2004 International Conference on Power System Technology - POWERCON 2004 Singapore, 21-24 November 2004

Studies for the Integration of a TCSC in a Transmission System

Lutz Kirschner, Gerhard H. Thumm
other countries with long distance power transmissions TCSCs are in commercial operation or under construction. II. SYSTEM STUDIES A series compensation project starts with a number of system studies that show the benefit of the series capacitor for the transmission system and describe the overall characteristic. In a second stage the interaction with the surrounding system has to be investigated. During a project the results of studies can be compared with tests involving the actual control system and a digital system representation [5], and eventually with on-site measurements to demonstrate the effect of the TCSC for the transmission system. A. Loadflow Studies Loadflow situations in a transmission system vary over a wide range due to various parameters. Seasonal effects like rain and temperature on one side have a big influence on loads as well as on generation capacity. On the other side contractual conditions can end up in restrictions and basic conditions for power flow. Load requirements vary with daily and weekly cycles. Load forecast is a big challenge, with a time span from minutes until planning studies reaching over several years, resulting in investment in systems, when bottlenecks or economic advantages have been identified. Under all the situations which are to be investigated, voltages and currents in the system shall not exceed limits as given from components and systems like transmission lines, transformers, generators, etc. Series compensation is a system which can help in critical situations, so that restrictions in power transfer can be avoided. B. Stability Study and Power Oscillation Study Series capacitors in general are able to reduce the risk of power oscillations by reducing the impedance between generators or networks involved in the oscillation. This effect will be investigated in a stability study. Additionally a TCSC can damp power oscillations by varying its impedance. This effect will be demonstrated in a subsequent power oscillation damping study, where the operating range of the TCSC and its dynamic behavior is incorporated. From these studies a typical diagram for a TCSC can be drawn, showing the TCSC operating range as base for TCSC design, see Fig. 1.

Abstract-- Series Capacitors are widely used in long distance transmission systems to improve stability of power transmission. Thyristor- controlled series capacitors provide additional benefits for the transmission system compared to fixed series capacitors. During a project to realize a series capacitor several studies are required, starting with planning studies, studies that investigate possible interaction with the surrounding system, and finally the capacitor component design. Different parties are involved in these studies, as information is required from the transmission system on one side, but also from the series capacitor and its components. This paper describes the studies and and shows typical results. Index TermsPower transmission, series compensation, thyristor-controlled series compensation (TCSC), stability, FACTS

HE thyristor-controlled series capacitor (TCSC) is one system out of the family of FACTS systems, which has proven its benefits for transmission systems in several installations [1]. In addition to a fixed series capacitor (FSC) the TCSC is able to vary the effective capacitor impedance within a very short time, thus increasing stability not only in steady state operation and during first swing. The TCSC is also able to actively damp power oscillations in the transmission system by variation of the impedance between the generators involved. In longitudinal series compensated transmission systems a specific interaction between the series capacitor and thermal generators came up, the sub-synchronous resonance (SSR). The TCSC is able to mitigate SSR just by operation with constant impedance under phase angle control, active counteraction to damp SSR is possible as well. These additional benefits justify the higher costs for a TCSC in comparison to an FSC installation. The first TCSC is in commercial operation since more than ten years in USA [2]. TCSC installations in Brazil have demonstrated their capability to stabilize a transmission system with a length of more than 1000 km, which could not be operated safe and stable without series compensation [3]. Another TCSC installation is in operation since one year in China, within a project to transfer electric power over a distance of more than 1000 km on parallel AC- and DC-lines [4]. Also in
Lutz Kirschner, MIEEE, and Gerhard H. Thumm are with SIEMENS AG, Erlangen, Germany, PTD H166, 91050 Erlangen, PO Box 3220, Paul Gossen Str. 100, Germany (e-mail: lutz.kirschner@siemens.com and gerhard.thumm@siemens.com).

I. INTRODUCTION

0-7803-8610-8/04/$20.00 2004 IEEE

XTCSC
3.0 pu 2.0

cont 30 m in 10 s

1.2 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.0

ind.

0.0 - 0.2

linecurrent

10 s

Fig. 1. TCSC operating range as function of line current

Generally a series capacitor is designed for overloads. In the relevant IEC and IEEE standards [6, 7] such overload cycles are proposed, however each system may require its specific overload cycles depending on the system characteristic during contingency situations. Accordingly overloads in the range of minutes to hours are specified to cover stresses from overcurrents. A short time overload for 10 s for example is feasible to cover stresses from power swings, as they may occur immediately after fault clearing or during power oscillations. Typically a stability study investigates the most severe system faults based on the performance of line protection, also including scenarios with component failures, which are very rare to occur. In general it is required that the transmission system remains stable in such situations. The most severe disturbance of active power unbalance can be expected from three-phase faults with a duration of 100 ms typically. Sometimes a longer fault duration is simulated taking into account for example the effect of a stuck breaker, non-successful autoreclosure or protection failures.
Transmitted Power [MW]

Subject of the power oscillation damping study is to find an optimum strategy to damp oscillations with the TCSC, as they can occur after defined fault scenarios. This includes the control strategy, the selection of an input signal, and the size of the TCSC. As an example Figure 2 shows the transferred power through the transmission line in the North-South-Interconnection in Brazil. After tripping of a generator a power oscillation arises. Without any action to damp the oscillation the system would become instable. With the TCSCs with the power oscillation damping (POD) control active the oscillation is damped within a few cycles. Experience shows that in most cases the active power flowing through the series compensated line is the most suitable signal to detect the power oscillation. It can be calculated from line current and voltage at the series capacitor location. Both are local signals. The transmission of signals for example from a generator normally is not safe enough to rely on during contingency situations. III. INTERACTION STUDIES Interaction between a TCSC and the surrounding system occurs in several ways. The series capacitor forms together with the inductive line impedance a resonant circuit, which can interact with other resonant circuits or oscillating systems. At line opening the line breaker sees a voltage between its terminals that can be influenced by the series capacitor. The TCSC generally generates harmonics. These harmonics may not exceed given limits. The TCSC design and the selection of the steady state operating point have influence on the harmonics in the system. A study is very difficult, as the impedance area of the system on both sides of the TCSC must be taken into account including contingency situations. The harmonic impedance area also must be valid over a certain range of harmonic frequencies. The calculations have to be verified by harmonic measurements during the commissioning period. A. SSR study The presence of series capacitors in a power system may cause sub-synchronous resonance (SSR). The dangerous impact of this phenomenon has first been noticed at the damage of two generator shafts at the Mojave Power Station (California, USA) in 1970 and 1971. Since then, considerable effort has been made to analyze the phenomenon and seek ways to prevent damages in the future. In a power system, conditions for sub-synchronous resonance may arise from the presence of a series capacitor in an otherwise inductive electrical circuit. A system fault or sudden load change may then excite transient power oscillations at sub-synchronous frequencies. The frequencies depend on the degree of line compensation and typically range between 10 and 45 Hz. If the frequency corresponds to an undamped natural torsional frequency of a generator shaft, the electrical power system interacts with the shaft and causes sub-synchronous resonance.

Fig. 2. Example of a power oscillation, damped by TCSCs

Transmitted Power [MW]

cap .

HP

LP1

LP2

GEN

EXC

analysis therefore is to determine whether a series resonance condition exists at a sub-synchronous frequency.
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1 D1R J1

2 D2R J2

3 D3R J3

i DiR Ji

N DNR JN
impedance [ohms]

35

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25

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k1,2 D1,2H

k2,3 D2,3H

k3,4 D3,4H

ki-1,i Di-1,iH

ki,i+1 Di,i+1H

kN-1,N DN-1,NH

10

Fig. 3. Multi-mass-spring oscillator of a turbine-generator unit Ji moment of inertia ki,j torsion spring constant DiR speed-proportional frictional damping Di,jH hysteresis damping, proportional to the turning speed differential torque angle i

0 0 10

10 fre q ue n c y [ H z ]

10

80

60

The shaft structure has a number of inherent resonance frequencies, so-called natural frequencies or eigenvalues. Each eigenvalue is associated with an eigenvector that indicates the condition, i.e. speed and angle displacement, at each location along the shaft, necessary in order to excite the natural frequency. The local displacement is typically plotted in a mode shape diagram. For example, the shaft system has a natural frequency at a certain frequency, at which the low pressure section LP2 is in complete phase opposition to the other sections. Once excited with this frequency it would swing against the rest of the shaft sections. This example demonstrates that, if the frequency ftorque of the sub-synchronous electrical torque is near to one of the natural shaft frequencies fmj, and if its component in phase with the rotor speed deviation exceeds the inherent damping torque of the rotating system, sub-synchronous resonance occurs. The torque oscillations then rapidly increase and may cause severe damage to the shaft. Studying SSR interaction in a series compensated transmission system can be split in two steps. The first step is a frequency scanning study, in which the frequency-dependent impedance of the electrical system is calculated for various situations with varying loads and also for a lot of contingency cases. The impedance of interest is when looking from the investigated generator into the system, where all generators are represented by their subtransient impedance in the direct axis, xd. Fig. 4 shows an example of a frequency dependent impedance calculation. In this example a series resonance condition occurs at 19 Hz. Note that this series resonance is a resonance of only the electrical power network. If the machine shaft also had a natural mode at 41 Hz (60 Hz minus 19 Hz) the resonance could lead to SSR and cause damage to the machine shaft. This is mostly determined by the damping characteristic of the oscillating mode. However since the overall damping depends on both the damping of the electrical network and the damping of the shaft system, details of the machine behavior at the resonance frequency can only be determined in a more detailed SSR analysis study. The purpose of the frequency scans in this

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p h a s e[d e g r e e s ]

20

-20

-40

-60

-80
10
0

10 frequency [Hz]

10

Fig. 4. Example of a Frequency Scan

The network impedance generally varies with system loading and with operating conditions other than normal operation, e.g. contingency situations. Therefore the frequency scans have to be carried out for each inspected generator at various system conditions, which are then presented in such a diagram. The second step of an SSR study is the so called time domain analysis. A program suited for computing electromagnetic transients may be used to simulate the transient time response at a variety of system events. Time-domain simulation uses full three-phase electrical representation of network and generators, and permits detailed modeling of the multimass shaft systems. Detailed representation of nonlinear effects is also possible. SSR can be identified by observing the time response of the torques at a particular shaft system. If they persist or grow in time, then the system almost surely has an SSR problem. Due to the amount and detail of data, time domain simulation is mostly used to verify the existence of an SSR problem after identification with one of the other methods. B. TRV study The TRV (transient voltage recovery) study deals with voltage stresses of breakers immediately after opening. Of special interest is this voltage at fault clearing in long distance transmission systems together with series compensated transmission lines. When a fault occurs on a series compensated transmission line, the protection of the series capacitor is allowed to operate, as soon as components tend to become

overstressed. As in most cases the bypass device short-circuits the series capacitor with a time delay of about 1 ms, this happens clearly before the line breaker opens. Nevertheless an influence can be seen, as the pre-fault steady state current in a series compensated transmission system will be higher than without series capacitors. The voltage across the breaker build-up after current interruption is termed recovery voltage. Due to the circuits inductive and capacitive characteristics on both sides of the breaker, the recovery voltage generally has high frequency components superimposed to its fundamental sinusoidal shape, which typically decay within a few cycles. Hence, the attribute transient was added to qualify the term recovery voltage. High frequency components are particularly responsible for exceeding the dielectric capabilities in the contact gap. The objective of TRV analysis therefore is to determine the fastest initial build-up of the voltage after current interruption. While many textbook examples of TRV analysis rely on a simplified RLC equivalent circuit of the system in order to determine the highest frequency components in the initial voltage rise, a high-voltage series-compensated transmission system shows a much higher degree of complexity than could possibly be represented by means of an RLC circuit. The following is a list of influences that affect TRV levels in a high-voltage series-compensated transmission system: Transmission lines: a high-voltage transmission system typically involves long transmission lines that extend over hundreds of kilometers. Due to finite wave traveling times, distinct voltage shapes such as TRV may travel forth and back a line, producing a harmonic oscillation on its own (e.g. trapped line charge). Series compensation: as already described, a series capacitor is equipped with protective devices such as metal-oxide varistor (MOV), a triggered spark-gap, and a bypassswitch. Since TRV is a process of fault clearing, these protective devices have already responded to the fault situation. Their response has a tremendous impact on the TRV levels: e.g. a bypassed series capacitor does not interact with the harmonics in the circuit. Fault sequence: the instant at which the fault occurred, at which voltage and currents, and the location of the fault influence some of the parameters, that are contributing to the currents across the line breakers, and therefore have an effect on TRV. By the same argument, it is important to consider the fault type, i.e. single-phase-to-ground, threephase, phase-to-phase with or without ground. Obviously, there are multiple possibilities of fault development, e.g. a single-phase fault that develops into a three-phase fault. Another influence is how long a fault lasts before the circuit breakers start opening their contacts. Fault clearing: note that it matters if the faulted line is interrupted in only one phase or in all three phases. The opening of the line breakers at one substation may not start at exactly the same time as at the other terminal. There may be a few milliseconds of a difference due to different protection equipment, communication signals or different types of breakers.

Arching: most faults on a high voltage transmission system are not solid metal connections between phases but result in arcs. An arc dissipates electric energy and, therefore, adds resistive damping to high-frequency oscillations. Correct representation of the arc bears an effect on the TRV levels that can be experienced by the circuit breakers. By the same argument, the arc produced within the breaker chambers also contribute to the damping. Power system: during the fault, the entire power system in the vicinity is affected and in a state of transient oscillation so that, when the faulted line is isolated, the oscillations continue until a steady post-fault state is gained. Since TRV are voltages across the line breakers, the system oscillations also affect the level of TRV. As a consequence it is not only important to analyze the affected transmission line with regards to TRV, but also to consider the entire power system in the vicinity in all its oscillatory detail. The number of cases, which has to be investigated to determine worst-case TRV levels for the circuit breakers is immense, particularly since the task involves detailed representations of stochastic phenomena such as the arcs at the fault location or in the breaker chambers. Evaluation and interpretation of results can be in a statistical diagram, showing the distribution of TRV levels. Besides this the fact, that the allowable level or TRV is exceeded or not, is of course of interest. For these cases it is necessary to evaluate, under which conditions this TRV level occurs and how likely such a fault is. A comparison with TRV stresses in situations without series comparison is difficult, as the load flow situation is different due to the capacitor. However, as a general rule it can be stated that TRV is higher in cases with a series capacitor. This is especially the case at system faults far away from the breaker under investigation. In these cases the line together with the series capacitor forms an oscillating circuit. Also when the series capacitor is equipped with a fast bypass device acting clearly faster than the line breaker under investigation, an increase in TRV can be found. These fast bypass devices operate within some milliseconds after a severe fault, whereas the time to open a line breaker is clearly longer. C. Line protection study The line protection system has to take into account that the impedance as seen from the substation into the line has an additional component from the series capacitor, which is capacitive in contrary to the inductive line impedance. Especially at a TCSC this impedance may vary, and no information regarding the capacitor impedance will be sent to the line protection system. Line protection and series capacitor protection shall be able to operate independent from each other. This means for the line protection, that it must be designed for a series compensated line. Generally the communication between the two protection systems is limited. In most cases the series capacitor protection system will receive a signal, when the line opens, and accordingly the bypass switch of the series capacitor will be closed. On the other side, at a severe failure of the series capacitor e.g.

when the bypass switch does not close, the line has to be tripped. IV. COMPONENT DESIGN STUDY The component design study, of course, has to be done by the manufacturer of the series compensation system, as he is responsible for the component design and series capacitor performance. On the other side the study is based on system requirements. Figure 5 shows the basic single line diagram of a TCSC. The design of the main components includes capacitor, varistor, the thyristor-valve and the reactor, and the bypass devices with the associated bypass damping circuit. Generally the essential data for disconnects, earthing switches, CTs etc. are already defined from customers side.
bypass disconnect platform disconnect line current CT varistor

capacitor

thyristor controlled reactor branch

fault to platform CT

damping circuit

triggered spark gap

bypass switch
Fig. 5. Principal single line diagram of a TCSC

The first step of the component design covers steady state stresses. It takes into account continuous operation and operation during overload situations for a limited time, see Fig. 1. In a TCSC installation steady state operation is defined with a boost factor of 1.1 or 1.2 at nominal current. This defines nominal capacitor voltage. The TCSC also can operate continuously at higher boost factors but with lower line current, so that the capacitor voltage does not exceed the rated value, see the dark area in Fig. 1. The continuous operating range together with overloads defines the voltage rating for the varistor. The thyristor-valve and the reactor in series to the thyristor-valve must be designed to cover the associated stresses continuously. This also determines the rating of the cooling system for a water cooled thyristor-valve. The second step of the component design study deals with transient stresses. They determine the design of all main components, for example the maximum capacitor voltage occurring at a severe system fault, the maximum voltage across the varistor, the associated current, and the energy the varistor accumulates during a system fault scenario. The protection strategy with the thyristor-valve as fast bypass device depends

on different conditions. Provided the steady state stress for the thyristor-valve allows the additional stress from bypass operation, the thyristor-valve can be used as fast bypass device. Like in the thyristor-protected series capacitor (TPSC) the thyristorvalve can replace the triggered spark gap. When the protection strategy of the TPSC is acceptable, the energy rating of the varistor can be considerably reduced [8]. To find out maximum transient stresses a number of transient stress simulations is necessary to find out the worst case system fault. The sequence during each simulation run is based on the strategy of line protection during and after system fault. The number of system faults for which the components shall be designed determines mainly the varistor rating. Auto-reclosure for example is usual in many cases, but this may be different for single-phase faults and multi-phase faults. At single-phase faults it is possible to open the line breakers only in the faulty phase and to reclose after a dead time of typically 1 s. As the most probable system fault is due to lightning strokes, it is most likely to clear the fault. This results in minimum disturbance for the remaining system, as the active power transfer continues during the dead time at a lower level. In other systems the faulty line opens in all three phases at singlephase faults. At multi-phase faults the line will be opened in three phases, and again it depends on the protection strategy, whether auto-reclosure is foreseen for multi-phase faults or not. The series capacitor protection system is able to react in a similar way, i.e. it is possible that at single phase-faults only one phase will be bypassed. Before re-closing the line breaker the series capacitor returns into operation with the risk of a second stress, when the fault is still persistent (non-successful auto-reclosure). In other cases all three phases are bypassed and they only return to operation after the success of reclosure has been proven. All possible combinations between these two extreme cases are possible. In most cases the varistor shall be designed to withstand stresses from to subsequent external or internal faults in one, two, or three-phases. This covers worst case stresses from a fault with non-successful auto-reclosure or from two subsequent faults. Accordingly the bypass damping circuit has to be designed, so that it is able to withstand stresses from two subsequent capacitor discharges from the maximum voltage. Another result from this study are the parameters for capacitor protection to distinguish between external and internal faults, as only at internal faults the protection system is allowed to bypass the capacitor. Only when the varistor current or the accumulated energy exceeds the maximum value that has been found during the study at any external fault, the protection system interprets a system fault as internal and initiates a bypass action. Insulation coordination is a part of the component design study, as it is focused on the insulation coordination of all components of the series compensation. The insulation levels between phases and ground are given from the surrounding system or substation. Based on the maximum voltage across the components, which has been found during the transient stress calculation, the insulation of all components, the creepage distances of housings, bushings and post insulators, and the distances between the components can be determined.

V. CONCLUSION The TCSC is a powerful and flexible system that provides benefits especially for long distance power transmission systems. The project of such an installation requires a number of studies that have to be carried out from the system owners side and from the manufacturer. This requires information from both parties, as they both together have the knowledge to allow a good presentation of transmission system and series capacitor during the studies, and guarantees study results that are as realistic as possible. VI. REFERENCES
[1] [2] Kirschner, Thumm, Design and Experience with Thyristor-Controlled and Thyristor-Protected Series Capacitors, presented at the IEEE PowerCon 2002, Kunming, China Christl, Luetzelberger, and Sadek, System Studies and Basic Design for an Advanced Series Compensation Scheme, presented at the International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation and Management APSCOM, Hong Kong, 1991 Gama, Leoni, Gribel, Fraga, Eiras, Ping, Ricardo, Cavalcanti,, and Tenorio, Brazilian North-South Interconnection - Designing of Thyristor Controlled Series Compensation (TCSC) to Damp Inter-Area Oscillation Mode, presented at Sepope 1998, Brazil Kirschner, Design Aspects of the Chinese 500 kV Thyristor-Controlled Series Compensation Scheme TCSC Tian Guang, presented at the 2nd International Conference on Electric Utility Deregulation, Restructuring and Power Technologies, IEEE DRPT, HongKong 2004 Retzmann, Claus, Kuhn, Kumar, Lei, Baran, Forsyth, Maguire, Advanced Fully Digital TCSC Real-Time Simulation, presented at CEPSI 2001 Series Capacitors for Power Systems, Part 1: General, International Standard, IEC 143-1 IEEE Standard for Series Capacitors in Power Systems, IEEE 824-1995 Kirschner, Bohn, Sadek, Thyristor-Protected Series Capacitors. Part I: Design Aspects, presented at the Cigr XERLAC Conference 2003, Argentina

[3]

[4]

[5] [6] [7] [8]

VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Lutz Kirschner, Senior Project Engineer, MIEEE, received his Diploma in Electrical Engineering 1992 from the University of Aachen, Germany. He joined SIEMENS company in the HVDC Department as a system design engineer. He was involved with technical and commercial design of HVDC converter stations. He got his project experiences from the North-American Texas-Welsh Converter, the Chinese Tian-Guang Converter and the Asian Thailand-Malaysian Converter projects. Since 1995 he is also responsible for Fixed and Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor design and was busy in the brazilian Furnas/Eletronorte series capacitor project as well as the northamerican Lexington/Valley and TCSC Tian Guang project carrying out the basic design system studies. He is working on the design of Thyristor Protected Series Capacitor systems (TPSC) and FACTS devices. In the FSC Sao Joao do Piaui project he carried out the Final Basic Design Studies comprising the transient fault calculation and main component ratings. His special fields are time domain digital simulations and system studies. Since 1998 he is a member of IEEE. Dr. Gerhard H. Thumm, Senior Project Engineer, received his Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1977 from the Technical University of Stuttgart, Germany, and the Dr.-Ing. degree in 1991. From 1977 to 1982 he worked at the High Voltage Laboratory of the University in Stuttgart. He joined SIEMENS AG, the system planning department in 1982, and changed to a group for Reactive Power Compensation in 1985. He was involved with technical design of Static Var Compensators (SVC), and was responsible for the design of several SVCs in Great Britain, Australia and USA. Since 1995 he is also responsible for the design Fixed and Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitors, and was engaged in the Brazilian Furnas/Eletronorte series capacitor project Interligacao I, several fixed series capacitors in South Africa, China, and India, and in the system studies for the Tian Guang TCSC project.