High Voltage Direct Current Transmission : Conv...
An HVDC converter converts electric power from high voltage alternating current (AC) to high-voltage direct current (HVDC), or vice versa. HVDC is used as an alternative to AC for transmitting electrical energy over long distances or between AC power systems of different frequencies.[1] HVDC converters capable of converting up to two gigawatts (GW)[2] and with voltage ratings of up to 900 kilovolts (kV)[3] have been built, and even higher ratings are technically feasible. A complete converter station may contain several such converters in series and/or parallel to achieve total system DC voltage ratings of up to 1,100 kV.
High voltage direct current transmission : conv...
As of 2012, both the line-commutated and voltage-source technologies are important, with line-commutated converters used mainly where very high capacity and efficiency are needed, and voltage-source converters used mainly for interconnecting weak AC systems, for connecting large-scale wind power to the grid or for HVDC interconnections that are likely to be expanded to become Multi-terminal HVDC systems in future. The market for voltage-source converter HVDC is growing fast, driven partly by the surge in investment in offshore wind power, with one particular type of converter, the Modular Multi-Level Converter (MMC)[8] emerging as a front-runner.
In a line-commutated converter, the DC current does not change direction; it flows through a large inductance and can be considered almost constant. On the AC side, the converter behaves approximately as a current source, injecting both grid-frequency and harmonic currents into the AC network. For this reason, a line-commutated converter for HVDC is also considered as a current-source converter.[11] Because the direction of current cannot be varied, reversal of the direction of power flow (where required) is achieved by reversing the polarity of DC voltage at both stations.
The simplest (and also, the highest-amplitude) waveform that can be produced by a two-level converter is a square wave; however this would produce unacceptable levels of harmonic distortion, so some form of pulse-width modulation (PWM) is always used to improve the harmonic distortion of the converter. As a result of the PWM, the IGBTs are switched on and off many times (typically 20) in each mains cycle.[30] This results in high switching losses [de] in the IGBTs and reduces the overall transmission efficiency. Several different PWM strategies are possible for HVDC[31] but in all cases the efficiency of the two-level converter is significantly poorer than that of a LCC because of the higher switching losses. A typical LCC HVDC converter station has power losses of around 0.7% at full load (per end, excluding the HVDC line or cable) while with 2-level voltage-source converters the equivalent figure is 2-3% per end.
Another disadvantage of the two-level converter is that, in order to achieve the very high operating voltages required for an HVDC scheme, several hundred IGBTs have to be connected in series and switched simultaneously in each valve.[32] This requires specialised types of IGBT with sophisticated gate drive circuits, and can lead to very high levels of electromagnetic interference.
In a refinement of the diode-clamped converter, the so-called active neutral-point clamped converter, the clamping diode valves are replaced by IGBT valves, giving additional controllability. Such converters were used on the Murraylink project[33] in Australia and the Cross Sound Cable link in the United States.[34] However, the modest improvement in harmonic performance came at a considerable price in terms of increased complexity, and the design proved to be difficult to scale up to DC voltages higher than the 150 kV used on those two projects.
Like the two-level converter and the six-pulse line-commutated converter, a MMC consists of six valves, each connecting one AC terminal to one DC terminal. However, where each valve of the two-level converter is effectively a high-voltage controlled switch consisting of a large number of IGBTs connected in series, each valve of a MMC is a separate controllable voltage source in its own right. Each MMC valve consists of a number of independent converter submodules, each containing its own storage capacitor. In the most common form of the circuit, the half-bridge variant, each submodule contains two IGBTs connected in series across the capacitor, with the midpoint connection and one of the two capacitor terminals brought out as external connections.[35] Depending on which of the two IGBTs in each submodule is turned on, the capacitor is either bypassed or connected into the circuit. Each submodule therefore acts as an independent two-level converter generating a voltage of either 0 or Usm (where Usm is the submodule capacitor voltage). With a suitable number of submodules connected in series, the valve can synthesize a stepped voltage waveform that approximates very closely to a sine-wave and contains very low levels of harmonic distortion.
The MMC has two principal disadvantages. Firstly, the control is much more complex than that of a 2-level converter. Balancing the voltages of each of the submodule capacitors is a significant challenge and requires considerable computing power and high-speed communications between the central control unit and the valve. Secondly, the submodule capacitors themselves are large and bulky.[39] A MMC is considerably larger than a comparable-rated 2-level converter, although this may be offset by the saving in space from not requiring filters.
Another alternative replaces the half bridge MMC submodule described above, with a full bridge submodule containing four IGBTs in an H bridge arrangement, instead of two.[41] The full-bridge variant of MMC allows the submodule capacitor to be inserted into the circuit in either polarity. This confers additional flexibility in controlling the converter and allows the converter to block the fault current which arises from a short-circuit between the positive and negative DC terminals (something which is impossible with any of the preceding types of VSC). Furthermore, it allows the DC voltage to be of either polarity (like a LCC HVDC scheme), giving rise to the possibility of hybrid LCC and VSC HVDC systems. However, the full-bridge arrangement requires twice as many IGBTs and has higher power losses than the equivalent half-bridge arrangement.
High voltage is used for electric power transmission to reduce the energy lost in the resistance of the wires. For a given quantity of power transmitted, doubling the voltage will deliver the same power at only half the current:
High voltage cannot readily be used for lighting or motors, so transmission-level voltages must be reduced for end-use equipment. Transformers are used to change the voltage levels in alternating current (AC) transmission circuits, but can't pass DC current. Transformers made AC voltage changes practical, and AC generators were more efficient than those using DC. These advantages led to early low-voltage DC transmission systems being supplanted by AC systems around the turn of the 20th century.[10]
Various other electromechanical devices were tested during the first half of the 20th century with little commercial success.[17] One technique attempted for conversion of direct current from a high transmission voltage to lower utilization voltage was to charge series-connected batteries, then reconnect the batteries in parallel to serve distribution loads.[18] While at least two commercial installations were tried around the turn of the 20th century, the technique was not generally useful owing to the limited capacity of batteries, difficulties in switching between series and parallel configurations, and the inherent energy inefficiency of a battery charge/discharge cycle.[a]
On March 15, 1979, a 1920 MW thyristor based direct current connection between Cabora Bassa and Johannesburg (1,410 km; 880 mi) was energized. The conversion equipment was built in 1974 by Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG), and Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC) and Siemens were partners in the project. Service interruptions of several years were a result of a civil war in Mozambique.[23] The transmission voltage of 533 kV was the highest in the world at the time.[12]
The development of higher rated insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs) and integrated gate-commutated thyristors (IGCTs), has made smaller HVDC systems economical. The manufacturer ABB Group calls this concept HVDC Light, while Siemens calls a similar concept HVDC PLUS (Power Link Universal System) and Alstom call their product based upon this technology HVDC MaxSine. They have extended the use of HVDC down to blocks as small as a few tens of megawatts and overhead lines as short as a few dozen kilometers. There are several different variants of VSC technology: most installations built until 2012 use pulse-width modulation in a circuit that is effectively an ultrahigh-voltage motor drive. Current installations, including HVDC PLUS and HVDC MaxSine, are based on variants of a converter called a Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC).
Depending on voltage level and construction details, HVDC transmission losses are quoted at 3.5% per 1,000 km (620 mi), about 50% less than AC (6.7%) lines at the same voltage.[24] This is because direct current transfers only active power and thus causes lower losses than alternating current, which transfers both active and reactive power.
Long undersea or underground high-voltage cables have a high electrical capacitance compared with overhead transmission lines, since the live conductors within the cable are surrounded by a relatively thin layer of insulation (the dielectric), and a metal sheath. The geometry is that of a long coaxial capacitor. The total capacitance increases with the length of the cable. This capacitance is in a parallel circuit with the load. Where alternating current is used for cable transmission, additional current must flow in the cable to charge this cable capacitance. This extra current flow causes added energy loss via dissipation of heat in the conductors of the cable, raising its temperature. Additional energy losses also occur as a result of dielectric losses in the cable insulation. 041b061a72