EUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL POWER

Euro. Trans. Electr. Power 2012; 22:17–32

Published online 18 March 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/etep.574

Design and research of UHV AC substation

Wu Yi-qiong1*,y, Chen Hai-yan2, Li Bao-jin2 and Fang Jing2

1
North China Power Engineering Co., Ltd., Xicheng District, Beijing 100011, China
2
China Power Engineering Consulting Group Corporation, Beijing 100120, China

SUMMARY
Thousand kilovolts of AC transmission has the highest operation voltage and the most advanced technology
in the world. Based on 1000 kV Changzhi–Nanyang–Jingmen UHVAC Demonstration Project in China, this
paper presents the main design principles and key technical schemes in UHV substation design, including
the main electrical connection, the selection of major UHV equipments, overvoltage and insulation
coordination, 1100 kV GIS layout, insulator strings design, environmental impact control and seismic
design. Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

key words: UHV; Demonstration Project; substation; design

1. INTRODUCTION

Thousand kilovolts of AC transmission technology with the characteristics of ultra-high voltage, long
transmission distance and large transmission capacity is an important measure for solving Chinese
problems of unbalanced energy distribution and load centre far from energy bases. Development of
UHV transmission technologies is necessary to meet the requirements of reliable power supply and
upgrading power grid [1–4].
1000 kV Changzhi–Nanyang–Jingmen AC Demonstration Project (abbreviated as the Demon-
stration Project) is the first UHV power transmission project by autonomous design and construction in
China, which consists of Changzhi substation, Nanyang switchgear station, Jingmen substation and
transmission lines and has achieved over one year safe and stable operation.
UHV substations are the key support for the UHV power transmission project. Compared with EHV
substations, due to the higher voltage and larger transmission capacity, the higher requirements for
security and reliability of UHV substations are putted forward. Larger capacity equipments and higher
electric field intensity on conductor surface make the environmental problems more concerning,
especially audible noise, radio interference and electrostatic induction. Moreover, the large size and
height of UHV equipment makes its earthquake resistance performance decrease. Therefore, it is very
necessary to study how to reduce impact on the environment and enhance earthquake resistance
performance in UHV substation design.
For the reliable, advanced, economic and environmentally-friendly design of UHV substations,
design principles and technical schemes are fully researched and demonstrated according to correlative
results of scientific research projects in China. This paper introduces main research results of UHV
substation design, including main electrical connection, major equipment, overvoltage and insulation
coordination, 1100 kV GIS layout, insulator strings design, environmental impact control and anti-
earthquake design.

*Correspondence to: Wu Yi-qiong, North China Power Engineering Co., Ltd., Xicheng District, Beijing 100011, China.
y
E-mail: yiqiongwu@cpecc.net

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18 W. YI-QIONG ET AL.

2. MAIN ELECTRICAL CONNECTION

Reliable power supply, flexible operation, convenient maintenance, easy extension, reasonable
investment and small land occupation are necessary to be comprehensively considered for designing
the main electrical connection scheme with technical and economic comparison.
Because of ultra-high voltage and large transmission capacity of 1000 kV power system, higher
reliability is essential for the main electrical connection of UHV substation. Thousand kilovolts of
electrical connection in Russia is 4/3 breakers system and that in Japan is double buses with double
breakers system [5].
In the Demonstration Project, based on a typical UHV substation with four transformers and eight
1000 kV transmission lines, reliability analysis and calculation of five main electrical connection
schemes are made, including double breakers system, one and half breakers system, 4/3 breakers
system, double buses with double breakers system and double buses with double breakers and auxiliary
bus system, whose typical one line diagrams are shown in Figure 1.
The calculation results show that the reliability indexes of double breakers system, one and half
breakers system and 4/3 breakers system are almost close to each other and significantly better than the
other systems. However, at present the rated current of the switches would not satisfy the requirement
of 4/3 breakers system. For double breakers system, equipment investment is very high and land
occupation is very large. Consequently, based on comprehensive consideration of reliability, economy
and equipment manufacture ability, one and half breakers system is applied in the Demonstration
Project.

3. SELECTION OF UHV EQUIPMENTS

3.1. Transformer
Being limited to manufacturing technology and transportation conditions, large capacity UHV
transformer adopts the single-phase one. Autotransformers have a few good features of small
investment, low loss, energy saving and good economic returns. Furthermore, its low impedance would
be good for improving the stable performance of power system. Consequently, single-phase
autotransformer is selected as the main transformer in the Demonstration Project.
The main transformer consists of its main body and a voltage regulation & compensation part, shown
in Figure 2. The voltage regulation & compensation part including regulation winding and switch is
outside the main body. Separating the main body and the voltage regulation compensation part would
simplify the main transformer design. In addition, the main body could still maintain operation
even if the voltage regulation & compensation part goes wrong. This configuration of the main
transformer improves its reliability and is propitious to guarantee safe and stable operation of UHV
substations.

3.2. Switchgears
Switching equipments of 1100 kv mainly include gas-insulated metal-enclosed switchgear (GIS),
hybrid GIS (HGIS) and air-insulated switchgear (AIS), whose performances are compared in Table I.
It can be seen that 1100 kV GIS and HGIS have many distinct advantages as follows:

To substantially reduce land occupation. In Jindongnan substation, land occupation of GIS
scheme is about half of that of AIS.

Little electromagnetic impact on environment.

Electrical equipment enclosed in GIS and HGIS is immune from atmospheric conditions.

Preferable anti-earthquake performance.

Longer maintenance period.
Accordingly, GIS and HGIS are, respectively, applied in Changzhi and Nanyang/Jingmen UHV
substations.

Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Euro. Trans. Electr. Power 2012; 22:17–32
DOI: 10.1002/etep
 DESIGN AND RESEARCH OF UHV AC SUBSTATION 19

Figure 1. One line diagram of bus systems: (a) double breakers system, (b) one and half breakers system, (c)
4/3 breakers system, (d) double buses with double breakers system and (e) double buses with double breakers
and auxiliary bus system.

3.3. Shunt reactor

Thousand kilovolts single-phase and oil immersed shunt reactors are used in the Demonstration
Project. The capacity of shunt reactors would meet the requirements of overvoltage limit and normal
voltage control, and avoid causing some difficulties for VAR compensation and voltage control in
overloading operation of system. The compensation degree of shunt reactors is not suitably close to 1.0
so as not to occur resonance in open-phase operation of lines.
By referring the operation experiences of 500 kV system, neutral reactors installed to 1000 kV line
shunt reactors but not high speed ground switch (HSGS) are applied to compensate secondary arc
current, which successfully realize the single-phase reclosing within one second.

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Figure 2. Configuration of main transformer.

Table I. Comparison among UHV GIS, HGIS and AIS.

GIS HGIS AIS
Reliability Rarely affected by Probability of pollution Probability of pollution
environmental impact, flashover flashover is highest
preferable anti-earthquake on open air-insulated
capability busbar is higher
Maintenance No maintenance Electrical stress is higher Operating experience in
and operation than GIS abundance, but the
electrical stress is highest
Installation Easiest, and installation Frame installation Difficult
time is shortest is inconvenient
Layout Compact Less compact Large
Expansion Easy, but restricted by Easy, but needs Easy, but needs the most
manufacturer much space space
Environment Little impact on environment Little impact on Strongest impact on
environment environment
Cost Highest High Lowest

4. OVERVOLTAGE AND INSULATION COORDINATION

4.1. Overvoltage and limit in 1000 kV system

Electrical equipments in UHV substations often suffer different overvoltages. According to different
cause, amplitude, waveform and duration, the voltages are divided into continuous operating voltage,
temporary overvoltage including power frequency overvoltage and resonance overvoltage, switching
overvoltage, lightning overvoltage and very fast transient overvoltage (VFTO).

4.1.1. Power frequency overvoltage and limit. The main measure used for reducing power
frequency overvoltage is to install shunt reactors on the transmission lines. In the Demonstration
Project, the limit values of power frequency overvoltage are as follows: 1.3
pffiffiffi p.u. at the substation side of
breaker and 1.4 p.u. at the line side of line breaker (1:0 p:u: ¼ 1100= 3).

4.1.2. Switching overvoltage and limit. There are two main measures used for reducing switching
overvoltage. One is to install closing resistor for the circuit breaker. The other is to install metal oxide
arrester (MOA). In the Demonstration Project, the statistical maximum phase–ground
pffiffiffi and
pffiffiffi phase–phase
switching overvoltage would be, respectively, 1.6 and 2.9 p.u. (1:0 p:u: ¼ 21100= 3).

4.1.3. Lightning overvoltage and limit. MOA is used to limit lightning intruding surge. Frame
lighting rod and independent lighting rod are combined to protect against direct lighting strike.
Protection level of the arresters is related to their rated voltage. Selecting rated voltage of the arresters

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Table II. Protection level of MOA in 1000 kV system (kV).

Parameter Value
Rated voltage (rms) 828
Continuous operating voltage (rms) 638
Lightning impulse residual voltage under 8/20 ms and 20 kA (peak) 1620
Steep-front impulse residual voltage under 1/10 ms and 20 kA (peak) 1782
Switching impulse residual voltage under 30/60 ms and 2 kA (peak) 1460

mainly depends on the amplitude and duration time of power frequency overvoltage. Rated voltage of
the arresters located on the busbar side is selected to be 828 kV in the light of the maximum power
frequency overvoltage 1.3 p.u. (826 kV). The maximum power frequency overvoltage on the line side
is 1.4 p.u. (889 kV), but its duration time is short (not more than 0.5 seconds). Therefore, rated voltage
of the arresters on the line side may also be 828 kV, which decreases the insulation level of electrical
equipments. Protection levels of metal oxide arresters of 1000 kV system are as shown in Table II.

4.1.4. VFTO and limit. VFTO is produced by operation of disconnecting switches in GIS or HGIS
substations. Because of short wave-front time(<0.1 microseconds), high oscillation frequen-
cy(>1 MHz) and amplitude(may be 2.5–3.0 p.u.), VFTO can be dangerous to GIS or HGIS insulation
and device of relay and protection system. Therefore, disconnecting switches may install resistors if
necessary, or some operation causing dangers should be prohibited. In the Demonstration Project,
according to the calculation results about VFTO, a 500 V resistor is assembled into disconnecting
switches in GIS substations and no resistor is assembled in HGIS substations.

4.2. Insulation coordination

Air gap in substations should not discharge under the maximum power frequency overvoltage.
Electrical equipments should endure continuous operating voltage and temporary overvoltage.
Based on arrester protection, operation and lightning impulse insulation of electrical equipments
along with insulator strings and air gap may be coordinated through determinate and statistical
methods [6].
Insulation levels of electrical equipments in the 1000 kV substation with altitude less 1000 m are
listed in Table III.

5. LAYOUT OF 1100 KV GIS AND HGIS

The following factors have to be considered for selecting layouts of 1100 kV GIS and HGIS.

To meet designated requirements of the main electrical connection scheme and line routing.

Simple construction, distinct physical arrangement.

Matching with interval width of outdoor distribution equipment in size and less land occupation.

Table III. Rated insulation level of 1000 kV equipments (kV).

Transformer Switchgear Switchgear
phase to earth between contacts
Switching impulse withstand voltage 1800 1800 1675 þ 900
(peak)
Lighting impulse withstand voltage 2250 2400 2400 þ 900
(peak)
Short-duration power-frequency 1100 1100 1100 þ 635
withstand voltage (rms) (5 minutes) (1 minute) (1 minute)

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Good transportation and hoisting conditions, with adequate working space for live working.

Flexible operation and maintenance for continuing service without interruption or shortening
outage time as possible during maintenance and expansion periods.

5.1. Layout of 1100 kV GIS

As mentioned above, one and half breakers connection scheme is applied in the Demonstration Project.
According to the location of breaker, typical layouts of 1100 kV GIS are categorized into two types:
single-row layout and one-line layout, respectively, shown in Figures 3 and 4.
In virtue of flexible routing of incoming/outgoing lines, minimum longitudinal dimension, matching
lateral dimension with interval width of outdoor distribution equipment and least land occupation, the
one-line layout is most suitable in the Demonstration Project. In this arrangement, main GIS buses are
arrayed at outgoing line side and GIS equipments could be transported and hoisted by the road for main
transformers transportation, thus the capacity of crane would decrease due to the smaller hoisting
radius and convenient inspection is reached, shown in Figure 5. The GCB with weight about 35 t and
external dimensions 6520 mm  1920 mm  3710 mm (length  width  height) is the heaviest unit in
the GIS equipments. 160 t crane is needed in the Demonstration Project.
Allocation of adequate working space is necessary for live working. The recommended longitudinal
dimension between incoming-line and outgoing-line bushings of 1100 GIS is about 43.5m, shown in
Figure 6.

5.2. Layout of 1100 kV HGIS

According to the location of breaker, typical layouts of 1100 kV HGIS are categorized into three types:
three-row layout, single-row layout and one-line layout, P-type layout. Combined with the situation of
substation, three-row layout of 1100 kV HGIS is adopted in the Demonstration Project shown in
Figure 7.

Figure 3. Single-row layout.

Figure 4. One-line layout.

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Figure 5. One thousand hundred kilovolts GIS layout.

Figure 6. The longitudinal dimension recommended between incoming-line and outgoing-line bushings of
1100 GIS.

Figure 7. One thousand hundred kilovolts HGIS layout.

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6. INSULATOR STRING DESIGN

In the case of 500 kV or less porcelain insulator string, its withstand voltage is able to be evaluated by
the porcelain tube length. Otherwise for 1000 kV insulator strings, in light pollution there is a tendency
of saturation concerning withstand voltage with the increasing of the porcelain tube length. Therefore,
these key problems about how to select the type and number of insulator units are essential to be
studied.

6.1. Selection of type

The existing insulators include porcelain, glass and composite ones. The shed-typed porcelain
insulator has many advantages, such as the higher withstanding voltage (not sharply decreasing with
the increase of the altitude), effective self-cleaning characteristics and abundant operation experiences.
Consequently, it is applied in the UHV substations.
According to the layout of switchgear, double or triple-shed porcelain insulators with long creepage
distance are used as the tension insulator strings. To reduce the length of insulator strings and ensure the
electrical clearance, triple-shed ones are selected as the busbar insulator strings and the suspension
insulator strings.

6.2. Selection of insulator units’ number

The characteristics of the insulator strings in substations should ensure the safe operation of lines under
all kinds of overvoltage, whose insulation level would be not less than that of transmission lines.
There are two methods to determine the number of suspension insulator units, the creepage distance
method and the withstand voltage method.

6.2.1. Creepage distance method. According to the creepage distance method, the number of the
insulator units can be determined by the following formula.

lUm
n (1)
l0

where l is specific creepage distance, Um is the maximum system voltage, l0 is the creepage distance of
insulator unit.
When the altitude of substation is beyond 1000 m, the number of insulator units calculated from (1)
should be modified.
Taking the aging of insulator into account, a certain number of additional insulator units should be
added to per insulator string. The referenced numbers of additional insulator units at present voltage
levels are shown in Table IV.
In UHV substation, the number of the additional insulator units would be 3 with a margin in the
choosing of the pollution level.

6.2.2. Pollution-withstand voltage method. According to the withstand voltage method, the number
of the insulator units can be determined by the following formula:

K1 Um
n (2)
Uw

Table IV. Number of additional insulator units.

Voltage (kV) Tension Suspension
35–220 2 1
330–500 2–3 1–2
750 3 3

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Table V. Number of 1000 kV insulator string units (at 1000 m and below altitude).
Pollution ESDD String Unit Creepage Len. Num.
level (mg/cm2) type type distance/mm (mm)
III 0.25 II Triple-shed 545 170 59
III 0.25 V Triple-shed 545 170 59
III 0.25 V Triple-shed 635 195 53

where Um is the maximum system voltage, Uw is the withstand voltage of insulator unit, and K1 is
safety factor.
Uw would be obtained by the artificial pollution tests. The calculation formulation is written as:

Uw ¼ Ui50% ð13sÞ (3)

where Ui50% is 50% flashover voltage of insulator unit at certain pollution level, and s is the variation
factor of Ui50% (equal to 7%).
Generally Uw in the artificial condition can not be absolutely equivalent to the one in the natural
condition. The main influence elements include the types of dissolvable salts and non-soluble deposit,
equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD), non-soluble deposit density (NSDD), and the inhomogeneous
distribution of pollution on the upper and lower surface of insulator. With high ESDD, the test results
should be modified according to ESDD and NSDD.
In the Demonstration Project, the number of 1000 kV insulator string units are, respectively,
determined and verified by the creepage distance method and the withstand voltage method listed in
Table V.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CONTROL

Compared with EHV substations, the environmental impacts of UHV substation has been paid more
attention due to the higher voltage and larger capacity. To fulfill environmental harmony, many proper
measures are taken in substation design, including choosing suitable substation location, adopting
compact equipments, determining the minimum clearance between 1000 kV conductor and ground,
optimizing the configuration of conductors and fittings, using low noise equipments and BOX-IN. As
results, the audible noise, radio interference, power frequency magnetic and electric field have been
reduced under the required level.

7.1. Corona
Corona discharge would occur on the facilities in UHV transmission project, therefore audible corona
noise, radio interference and corona loss would be produced. Avoiding the disadvantageous effect of
corona discharge on environment is one of the most important principles to determine the configuration
of bundling line and fittings. In UHV substation design, electric field calculation covering full
switchyard and corona characteristics test are carried out to optimize the design of bundling conductors
and fittings.

7.1.1. Thousand kilovolts line design. The bundling conductor of 4JLHN58K-1600 shown in
Figure 8 is adopted as 1000 kV line in the Demonstration Project. The diameter of sub-conductor is
70 mm whose cross-sectional structure shown in Figure 9 and it has outstanding integrative
characteristics, especially less environmental impact.
The relationship between the electric field intensity on the surface of sub-conductor and the bundle
space follows a U-shaped curve. Therefore there would be an optimal bundle space that can make the
electric field intensity on the surface of sub-conductor minimum. Figure 10 shows the electric filed
intensity Emax (peak value) on the surface of sub-conductor in 4JLHN58K-1600 line with different

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Figure 8. Bundling conductor of 4JLHN58K-1600.

Figure 9. Cross-sectional structure of conductor JLHN58K-1600.

bundle space d. It can be seen the electric filed intensity would be minimum when the bundle space is
58 cm, therefore the bundle space of 4JLHN58K-1600 line is determined to be 60 cm.
The on-site test in operation shows there is no visible corona discharge on the 4JLHN58K-1600
line and its fittings.

7.1.2. Thousand kilovolts fitting design. The electric field intensity on the surface of UHV fittings
would be non-homogeneous and the control of corona discharge would be more difficult due to the
complex structure and higher voltage. According to the theoretical analysis and the test results of UHV
AC Test Base, reducing the electric field intensity on the surface of UHV fittings is the most important
principle to optimize their configurations.

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Figure 10. Electric filed intensity Emax on the surface of sub-conductor in 4JLHN58K-1600 line.

To control the electric field intensity on the surface of UHV fittings, the three-dimensional finite
element analysis is been adopted to simulate the electric field of insulator string and the linkage
between equipments or lines and fittings, whose models are separately shown in Figures 11 and 12.
According to the calculation results, the electric field on some locations is concentrating, such as the
terminals of pipe buses and lines, the corners of the linkages between equipments, where the special

Figure 11. Simulation model of 1000 kV insulator strings.

Figure 12. Simulation model of 1000 kV fitting.

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Figure 13. Protective fittings of 1000 kV insulator string. (a) Strain insulators with jumper line or downlead.
(b) Strain insulators without jumper line or downlead. (c) Suspension insulators with downlead.
(d) Suspension insulators with jumper line.

voltage-sharing and shielding measures would need to be made. And on the other sites, it mainly
depends on the equalizer rings of equipments and the linking conductors between equipments to shield.
(i) For the strain insulators, when with jumper line or downlead, only the single equalizer ring and
double shielding rings need to be adopted, shown in Figure 13a; otherwise the double equalizer
rings and double shielding rings would be installed, shown in Figure 13b. The diameter of the
arc section is 900–1400 mm and that of the ring pipe is 120–150 mm.
(ii) For the suspension insulators, when with downlead, the single equalizer ring and double
shielding rings need to be installed, shown in Figure 13c; when with jumper line, only the single
equalizer ring would be enough, shown in Figure 13d. The diameter of the arc section is 900–
1000 mm, and that of the ring pipe is 120–150 mm.
(iii) For the terminals of pipe bus and the corner of the linkage between equipments, the shielding
rings would need to be installed. And the diameter of the ring pipe for the pipe bus terminals is
not less than 150 mm, and that for the corner of the equipment linkage is not less than 240 mm.

7.2. Radio interference (RI)

The UHV switchgear generally adopts GIS or HGIS. For GIS, the main source of RI is equipment and
for HGIS, the corona discharge of conductors would also be taken into account. The main measure to
control RI of equipment is confirming the technical requirement of equipment and that of corona
discharge is to optimize the linking method between equipments and the configuration of conductors
and fittings. The on-site test results of RI in the Demonstration Project are shown in Table VI [7].
At present there is no requirement for the RI generated by substation facilities in Chinese standards,
therefore in environmental estimation the requirement for the transmission line with the same voltage
is usually referred to. The RI requirement for the UHV transmission is the RI at 0.5 Hz measured at
20 m from outside phase under dry condition is not more than 55 dB (mV/m). And therefore the design
level for the UHV substation is the RI at 0.5 Hz measured at 20 m from outside wall under dry condition

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Table VI. Test results of RI in the Demonstration Project (dB).

Test site Changzhi Nanyang Jingmen
20m from northern wall 48.3 32.2 38.8
20m from eastern wall 42.0 37.6 34.6
20m from western wall 43.1 37.7 38.4
20m from southern wall 37.8 35.4 33.1

is not more than 55 dB (mV/m). From the above table, it can be seen the RI of UHV substations fulfills
the requirement of environmental estimation.

7.3. Power frequency electric field

According to the calculation results of the three-dimensional electric field distribution in UHV
substations and combined with the present controlling standards of the electric field in EHV
substations, the limiting value of the electric field at power frequency in UHV substations is put
forward: the electric field in most areas with 1.5 m height to ground is not more than 10 kV/m and in the
whole substation is all below 15 kV/m, which is equivalent to that of the 500 and 750 kV substations.
Based on the above standard and the calculation results of the three-dimensional electric field
distribution under the conductors, the minimum height of conductor to ground could be confirmed.
The on-site test in operation shows the electric field in the most areas with 1.5 m height to ground is
not more than 10 kV/m and in a few areas is 10 to 11 kV/m which satisfies the design level.

7.4. Audible noise (AN)

AN in UHV substation is mainly caused by the corona and equipment vibration. Since the AN of
corona can be greatly decreased by the proper electromagnetic environment control measures,
reducing the AN caused by device vibration becomes the focus of AN control.
Above of all, the AN of equipments are required to be limited to a low level, especially for the main
transformers and UHV shunt reactors, which are the main sources of AN. However because of the
largest capacity in the world (320 Mvar), there are great technical difficulties to reduce the AN of
the UHV shunt reactor in Jindongnan by a wide margin, therefore some auxiliary measures become
necessary, such as the acoustical enclosure, named BOX-IN, which is the most efficient one and is
adopted for the first time in AC substations. The real scene of UHV shunt reactor is shown in Figure 14.
Figure 15a and b, respectively, indicates the AN distribution in substation before and after the
installation of BOX-IN.

Figure 14. Real scene of 1000 kV shunt reactor BOX-IN.

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Figure 15. AN distribution in Changzhi substation. (a) Before BOX-IN installation. (b) After BOX-IN
installation.

8. SEISMIC DESIGN

Due to the large size and height of UHVequipments, seismic design in UHV substations is necessary to
assure the earthquake resisting performance, which includes the following steps.
(1) Determining the reasonable earthquake acceleration and earthquake waveform as the input of
the earthquake-resistance design. According to the earthquake-resistance standards, the input
earthquake wave can be classified into two kinds. One is the resonant amplitude modulation
sinusoidal wave, which includes the 3, 5 and 10 sinusoidal waves. The other is the artificial
earthquake wave which is shown in Table VII. Based on the earthquake data in China and the
experiences from the earthquake-resistance design of 500 kV devices, the earthquake-resistance
design of 1000 kV devices adopts the resonant amplitude modulation 5 sinusoidal wave.
(2) Carrying out the real scale prototype model test. Otherwise Digital simulations are also used to
the devices whose earthquake-resistance performance can not be studied through the real scale
prototype model test.
(3) Seismic calculation for the whole switchgear field to optimize the layout and connection of
equipments. As a result, the soft connection between the UHV equipment and tube busbar and
the structure type satisfying the seismic requirements of the UHV equipments are proposed.

In order to decrease the destructive power caused by forced vibration in the earthquake, the soft
connection between the main UHV equipment and tube busbar is adopted shown in Figure 16.
The seismic appraisal of the whole switchgear field is carried out, with the finite element calculation
mode of the combinatorial structure and design basic acceleration of ground motion 0.1 g. The
calculation results show that the maximum stress in the main components of the combinatorial
structure is still less than the allowable one, with the static stress caused by the device top load and the
device-self weight taken into account.

Table VII. Comparison of input earthquake waveform.

JEAG 5003-1998 GB 50260-1996 IEC 62271-2,300 IEEE 693-2005
(Japan) (China) (Europe) (U.S.)
Acceleration (g) 0.3 0.4, 0.2, 0.1 0.5, 0.3, 0.2 0.5, 0.25, 0.1
Waveform Resonant 3 cycles Artificial Artificial Artificial
sine wave earthquake earthquake earthquake
wave or wave or wave,
5 cycles/beat 5 cycles/beat 10 cycles/beat

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Figure 16. Sketch map for soft connections.

9. CONCLUSIONS

Based on the design experience of the Demonstration Project in China, this paper discusses its research
results and design principles and the main conclusions have been verified by the successful operation
over one year.
Otherwise the design technique of UHV substation still needs to be improved by experience
accumulation and there are still some new subjects to be researched, such as 4500 MVA transformer,
UHV controllable shunt reactor and UHV series compensating capacitance. With the construction of
the following UHV substations, the design technique of UHV substation in China would gain the new
achievement.

10. LISTS OF THE SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

UHV ultra high voltage

EHV extra high voltage
GIS gas-insulated metal-enclosed switchgear
HGIS hybrid GIS
AIS air-insulated switchgear
HSGS high speed ground switch
VFTO very fast transient overvoltage
MOA metal oxide arrester
ESDD equivalent salt deposit density
NSDD non-soluble deposit density
l specific creepage distance
Um the maximum system voltage
l0 the creepage distance of insulator unit
Uw the withstand voltage of insulator unit, and K1 is safety factor
Ui50% 50% flashover voltage of insulator unit at certain pollution leve
s the variation factor of Ui50%.
Emax the electric filed intensity (peak value) on the surface of sub-conductor
d bundle space

Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Euro. Trans. Electr. Power 2012; 22:17–32
DOI: 10.1002/etep
32 W. YI-QIONG ET AL.

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Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Euro. Trans. Electr. Power 2012; 22:17–32
DOI: 10.1002/etep