least efficient
(Brunello et al., 2003).

Summary of advantages/disadvantages of HVDC (Gonen, 1990):
DC overhead lines and cabling are less expensive than for the equivalent AC cabling,
when disregarding the cost of converter stations.
DC links are asynchronous; therefore AC systems at each end of the link do not
require synchronous operation or frequency matching.
Separate AC systems interconnected via a DC link have no impact on the circuit
breaker ratings of either, as there is no increase in short-circuit capacity.
DC lines are less susceptible to radio interference and corona loss than AC lines.
DC power factor is at unity; therefore reactive compensation is not required.
DC line length is not restricted due to stability, as there is no synchronism.
DC line loss is less than that of an equivalent AC line.
DC converter stations are expensive.
DC converters consume reactive power.
Filters are required on both AC and DC sides, as DC converters generate harmonic
voltages and currents.
DC current does not cycle through to zero twice each phase, as opposed to AC
current; therefore DC circuit breakers are disadvantaged compared with AC.
References
ABB Ltd., 2012. ABB Introduction HVDC. [Online] Available at:
http://www.abb.co.uk/industries/us/9AAF400197.aspx [Accessed 13 March 2012].
Arrillaga, J., Liu, Y.H. & Watson, N.R., 2007. Flexible Power Transmission - The HVDC
Options. 1st ed. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Bahrman, M.P. & Johnson, B.K., 2007. An Overview of High Voltage Direct Current



Systems & Applications. The ABC of HVDC Transmission Technology, V(2), p.14.
Brunello, G., Kasztenny, D.B. & Wester, C., 2003. Shunt Capacitor Bank Fundamentals and
Protection. Research paper. College Station: Conference for Protective Relay Engineers
Texas A & M University.
Casazza, J. & Delea, F., 2010. Understanding Electric Power Systems: An Overview of the
Technology, the Marketplace, and Government Regulation. 2nd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley &
Sons Ltd.
Glover, J.D., Mulukutla, S.S. & Overbye, T.J., 2008. Power System Analysis and Design. 4th
ed. Toront: Thomson Learning.
Gonen, T., 1990. Electric Power Transmission Sytem Engineering - Analysis and Design. 1st
ed. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Kim, C.-K. et al., 2009. HVDC Trasnmission: Power Conversion Applications in Power
Systems. 1st ed. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Padiyar, K.R., 2005. HVDC Power Transmission Systems: Technology & System
Interactions. 1st ed. India: New Age International.
Pittock, A.B., 2009. Climate Change: The Science, Impacts and Solutions. 2nd ed.
Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing.
Rashid, M.H., 2011. Power Electronics Handbook. 3rd ed. Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford.
Ryan, H.M., 2001. High Voltage Engineering & Testing. 2nd ed. London: The Institution of
Electrical Engineers.
Sood, V.K., 2004. HVDC and FACTS Controllers - Applications of Static Converters in
Power Systems. 1st ed. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.