1202

IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 12, No. 3, July 1997

Capacitive Divider Substation

L. Bolduc, Member EEE
Institut de recherche &Hydro-Qu6bec (IREQ) 1800 boul. Lionel-Boulet Varennes, Quebec Canada J3X 1S1

B. Bouchard, Non-member
Cegelec BG Checo 7 151,rue Jean-Talon est, Anjou, QuCbec Canada HIM 3R4

G. Beaulieu, Non-member
Hydro-Qdbec R6gion MatapCdia 355 boul. St-Gennain ouest, Rimouski, Quebec Canada G5L3N2

Abstract - The development of a passive damper-filter has made it possible to achieve a stable capacitive-coupling substation (SCC). This paper presents the underlying theory and analyzes the impact of the SCC on a power network system. The related nuisance phenomena (overvoltage, ferroresonance) are described together with the solutions applied. Test results are presented as proof that the nuisance phenomena have been satisfactorily eliminated: overvoltage is adequately limited at the worst node by protecting the equipment and ferroresonance never lasts more than two cycles. Lastly, the paper describes Hydro-Qukbec's first such capacitive-coupling substation installed at RivMre Ste-Anne (Qukbec).

of a complete three-phase system. The paper concludes with a description of a 1.5 MW SCC successfully incorporated into the Hydro-Qu6bec power system.

2 2.1

Model

Keywords: Capacitive Substation, Capacitive Divider, Rural Electrification.

INTRODUCTION

The capacitor divider has been known for quite a while but using this technology to transform high voltage (HV) to medium voltage (MV) for delivering power is more recent. Phenomena such as ferroresonance made it difficult to do in the past. However, the development of a passive damper-filter, patented by Hydro-Qukbec, has made it possible to design a capacitive-coupling substation (SCC) with a capacity of up to 1.5-2 MW. The theory behind the design is presented in section 2 followed by details of the protection against overvoltage and ferroresonance, the two major problems faced by the SCC. Full-scale laboratory tests have been conducted on a single-phase SCC prototype with a view to validating the feasibility
96 SM 3806 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE Transmission and Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation at the 1996 IEEUPES Summer Meeting, July 28 - August 1 , 1996, Denver, Colorado Manuscript submitted December 22, 1995; made available for printing May 2, 1996.

The principles of capacitive-coupling transformers are not new, as they have long been used both by manufacturers of the capacitor voltage transformers required by electrical utilities and by some electric utilities for feeding small loads [l, 21, so only a brief review is presented here. Figure 1 shows the circuit model (a) and the Th6venin equivalent of the voltage divider (C1 and C2) seen from the load side (b). The Thevenin equivalent voltage of the divider ( v l h ) is

and its impedance is that of capacitors C1 and C, in parallel.

Fig. 1 Model of capacitive-coupling transformer (a) and its equivalent Thevenin circuit seen from
the load side (b)

An inductor L is added to the capacitive voltage divider to cancel the impedance due to c t h = Cl +- C2 at 60 Hz. This is done by adjusting C1, C, and L so they satisfy (2):

0885-8977/97/$10.00 0 1996 IEEE

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where w = 2 ~ 6 Hz. 0 Since the impedance is zero at 60Hz, the output voltage V, remains equal to and in phase with Vth, which is proportional to and in phase with Vi,, whether the load be resistive, capacitive or inductive. V,, the voltage at the terminals of C2, is also the voltage between elements Cth and L.

Therefore, the voltage node V, needs to be protected against short circuits at the output. A good way to do this is to add a surge arrester in parallel with the inductor to detune the system and limit Vl; and V, during the time required to operate a breaker or a disconnecting switch. The arrester has to be calibrated for this protective function.

2.3

Ferroresonance

2.2

Protection

The voltage node V, is subjected to high voltage because of the resonant circuit and the current drawn from the load. This can be seen in the phasor diagram of Fig. 2: when no load is connected (Fig. 2a), the current through L is zero and the conventional rules for capacitors apply, i.e. the current icl supplied at Vi, is 90" leading the voltage and equal to i , the current in capacitor C2. In general,

If the capacitive-coupling transformer is used as a substation for feeding loads or for rural electrification, it normally has distribution transformers installed on the outgoing feeders. However, these can saturate and create ferroresonance with the capacitor divider. Many methods exist for calculating ferroresonance oscillations [3, 41 but one useful way of evaluating the risk is to calculate the natural frequencies with saturated and nonsaturated transformer cores. Ferroresonance phenomena can occur for frequencies between 1

(3)

2 d G m 5

<f
2 n

1
J W

(5)

where Vcl is the voltage at the C1 terminals and io is = V L + Po where VL the load current. We also have is the voltage at the terminals of L.

v,

Let us have an analytical view of the problem at fundamental frequency. Figure 3b [3] shows the element impedances of Fig. 3a. It can be seen that there are three different solutions for which A and C are stable. Solution A is the linear solution. For some reason, such as an output short circuit or upon system energization, solution B or C may be reached instead, and ferroresonance is produced.

Fig. 2 Phasor representation of currents and voltage of Fig. 1 without load (a) and with load (b). When a real load ( R ) is connected (Fig. 2b), the Fig. 3 Electric circuit causing ferroresonance (a), anacurrent through R is in phase with the exit voltage V, lytical view of ferroresonance phenomena (b) and, since io flows through L, it produces a voltage VL One solution consists in first designing the circuit in leading io and V, by 90". Vl; equals VCth but is out of such a way as to avoid the possibility of occurrence of phase by 180", so Vth = V,. Therefore, the voltage Vc1 the fundamental (point B or C ) and harmonic ferrowill be as shown in Fig. 2b, from which it can be seen resonance. Choosing L as linear and satisfying (2) that, if a short circuit appears through the load at V,, V, eliminates the possibility of points B and C existing. As will become equal to Vl;, which can take infinite values. shown in Fig. 4, the impedance of L is then parallel to

1204

that of Cfh. If we add the transformer impedance to the impedance of L, the magnetization curve will be higher and points B and C will no longer exist at fundamental frequency. However, subharmonic ferroresonance remains possible, since cc)L decreases and l/(wCth) increases when cc) is reduced.

2.4

Impact on transmission lines

With Fig. la, using ( 2 ) , we can calculate the current drawn from the line (6). The reactive part of this current is capacitive. The line is inductive so that if the SCC is placed at the end, it produces a resonant circuit with the possibility of an overvoltage at the connection point, as shown in Fig. 6. The longer the line, the higher the impedance of Lt generating a higher voltage for the same capacitive current drawn. Since there is only one branch, the same current is goes through all elements but is leading the voltage of C by 90" and lagging the voltage across Le by 90". With the feeding substation regulated at Vs and V, = Vi, + V L ~a, longer line raises the voltage at the capacitor divider Vin, a fact which has to be accounted for in the choice of C1 and C2. Figure6b also shows that the current drawn from the line is capacitive, since is is leading with respect to

Fig. 4 Effect of choosing L linear with the same impedance of Cfh at fundamental frequency The second step is to add a damper-filter at V,, parallel to M , to deal with subharmonic ferroresonance as well as harmonic transients. The filter has to act as an open circuit at 60 Hz and as a short circuit with losses at all other frequencies. The impedance filter as a function of frequency in plotted in Fig. 5. This spectrum of impedance requires a resonant circuit. Also, filter losses have to be as low as possible at 60Hz to reduce permanent losses but as high as possible at other frequencies to damp harmonics and subharmonics. So this filter will be made of a capacitor in parallel with an iron-core inductor tuned at 60 Hz, both in series with a resistor.
12 I
I I

vs.
Cl +c2

(6)

VLI

(a>

(b)

Fig. 6 Circuit of the transmission line feeding the capacitor divider (a) and its phasor representation (b) However, with inductive substations (Fig. 7), the output voltage is lower than V, if the line is not compensated or regulated as shown in Fig. 7b. If placed somewhere between two inductive substations (Fig. 7a), the SCC not only serves to feed loads but, in addition, acts as a compensator, reducing the reactive current in L1 and the losses in the corresponding

$ 6 a
i 4 " 2

10

100 1000 Frequency (Hz)

10000

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Fig. 7 Circuit of the transmission line feeding the capacitor divider between two substations (a), the phasor diagram of the line without the capacitor divider (b) and with the capacitor divider (c)

3
3.1

FIELD TESTS

in capacitor C1 is 29.3 Arms. Curve (c) gives the damper circuit current 4. This circuit reduces all harmonics and ferroresonance except those at fundamental. Curve (d), which gives the load current Zch, is interesting because it illustrates the tendency of part of the ten transformers to saturate in one polarity and the other part in the opposite polarity. In fact the transformer inrush current tends to circulate through the damper filter and other transformers since it is blocked by the capacitors. Curve (e) presents the output voltage Vch. The ferroresonance phenomenon initiated in closing is quickly damped within three cycles and only very small distortions near the zero crossings persist, owing to the magnetizing currents.
vs
160 Voltrxld)
(a)

Development

Tension de source

80

After many simulations to validate the theory, IREQ in collaboration with a transformer manufacturer has now industrialized a 6OO-kVAR, 14.4 kV damper-filter. A full-scale single-phase 550-kVA SCC prototype, including the whole protection circuit, was built by Cegelec BG Checo and tested under many different operating conditions at IREQs high-power laboratory. The prototype was built for an input voltage of 161 kV/& and an output voltage of 25 kV/& . The C 1 capacitor bank is rated 0.98 pF (2 x 8 x 230 kVAR, 12.47kV) and the C 2 bank, 5.34pF (2 x 4 x 400 kVAR, 9.96 kV). The reactive power provided to the line is estimated to be 2.7 MVAR in each phase. The air core reactance L is 1.1 H.

0
-80
Isdc

-160 90

60 30 0
-30

-6Ok

I'

-20 -60

o l - - - + ~
d)
Courant de sortie du SCC-3
I I

-40

3.2

Energizing behavior

Tension de sortle du SCC-3

The most critical operating condition is energization, when only saturable loads are present at the output. The test results shown in Fig. 8 reflect this condition. The load here is made up of ten 100-kVA unloaded distribution transformers. Curve (a) gives the transmission line voltage to ground V,, whose rms value is 161 kV/& ; no effect is observed. Curve (b) illustrates the input current of the system Isdc. The natural oscillation frequency depends on the capacitance of C1 in series with C2 and the inductance of the transmission line. This oscillation is damped by the transmission line and ground grid resistances. Voltage harmonics traveling on the transmission line are also filtered by the capacitor banks. The rms steady state input current

-20

-40

I4
I

IJ
0.28

0.04

0.08

0.12

0.16

0.20

0.24

Fig. 8 SCC behavior when energized with a saturable load: source voltage (a), input current (b), damper-filter current (c), output current (d) and output voltage (e).

3.3

Short-circuitbehavior

Figure 9 shows test results obtained under short-circuit conditions at the transformer output. Curve (a) illustrates the source voltage V,, which is not affected by

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At the time the short-circuit is cleared, the output voltage Vch, (curve (f)), overshoots to 2 p.u. for one half-cycle and returns to normal in less than 3 cycles. The damper-filter is essential to this quick return to normal.
-""
If
I I

I
I

40iAmphe

(c) I

Courant du circuit amortisseur I

3.4

Response to 1

ut-onlo

Fig. 9 SCC behavior for a short circuit at the output: source voltage (a), input current (b), damperfilter current (c), surge arrester current (d), output current (e) and output voltage (0.
the short circuit on the distribution side while curve (b) shows the shape of the input current, Zsdc. Some harmonics, due particularly to surge-arrester operation and excitation of natural frequency, are added to the normal current around 30 A,,,. Curve (c) is the current I f flowing into the filter. Large current values at the beginning and end of the short-circuit are partly due to the damper's own discharging and charging currents, since the terminal voltage falls to zero, rises to a fairly high overvoltage and falls again to zero. Notice that, in the test procedure, the SCC was disconnected only two cycles after the short circuit had been cleared. The functions of the damper circuit are to damp harmonics and ferroresonance. Its current stays around zero, except during these and transient conditions. Curve (d) gives the current flowing through the specially designed 21- kV surge arrester. The current peaks at 120A. The arrester functions are to detune the L-Cth resonant circuit, limit the output current, and limit the voltages at the L and C2 terminals. As illustrated in curve (e), the total short-circuit current Zch is around SOAm,, which is about twice the nominal loading current.

It is also interesting to see how the system responds to loads being shut on and off. Figure 10 shows test results obtained when a 500-kW load is connected and disconnected at the transformer output. Curve (a) illustrates the output current. In steady-state conditions, 35.2Am, go to the load. At opening, two peaks of magnetizing current are observed through the transformers but the current is very quickly damped. Curve (b) gives the output voltage. At the time the load is connected, the output voltage is seen to decrease for one cycle and then return to its normal value (slightly reduced by 1% compared to the no-load condition). When the load is disconnected, the output voltage overshoots to less than 2 p.u. for one cycle and returns to normal in the two ensuing cycles due to the action of the damper-filter. None of these transients created a problem for the three kinds of personal computer connected in parallel before the load breaker.
60
30 0
-30

-60 L
. . . , . _ . _ .. . . . . . . . _ . . . .
-90
L ,

.................. I.............
Tension de some du SCCJ

40 volt (X 103)

(b)

A
20 -20 0

Fig. 10 SCC behavior for load shut-on/off output current (a) and output voltage (b).

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APPLICATIONS

4.2

Problems encountered

4.1 Three-phase capacitive-couplingsubstation

The tests were followed by the development of a
three-phase SCC, for a new 1.5-MW substation to replace a station where the equipment had become obsolete (Fig. 11). Its purpose was to supply tourist facilities and other small loads in Hydro-QuCbec's Mataphdia region including "Gite du Mont-Albert" lodge in Gasp6 Park. The SCC is connected to a 161-kV line operated at 171 kV and the distribution voltage is 25 kV. The substation is designed for easy adaptation to line voltage changes from 161 kV to 1 230kV. This involves adding capacitors in the C branch reducing it to a 0.65 pF (2 x 12x 230 kVAR, 12.47 kV), and using 1.16 H tap on L. The reactive power provided to each phase of the line will become 3.85 MVAR. A circuit switcher is used at the entrance. The cost of this substation (in CAN dollars) including all the work and a remote control is around $ 2 M ($1.2 M for equipment including studies, $0.5 M for construction, $0.2 M for telecommunication equipment, installation and training, $0.1 M for spare parts), which is about one quarter of the cost of the smallest conventional substation built at Hydro-QuCbec. The new substation has been in continuous service since August 1994. The old installations were dismantled in October 1995 after more than 12 months' certification tests.

The system was originally designed to transform 161 kV to 25 kV but, in view of the fact that the
lines were normally operated at 168 kV and would be forced up to around 171 kV when the SCC was connected, all distribution transformer taps were set at the 105% position. The installation seemed to be correct at the time of the acceptance tests in April 1994 but it was not to last. The substation is connected to a large line loop and could therefore find itself at the end of the line if the loop is opened, increasing the mean voltage and voltage excursions over the maximum threshold. This is what happened in summer 1994, obliging the utility to modify some of the capacitors in the C1 branches, thus reducing the output voltage by a total of 6%. Tests in openloop mode confirmed this modification was correct. If the overvoltages produced in the open loop had not imposed so much stress on the substation equipment, the load-side voltage could have been corrected by installing voltage regulators at the beginning of the distribution feeder. An incident on the HV system revealed that the disconnector part of the circuit switcher was not necessarily opening during the switching operation so that there was no visible break. The control was therefore modified to force the disconnector to open every time following the opening of the switcher. Because of the very low short-circuit current and the thermal capacity of the detuning surge arrester, the fault is cleared in less than 1 s; otherwise, the substation protection systems start to operate. A recloser fulfills this function at the substation output. Fuses are useless on the feeder because they do not operate fast enough. The same may be said of other fuses that are either too large or too slow. Care is therefore needed to coordinate the protection and the fault detection methods. The new SCC technology lends itself to the use of high-speed protection measures.

4.3

Adaptability

Fig. 11 Hydro-QuCbec's Rivi6re Ste-Anne substation Among other noticeable environmental characteristics, the substation contains a low quantity of oil (no recuperation pit). The noise level is lower than 72 dB and is produced by the damper-filter alone.

The system developed and installed at Rivigre SteAnne substation, the SCC-3, is the third type in the development of capacitive-coupling systems [ 5 ] . Two smaller systems using different capacitive-coupling technologies have been industrialized and installed in the past. The SCCS can provide power for auxiliary services in a conventional substation and also repre-

1208

sents a good solution for feeding small loads and for rural electrification. The only limit to the system is the element capabilities.

'7.

REFERENCES

CONCLUSION

The development of a damper-filter has made it possible to achieve a stable capacitive-coupling substation based on the simple principles of a capacitive divider. The SCC-3, as this system is known, does not require a costly power-transformer or circuit-breaker. It readily adapts to lines operated at voltages of 100 to 245 kV. Its modest cost compared to a conventional substation makes it an ideal choice for applications in areas already strongly electrified and opens new avenues for rural electrification projects for loads I 2 MW. There is no theoretical limitation except impact on the line, dimension of some equipment like inductors and arrestors and finally comparative price with conventional substation, Although it is essentially a feeder, the SCC is a shunt capacitor capable of withstanding the voltage and reducing system losses by canceling some of the reactive current. There is a direct relation between the power output and the vars compensation effect on the transmission line. 2 MW of power output will lead to about 10MVAR of capacitive compensation which will bring beneficial effect to most of transmission line. It also offers environmental advantages, is easily transportable and can be adapted without difficulty to changes in line voltages. The new substation at Rivihre Ste-Anne in HydroQuCbec's Matapedia region, the first application of this design, has been in operation since August 1994 and the utility's positive experience has given management sufficient confidence to remove the old substation from service last October.

113 H.G. Sarmiento, R. de la Ros J. Vilar, "Solving Electric Energy Supply to Rural Areas: The Capacitive Voltage Divider," IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 1990. [2] R.L. Wilde and J. Carr, "Customer service direct from transmission lines," BEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-99, No. 1 Jan./Feb. 1980, [3] J.R. Marti and A.C. Soudack, "Ferroresonance in power systems: Fundamental solutions," IEE Proceedings-C, Vol. 138, No 4., July 1991. [4] S.K. Chakravarthy and C.V. Nayar, "Ferroresonant oscillations in capacitor voltage transformers," IEE Proc. Circuit Devices Syst., Vol. 142, No. 1, February 1995. [5] BG Checo Inc., "Capacitive Coupling Systems for Rural Electrification: SCC-1, SCC-2 & SCC-3," Anjou (Qukbec), June 1994.

BIOGRAPHIES
Uonard Bolduc (M96) received his B.Sc.A in Engineering Physics in 1970 and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1973 from Universite Laval in Quebec City. After postdoctoral studies at the Universite du Quebec in Montr6a1, he joined the high-power department of TREQ (Institut de recherche dHydroQukbec) in 1975. He has been involved in different theoretical and physical developments such as subharmonic ferroresonance damping, frequencyresponse-of-stray-losses diagnosis method for transformer winding displacement; self-regulating variable inductors; capacitive-coupling systems for feeding medium-power demand (C 2 MW). His main field of interest and research, however, has always been the effects of direct currents on transformers and the power system in general. He is a member of the Ordre des IngCnieurs du Quebec. BenoTt Bouchard is a graduate of Universitd Laval in Quebec City, with a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 1969 and M.Sc. in 1973. He has been working for CEGELEC for the last 17 years. He is currently Director of having gained experience in various Engineering at spheres of this c design, fault disturbance recording, international pr international marketing, de cts in which he has played a projects, etc. Th range from capacitive-coupling systems (SCC) and control units (UAC) for Hydro-Quebec to the superconducting magnetic energy (SMES) He is a system with R E Q and rural telephony with Quebec-TW member of the Ordre des Ingknieurs du Qukbec.
Gadtan Beaulieu obtained a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 1983 from Universitk Laval in Quebec City. He joined Hydro-Quebec two years later as engineer in the transmission and distribution system planning department. His particular areas of activity include flicker, voltage sags, harmonics and other problems experienced by clients in the industrial sector as well as power flow at the regional level and fault current analysis. He is also the coordinator of private producers of hydro and wind energy at a regional level. He is a member of the Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec.

6.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors extend their sincere thanks to Daniel Tousignant, Irhne Lemon and Lesley Regnier for their contribution to the preparation of this paper.

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DISCUSSION
D.A.McCALLUM (Hydro-Quebec, Varennes, Quebec, Canada). The authors are to be congratulated on an elegant solution to obtaining low amounts of power in an economical way from an HV overhead transmission line. Would the authors please advise what amount of shunt capacitive Mvar was added to the transmission line in the application described in the paper, and its affect on the system voltage profile. Would they also please describe how this required shunt Mvar is affected by the station ac line voltage available, the distribution voltage chosen and the load required from the capacitive tap. Manuscript received August 16, 1996.

where Pi, is the power added to or supplied by the line,, P is the VAR power supplied to the line by the shunt capacitive bank and Po is the power provided to the load. Once the
, is very little affected by PO since the system is installed P , is line voltage is practically unaffected by the load. P

normally larger than Po. When designing a new substation W e ensure that the voltage vc at the terminals ofc2 (equal to
Vo at no-load) increases by a factor between

h to 2 at full

guaranteed load.

This implies that the voltage at the

terminals of L will not become larger than kV, , with In this way P , becomes dependent on the Algebra gives

maximum guaranteed output power P . , L. Bolduc, B. Bouchard and G. Beaulieu: The authors wish to thank Mr. McCaIIum for his positive comments and useful questions. Regarding the first question, the totai amount of reactive power supplied to the line by the new Nvibre &-Anne
A R ,at 171 kV. Connecting the substation is around 8.7 W

P,=

- --I
k

,l<k<&

(Vm: transmission line voltage; Vo: output voltage)

In order to reduce P , if required, we may increase k or V, Increasing Vo could be an optimal choice in some cases, even
if an autotransformer is required to adapt the substation

capacitor banks to the line raised the a.c. line voltage from 168 kV to 171 kV. ASan answer to the second series of questions, P ,
=, P

output voltage to the standard distribution voltage.

+ Po Manuscript received November 4,1996.