Presentation Paper CEPSI 2006 –

Category of Paper: T-2 Transmission Systems

Title of Paper: Characterization of Dynamic Phenomena on EGAT Tie Transmission Line
Caused by Major Disturbance
Keywords: Dynamic Phenomena, Power System Disturbance, Power System Characteristic, Phasor Measurement Unit
Author: Tormit Junrussameevilai
Power System Analysis Department, Control and Protection System Division
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Thailand email: tormit.j@egat.co.th
Nitus Voraphonpiput
Power System Analysis Department, Control and Protection System Division
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Thailand email: nitus.v@egat.co.th

Abstract: This paper aims to present dynamic phenomena under major disturbances of EGAT power system. The
EGAT power system can be considered as a remote system connected to a main system via a long tie transmission line.
Dynamic phenomena on the tie transmission line are observed using two Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) that were
installed at the sending end bus and receiving end bus where the tie transmission line is connected. Dynamic
phenomena on the tie transmission line were observed during one year and were selected to present in this paper.
Static Var Compensator (SVC) and HVDC were installed in the EGAT power system to increase transient and dyamic
stability. These devices have enhanced stability function, which were designed to maintain stability and cecurity of the
remote system. Reactions of the SVC and HVDC under several disturbances were evaluated from PMU recorder. The
PMUs offers accurate measurement of voltage and current phasors. Moreover, phase angle between two power systems
are also calculated. These features allow engineers to analyses dynamic phenomena of the power system. Particular
disturbance has special dynamic characteristic which are analyzed in the paper.

1. Introduction This SVC increases transfer capability of the tie

Thailand transmission grid is owned and operated transmission line. The Southern transmission grid is
by Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). shown in Fig.1
It consists of a 50 Hz network with 500 kV, 230 kV, 115
kV transmission voltage levels. Thailand power system
has generation about 26,459 MW and maximum Central Area
demands of 20,744 MW. The EGAT power system can
be considered as two systems one of which is a remote
system (Southern area) and the remainder is a large
system (Central area). Two areas are tied together via a
230 kV transmission line, which comprise two circuits Tie Transmission Line
PMUs
1272 MCM with 233.92 km long.
Installed capacity of the Southern area is about
1,720 MW, which consists of thermal power plant, hydro
power plant, and gas turbine power plant. There is also a
±300 MW High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) was
installed at the lower part of the EGAT transmission
grid. It was installed at the KHLONG NGAE (KNE)
substation. This HVDC is an isolated link between
Thailand transmission grid and Malaysia transmission
grid.
The maximum demands of the Southern area Southern Area
approximately 1,760 MW. Therefore, the tie
transmission line pays an important role in the EGAT
power system. It transfers energy from the Central area
to the Southern area according to economic operation of
the power system. Moreover, the southern area can
import and export electric energy from Malaysia via The
HVDC interconnection for security and stability of both
transmission grids, and commercial purpose. Fig.1: The Southern transmission grid
A +300 to -50 Mvar Static Var Compensator
(SVC) was installed at the 230 kV intermediate In order to maintain system security and stability, the
enhanced control function of SVC is used to prevent
substation (Bang Saphan) closed to the central area.
power oscillation on the tie transmission line. Moreover, time was 166.7 MW per 0.1 Hz. Response of the Central
the enhanced control function of the HVDC such as Run- system frequency and the Southern system frequency
up, Run-back, and Frequency Limit Control (FLC) were were shown in Fig.3 and close look in Fig.4.
implemented. Performance of the enhanced control BSP Frequency SRT Frequen

functions could be observed by the Phasor Measurement 50.05

Units (PMUs), which were installed at 230 kV Bang 114.4 s

50.0 Hz
(1.9 min)
Saphan (BSP) and 230 kV Suratthani (SRT) substation 50.00

in early 2005 AD. These PMUs offer voltage, current

phasors and system frequency of the Central and the 49.95

Southern areas with sampling data of 100 ms. Therefore, 49.9 Hz

the PMU data could be used to evaluate the enhanced 49.90

control functions and dynamic phenomenon of the power

system on the tie transmission line. 49.85

2. System Disturbance due to the HVDC Tripped 49.81 Hz

49.80
350 400 450 500 550
Time in Seconds

The HVDC received electric power of 300 MW r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC-Trip Feb-24-2006 2319-23

from Malaysia transmission grid. The tie transmission

line transferred real and reactive power from the Central Fig.3: The Central and the Southern systems frequency
system about +18 MW and -24 Mvar respectively. After
BSP Frequency SRT Frequen
that, the HVDC was blocked. Power flow of the tie
50.05
transmission line increased from +18 MW to 460 MW
with in 0.9 second and then oscillated with frequency of 50.0 Hz
50.00
11.5 s
0.52 Hz. The oscillation took approximately 13 seconds
to settle. The final value of the real and reactive power SRT Frequency
flow at BSP were 300 MW and -17 Mvar. Dynamic 49.95

phenomena of the real and reactive power flow of the tie 49.9 Hz
transmission line are shown in Fig.2. 49.90
BSP Frequency

BSP Real Power Flow [MW] BSP Reactive Power Flow [Mvar]SRT Real Power Flow [MW] SRT Reactive Power Flow [ 49.85

500

BSP Real Power 49.81 Hz

400
49.80
300 MW 360 365 370 375 380 385 390

300 Time in Seconds

r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC-Trip Feb-24-2006 2319-23

200
100 MW
10 s
100 Fig.4: The Central and the Southern systems frequency
BSP Reactive Power
0
(close look)
360 365 370 375 380 385 390 395 400

-100
SRT Reactive Power Fig.5 presents phase angle difference between the
-200
Central system and the Southern system. The Central
-300
SRT Real Power system is assigned as a reference bus. Therefore, positive
-400
Time in Seconds
angle value means power flow from the Southern system
to the Central system. It could be seen that the phase
r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC-Trip Feb-24-2006 2319-23 angle swung and settled within 13 seconds.
Phase Ang
Fig.2: Real and Reactive Power Flow of the Tie
5

Transmission Line (230 kV BSP-SRT)

0.0°
0
360 365 370 375 380 385 390 395 400
System frequency of the EGAT transmission grid
was maintained at 49.99 Hz. The Central system -5

frequency and the Southern system frequency were

equal. After the loss of the HVDC, the Southern system -10

frequency decrease from 49.99 Hz to 49.89 Hz within -15.0°

-15
0.7 seconds and then swing back to 50.04 Hz. The
Southern system frequency dropped together with the -20

Central system frequency and swung with frequency of 10 s

0.52 Hz. The Central system frequency dropped to -25
Time in Seconds

49.81 Hz within 11.5 seconds and then recovered back to

50.0 Hz in 1.9 minutes due to response of an Automatic r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC-Trip Feb-24-2006 2319-23

Generation Control (AGC). It might be said that

Fig.5: Phase Angle difference between two systems
frequency bias of the EGAT transmission grid at that
 The +300 to -50 Mvar SVC was installed at the 230 then swung back to -60 MW. The power oscillation
kV BSP substation. Its main function is to regulate decayed and settled at 74.5 MW within 21.6 seconds.
voltage at this substation. The addition function is power The BSP reactive power also swung from -9 Mvar to
oscillation damping (POD). The POD will activate when +13 Mvar and then turned back to -0.7 Mvar. It settled at
the power oscillation occurs in the tie transmission line 4.7 Mvar within 21.6 second. These phenomena were
with an inter-area mode. The output of the POD function presented in Fig.7.
is modulated with the voltage reference signal to correct
the power oscillation on the tie transmission line. BSP Real Power Line 1 [MW] BSP Reactive Power Line 1 [Mvar]BSP Real Power Line 2 [MW] BSP Reactive Power Line 2

According to the loss of the HVDC, the POD 20

Reactive Power Line No.1 10 s

function was activated and generated a modulation signal
0
to the voltage reference signal. Action of the POD 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

resulted in voltage fluctuation at the bus where the SVC -20

Power Line No.2
is connected (BSP bus). The voltage fluctuation at BSP 20 MW
36.2 MW
leaded to mitigation of the power oscillation on the tie -40

transmission line. Response of the BSP voltage and SRT 21.6 s

voltage were illustrated in Fig.6. -60
Power Line No.1
BSP Voltage [kV] SRT Voltage [k
74.5 MW
246 -80

244
95.2 MW
242 kV POD Action of the SVC -100
Time in Seconds
242

BSP Voltage
240 er Characterisation of Large Disturbance\BSP-SRT-circuit2_trip_Sep-6-0

238
Fig.7: BSP Real and Reactive Power during the Circuit
236 No.2 Tripped
SRT Voltage 234 kV
234

232
230
228
360 365 370
r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC-Trip Feb-24-2006 2319-23
Fig.6: Voltage Magnitude Measured at BSP and SRT
The BSP voltage was 242 kV at the beginning
whereas the voltage reference of the SVC was set at 240
kV. At the time of the incident, the BSP voltage started
to swing from 242 kV to 234 kV and then turned up to
246 kV. The SRT voltage began at 237 kV and then also
swung following the BSP voltage. Since the tie
transmission line transferred more real power flow, the
BSP and SRT voltage dropped to 240 kV and 234 kV at
the final respectively. From the PMU records, they were
also confirmed that the POD of the SVC could help the
EGAT transmission system to damp the inter-area
In Fig.8 presented dynamic phenomena during
10 s restoration of the circuit No.2. The circuit No.2 was
energized after the fault was cleared. Firstly, the BSP CB
375 380 385 390 395 400 was closed and then the SRT CB was closed at 12.7
Time in Seconds
second after that. When the BSP CB closed, BSP bus
received -52.5 Mvar from VAR charging of the circuit
No.2.
At the time of the SRT CB was closed, the real and
reactive power oscillated again but the oscillation
frequency was 0.5 Hz and took 13.1 second to settle. The
real and reactive power of both lines became equal again.
The power oscillation records confirmed that the power
system has better system damping when the tie
transmission line was two circuits in service. Namely,
the power oscillation in case of two circuits in service
decayed and finished faster than the case of one circuit in
operation.
BSP Real Power Line 1 [MW] BSP Reactive Power Line 1 [Mvar]BSP Real Power Line 2 [MW] BSP Reactive Power Line 2

oscillation. 10

Reactive Power Line No.1 Power Line No.2

0
260 265 270 275 280 285 290 295 300

-10 12.3 Mvar

3. System Disturbance due to One Tie Transmission Reactive Power
Line Tripped -20
Line No.2 -26.7 MW
10 MW
The tie transmission line consists of two circuits of -30

12.7 s
1272 MCM ACSR conductors. The tie transmission line -40

-52.5 Mvar 13.1 s

carried real and reactive power about -35 MW and -9 -50

Mvar respectively (flowed from the Southern system to

-60
the Central system). The fault occurred on a conductor Power Line No.1 10 s
phase A of circuit No.2. and leaded to tripping of the tie -70
Time in Seconds

transmission line circuit No.2. The real and reactive

power on circuit No.2 transferred to circuit No.1. The er Characterisation of Large Disturbance\BSP-SRT-circuit2_trip_Sep-6-0

real and reactive power on the tie transmission line Fig.8: BSP Real and Reactive Power during the Circuit
oscillated with oscillation frequency of 0.42 Hz. The No.2 Closed
BSP real power swung from -36.2 MW to -95.2 MW and
The BSP and SRT voltages during the circuit No.2 deviation of 150 MW. The FLC function was described
tripped were presented in Fig.9. At the time of the line in details in [1].
tripped, the POD of SVC was not activated even the Fig.11 presents real and reactive power flow at BSP and
power oscillation occurred on circuit No.1. It might be SRT during the FLC was activated. The large power
concluded that the performance of the POD was reduced plant in Malaysia transmission grid was tripped and
when the tie transmission line was not two circuits in system frequency dropped over the acceptable limit.
operation. The BSP voltage behavior in Fig. 10 also Therefore, the FLC was activated by an activation signal
confirmed that the POD of the SVC could perform when from HVDC converter station at Gurun (Malaysia). The
the circuit No.2 was in service. These incidents lead to HVDC started to draw the DC power from EGAT
modification of the POD function of the SVC in feature. transmission grid. The HVDC drew the real power about
130 MW. The real power flow on the tie transmission
BSP Voltage [kV] SRT Voltage [k line increased from 35 MW to 170 MW within 2
246
seconds. It could be seen that there was a small
244
oscillation with frequency of 0.58 Hz. The tie
242 kV transmission line flow was recovered back to the
242
previous flow (35 MW) in 10 second. The real power
240
swing occurred after FLC action with magnitude of 14
MW.
238
It could be observed that the real power flow of BSP
236 kV
236
and SRT has large difference because the tie
transmission line had changed configuration. It was
234 sectioned to LANG SUAN (LSN) substation. The tie
10 s
232
transmission line is now called 230 kV BSP-LSN-SRT
30 35 40 45 50
Time in Seconds
55 60 65 70
rather than the 230 kV BSP-SRT.
er Characterisation of Large Disturbance\BSP-SRT-circuit2_trip_Sep-6-0
BSP Real Power Flow [MW] BSP Reactive Power Flow [Mvar]SRT Real Power Flow [MW] SRT Reactive Power Flow [

Fig.9: Voltage Magnitude Measured at BSP and SRT 200

during Circuit No.2 Tripped 170 MW

150

BSP Voltage [kV] SRT Voltage [k

100
244

242 kV 10 s
242 50
BSP Real Power

240
0
SRT Real Power
300 305 310 315 320
BSP Reactive Power
325 330 335 340

238
POD Action
-50
SRT Reactive Power
236

234 kV -100
Time in Seconds
234

r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC FLC Activate at Gurun Aug-25-

232
10 s
230
Fig.11: Real and Reactive Power Flow of the Tie
260 265 270 275 280
Time in Seconds
285 290 295 300
Transmission Line (230 kV BSP-LSN-SRT)
er Characterisation of Large Disturbance\BSP-SRT-circuit2_trip_Sep-6-0

BSP Frequency SRT Frequen

Fig.10: Voltage Magnitude Measured at BSP and SRT 49.98

during Circuit No.2 Closed 10 s

49.96

49.94

4. System Disturbance due to Frequency Limit BSP Frequency

Control (FLC) of the HVDC Action
49.92
49.92 Hz
49.90
HVDC can offer fast DC power response. Thus, it is
utilized for frequency stabilization of the systems. The 49.88

FLC will be activated when the system frequency is over

an acceptable band. It will increase or decrease the DC 49.86 SRT Frequency
49.85 Hz
power transfer regarding a real power demand of the 49.84
300 305 310 315 320 325 330 335 340
system to correct frequency excursion. Time in Seconds

Action of the FLC can consider as a disturbance of the r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC FLC Activate at Gurun Aug-25-

system because the real power of the power system can

be increased or decreased very fast with a maximum Fig.12: The Central and the Southern systems frequency
 The system frequency of the Central system and few second and then increased to 255.2 kV and 241 kV
Southern system are presented in Fig.12. Since the real respectively. The BSP and SRT voltage behaved like
power was drown by the HVDC, the system frequency step response of a first order delay system.
of the Central system and the Southern system reduced.
0.07 Hz within 5.7 seconds and then the system BSP Real Power Flow [MW] BSP Reactive Power Flow [Mvar]SRT Real Power Flow [MW] SRT Reactive Power Flow [

frequency was recovered by AGC function. It is also 150

observed that the Southern system frequency had an Energized 500 kV 100 MW
100 SRT Real Power
oscillation frequency of 0.58 Hz.
Power flow deviation on the tie transmission line 50 BSP Real Power
has difference in characteristic. It did not activate the BSP Reactive Power
POD function of the SVC even there was the power 0
250 300 350 400 450
oscillation during the FLC action. Hence, the BSP
voltage was regulated by the SVC and the SRT voltage -50

had small dropped due to reactive power change, which 50 s -100 MW

-100
were presented in Fig.13. SRT Reactive Power

-150
Time in Seconds
BSP Voltage [kV] SRT Voltage [k

245

r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\OverVoltage_Jan-03-2006 1610-16

242kV
242 Fig.14: Real and Reactive Power Flow of the Tie
BSP Voltage
Transmission Line (230 kV BSP-LSN-SRT)
BSP Frequency SRT Frequen
239
50.20

236 kV Southern system frequency

236
50 s
SRT Voltage 50.15

233
50.1 Hz
50.10

10 s
230
300 305 310 315 320 325 330 335 340 50.05
Time in Seconds

r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\HVDC FLC Activate at Gurun Aug-25- 50.0 Hz

50.00

Fig.13: Voltage Magnitude Measured at BSP and SRT

49.95
250 300 350 400 450
Time in Seconds

5. System Disturbance due to Energized a 500 kV r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\OverVoltage_Jan-03-2006 1610-16

Line BSP2-CBG
Fig.15: The Central and the Southern systems frequency
To support demands in the feature, the 500 kV line
BSP2-CBG was constructed. The 500 kV line connected BSP Voltage [kV] SRT Voltage [k

to the BSP substation via a tie transformer and the other 260

end was connected to the CBG substation, which located

in the Central area. When the 500 kV line BSP2-CBG 255
BSP Voltage
was energized from BSP2. The VAR charging from the
250 kV
line fed into the BSP substation and resulted in 250

temporary over voltage at BSP substation. Phenomena

of the VAR charging were described in Fig. 14. 245 kV
245
In Fig.14, the real and reactive power was presented.
At the time of the energization, BSP and SRT real SRT Voltage
240
powers were not much change. The VAR charge injected
50 s
into the BSP substation increased voltage at this bus and
resulted in reactive power flow from BSP to SRT. It can 235
250 300 350 400 450
Time in Seconds
be seen that the reactive power flow at BSP changed
direction from -23 Mvar to 17.7 Mvar. The reactive r Characterisation of Large Disturbance\OverVoltage_Jan-03-2006 1610-16

power flow at SRT also reduced from -73 Mvar to -114 Fig.16: Voltage Magnitude Measured at BSP and SRT
Mvar. The reactive power had slow increased. It took
approximately 25 seconds to settle. The Central system When the 500 kV line was complete in service. The
frequency and the Southern system frequency were real power flows oscillated due to a configuration change
shown in Fig. 15. At the time of the energization, of the Central system. It resulted in real power flows
frequency was not changed because there was no real changes. Moreover, the reactive power flows of the tie
power change. The BSP and SRT voltage were shown in line recovered close to the previous value. Both system
Fig. 16. The BSP and SRT voltage decrease in the first frequencies were also oscillated, which could see in
Fig.15. Since the 500 kV line was completed in service, observed that the Southern system frequency began
the BSP and SRT voltage were also reduced. However, oscillate and trended to apart from the Central system
the voltages were still high and did not recover close to even there were not change in real power. It could be
the previous value. The POD action of SVC was not confirmed that the synchronous link could not still
found even the power oscillation occurred on the tie operate.
transmission at the time of the 500 kV line energize
completion. The reason of this incident might be BSP Frequency SRT Frequen

limitation of the SVC. Namely, The BSP voltage was too 50.05

high and Thyristor Controlled Reactor (TCR) of the SVC 50.04

Southern system frequency

10 s
operated at full capacity. Hence, the POD could not 50.03

perform at that time. 50.02

50.01
50.0 Hz
6. System Disturbance due to 80 MW load 50.00

Transferring to Malaysia Transmission Grid 49.99

Central system frequency
The EGAT transmission grid can import electricity 49.98
49.97 Hz
from The Malaysia transmission grid (TNB) via AC 49.97

system and DC system. The AC system could not 49.96

Frequency trend to apart
perform a synchronous link because Thailand and 49.95
60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Malaysia transmission grids have separate control centre Time in Seconds

and Area Control Error (ACE) function did not Characterisation of Large Disturbance\Import AC from TNB April 24-2006 0839-08

construct. If both AC systems are connected, the power Fig.18: The Central and the Southern systems frequency
system will be losing system stability. Therefore, the during Load Transferring
EGAT transmission grid can import electricity by
transfer partial load about 80 MW at SADAO (SDO) 115 Phase Angle d

kV substation to the Malaysia transmission grid. 3

To prevent electricity interruption, it is necessary to

2
do synchronous link in a few second during load 10 s
transferring. Both systems will connect via the 115 kV 1

0.0°
AC transmission line and then the EGAT transmission 0
60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
grid will cut the partial load. The partial load is now
-1
connected to the Malaysia transmission grid.
-2

BSP Real Power Flow [MW] BSP Reactive Power Flow [Mvar]SRT Real Power Flow [MW] SRT Reactive Power Flow [
-3

120 -4.0°
10 s -4
100
80 MW
80 -5
SRT Real Power Time in Seconds

60

Characterisation of Large Disturbance\Import AC from TNB April 24-2006 0839-08

40
20 MW
BSP Real Power
20 Fig.19: Phase Angle Difference between BSP and SRT
0
60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
during Load Transferring
-20
BSP Reactive Power
BSP Voltage [kV] SRT Voltage [k
-40

-60
SRT Reactive Power 241

POD Action
-80 240 kV
Time in Seconds
Synchronous Link 240

between EGAT-TNB BSP Voltage

Characterisation of Large Disturbance\Import AC from TNB April 24-2006 0839-08

239

Fig.17: Real and Reactive Power Flow of the Tie

Transmission Line during Load Transferring 238 kV
238

The dynamic phenomena of the load transferring SRT Voltage

237
were observed by the PMUs at BSP and SRT. Fig.17
was real and reactive power flow measured at BAP and 10 s
SRT. The BSP real power reduced from 110 MW to 25 236
60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

MW and then increased from 25 MW to 110 MW again. Time in Seconds

It could imagine that if the synchronous link between Characterisation of Large Disturbance\Import AC from TNB April 24-2006 0839-08

EGAT and TNB were still performed, the tie Fig.20: BSP and SRT Voltage during Load Transferring
transmission line will oscillate.
The Central system frequency and the Southern It was also observed from Fig.19 that the phase
system frequency were presented in Fig.18. It could be angle between the Central system and Southern system
trended to unstable. The Southern system was very close
to Malaysia. Therefore, the southern system frequency
was affected by the Malaysia transmission grid.
The BSP and SRT voltage were shown in Fig.20. It
could be observed that the BSP voltage was not much
change because the SVC regulated voltage at this bus.
The SRT voltage had small fluctuation. The POD of the
SVC was not activated because the real power on the tie
transmission line was not a power oscillation. It was
activated at the end of load transferring. It could be
considered as EGAT transmission grid sudden lost load
about 70 MW.

7. CONCLUSION
This paper presented five categories of the large
disturbance in the EGAT transmission grid, which
consist of the 300 MW HVDC tripped, one circuit of the
tie transmission line tripped, Frequency Limit Control
action, large reactive power impact, and dynamic
phenomena of the power system during synchronization
of two large electric power systems.
The PMUs records were utilized to characterize
dynamic phenomena of the five disturbances. The
observation on the tie transmission line offered better
understanding on dynamic phenomena in a large electric
power system. Dynamic behaviours of the power system
during the enhanced control function were investigated.
The observation results leaded to investigation of the
SVC and HVDC performance. Moreover, this work
could be used to confirm power system studies and
adviced system operator in order to prevent system
security and stability.

Reference:
[1] Nitus Voraphonpiput, Kittipon Chuangaroon, and
Somchai chatrattana, “Parameter Optimization for
Frequency Limit Controller of EGAT-TNB HVDC
Interconnection System” Conference of Electric
Supply Industry 2004 (CEPSI 2004)