HVDCLight®It’stimetoconnectIt’stimetoconnect3It’stimetoconnectIntroducingHVDC..............................................................................................................................................................5ThisisHVDCLight®............................................................................................................................................................8Applications....................................................................................................................................................................16HVDCLight®convertertechnology...................................................................................................................................25HVDCLight®transmissiontechnology..............................................................................................................................47Customerservice.............................................................................................................................................................55References......................................................................................................................................................................57Index..............................................................................................................................................................................584Proventechnologyinnewapplications|It’stimetoconnectProventechnologyinnewapplicationsDecember2012OlofHeymanSeniorVicePresidentABBABPowerSystems–HVDCOurneedforsecure,reliableandsustainableenergyisincreasing,andtheglobaldemandforelectricalenergyisgrowingfasterthananyotherfinalformofenergyused.Itistruerthaneverthataccesstoelectricityisnotjustthefounda-tionofmodernsociety,buttheprincipalmeansofincreasingwell-beingindevelopingcountries.Atthesametimethewayelectricityisgenerated,transmittedanddistributediscomingundercarefulscrutinyfromasocietythatwantstechnologiestodeliverlowerenvironmentalimpacts,greaterreliabilityandincreasedavailability.Toreachthesegoals,weneedtech-nologiesthatcangenerate,transmitanddistributeelectricalenergysustainablyandsecurely.Inthisbookwepresentourresponsetothisneed:HVDCLight®technology.HVDCLight®incombinationwithcablesoroverheadlinesmakestransmissionsystemstechnicallyandeconomicallyviableoverlongdistances.Thetechnologyiswellsuitedtomanyessentialapplications,suchassupply-ingpowertooffshoreplatforms,connectingoffshorewindfarmstomainlandgrids,improvinggridreliability,providingcityinfeedsandpoweringislands,asback-to-back,point-to-pointorasamulti-terminalsystem.HVDCLight®technology’sspecificcharacteristics,whichincludeacompact,lightweightdesign,shortinstallationandcommissioningtimes,lowopera-tionalandmaintenancecostsandsuperiorcontrolofvoltages,activeandreactivepower,aretheessentiallinksinalloftheseapplications.ItismyfirmbeliefthatHVDCLight®canactivelycontributetothedevelopmentofsustainable,reliabletransmissionsystemsthatwillmeetalloftheongoingelectricalneedsofoursociety.It’stimetoconnect|1IntroducingHVDC51IntroducingHVDC1.1ThisisHVDCHigh-voltagedirectcurrent(HVDC)transmissionisasafeandefficienttechnologydesignedtodeliverlargeamountsofelec-tricityoverlongdistances.HVDCwasfirstdevelopedduringthe1930sbyASEA,theSwedishelectricalconglomerateandoneofthefoundersofABB.FormanyyearsHVDCengineerslookedforareliablecon-vertertechnologythatcouldeffectivelyswitchACelectricityproducedatthepointofgenerationintoDCelectricityfortransmission,andthenconvertitbacktoACagainattheotherendofthelinesoitcouldrunmotors,lights,etc.Bytheearly1950sresearchintomercury-arctechnology,ledbyASEAengineerandHVDCpioneerUnoLamm,hadmadesuchprogressthatASEAcouldbuildtheworld’sfirstcommer-cialHVDCpowerlinkbetweentheIslandofGotlandandtheSwedishmainland.Sincethen,HVDCtransmissionsystemshavebeeninstalledinmanypartsoftheworld.1.2ThebenefitsofHVDCHVDCsystemscantransmitmoreelectricalpoweroverlongerdistancesthanansimilarACtransmissionsystem,whichmeansfewertransmissionlinesareneeded,savingbothmoneyandland.Inadditiontosignificantlyloweringelectricallossesoverlongdistances,HVDCtechnologyisalsoverysta-bleandeasilycontrolled,andcanstabilizeandinterconnectACpowernetworksthatareotherwiseincompatible.TheHVDCmarketisgrowingrapidlyandhasbecomeanimportantpartofmanytransmissionnetworks,notleastbecauseitcanconnectremotesourcesofelectricalpower–oftenemissions-freerenewablesourceslikehydroorwindgeneration–toloadcentreswhereitisneeded,hundredsoreventhousandsofkilometersaway.Onceinstalled,HVDCtransmissionsystemsoftenformthebackboneofanelectricpowersystem,combininghighreliabilitywithalong,use-fullife.Theircorecomponentisthepowerconverter,whichservesastheinterfacewiththeACtransmissionsystem.TheconversionfromACtoDC,andviceversa,isachievedbycontrollableelectronicswitches(calledvalves).1.3ThedevelopmentofHVDCtechnologyTodaytherearetwomaintechnologies.HVDCClassic,thefirstdevelopedtechnology,isusedprimarilyforbulkelectri-caltransmissionoverlongdistance