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Power Transfer Capability of HVAC Cables for Subsea Transmission and

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2382 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2014

Power Transfer Capability of HVAC Cables for

Subsea Transmission and Distribution Systems
Joseph Song-Manguelle, Senior Member, IEEE, Maja Harfman Todorovic, Senior Member, IEEE,
Song Chi, Member, IEEE, Satish K. Gunturi, Senior Member, IEEE, and Rajib Datta

Abstract—This paper provides a methodology to estimate power

versus distance envelops of high voltage alternating current
(HVAC) transmission systems for subsea applications. Alternating
current (AC) technology is mature and is proven for land-based
applications and relatively short offshore tiebacks. However, for
long tiebacks, due to increased conductor capacitance, large reac-
tive power needs to be supplied, leading to higher cable current
rating, losses, and expensive umbilical. Subsea ac cables are lim-
ited in their capability to transmit power beyond a certain dis-
tance, depending on cable characteristics, installation conditions,
and system operating mode. Power transfer boundary charts for
ac technology based on analytical methods are presented. Analyt-
ical calculations and computer simulations of HVAC power cables
were performed on more than 30 cables with rated voltage between
35 and 150 kV and cable cross sections between 95 and 400 mm2 . Fig. 1. Subsea T&D system with conventional ac technology.
Effects of reactive compensation on system tieback distance have
been analyzed, as well as low-frequency transmission and different either by alternating current (ac) or direct current. Subsea
modes of system operation. Cable models employing multiple electrification is a key enabler and an integral part of process-
pi sections and distributed parameters were used. Well-known ing and control for deepwater oil and gas production. Subsea
power flow and simulation tools were used for validation. AC processing (pumping, compression, and separation) requires the
transmission boundaries were estimated based on the voltage and
current limits for various cables under various operating modes.
deployment of equipment such as variable speed drives, motors,
switchgear, and power supplies in close proximity to the loads,
Index Terms—High-voltage alternating current (HVAC), high- which are connected via dry and wet mate connectors. Subsea
voltage direct current, oil and gas, subsea power, transmission and
distribution (T&D).
control requires electric actuators and valves for “all-electric”
trees and highly reliable power supply for communication and
I. I NTRODUCTION control at long step-out distances. This equipment requires easy
and reliable installation and retrieval to increase production

W ITH the depletion of existing oil and gas reserves, there

is a growing demand for deepwater oil and gas pro-
duction, which requires long-distance power transmission and
availability. The goal of subsea power T&D is to provide
reliable power down to the seabed for production, processing,
and control.
distribution (T&D) to multiple subsea electrical loads. Electric Fig. 1 shows a typical subsea T&D system using conven-
power can be transmitted and distributed over long distances tional ac technology. The ac transmission system is a mature
and proven technology for land-based applications and rela-
tively short offshore tiebacks. However, due to cable capaci-
Manuscript received July 15, 2013; accepted October 14, 2013. Date of tance, a large amount of reactive power needs to be supplied, in
publication November 20, 2013; date of current version July 15, 2014. Paper addition to the active power needed by the loads. This leads
2013-PCIC-476, presented at the 2013 IEEE Petroleum and Chemical Industry
Technical Conference, Chicago, IL, USA, September 23–25, and approved for
to larger cables with higher current rating and losses and,
publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by consequently, more expensive umbilical [1], [2]. The issue is
the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee of the IEEE Industry Appli- particularly severe for longer step outs. For example, to supply
cations Society. This work was supported in part by the Research Partnership to
Secure Energy for America through the “Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional
approximately 60 MW of active power loads on the seabed with
Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources” program authorized by the U.S. 75-mi step out, it is required to provide approximately 70-Mvar
Energy Policy Act of 2005 and in part by GE Global Research. reactive power and 2-MW power loss under no-load condition
J. Song-Manguelle is with ExxonMobil, Houston, TX 77060 USA (e-mail:
[email protected]).
and approximately 50-Mvar reactive power and 4-MW power
M. Harfman Todorovic, S. Chi, and R. Datta are with GE Global Research, loss under full-load condition.
Niskayuna, NY 12309 USA (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; In this paper, a methodology is provided to estimate power
[email protected]).
S. K. Gunturi was with GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY 12309 USA. versus distance envelops for a given high voltage ac (HVAC)
He is now with GE Energy Storage, Schenectady, NY 12345 USA (e-mail: cable. Analyses were performed on more than 30 power ca-
[email protected]). bles, with rated voltage between 35 and 150 kV and cable
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. cross sections between 95 and 400 mm2 . Effects of reactive
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2013.2291934 compensation and transmission frequency on system tieback

0093-9994 © 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
SONG-MANGUELLE et al.: POWER TRANSFER CAPABILITY OF HVAC CABLES FOR SUBSEA T&D SYSTEMS 2383

distance have been analyzed. Two different modes of system

operations have been investigated: constant sending end volt-
age and variable sending end voltage through a tap-changing
transformer. Cable models employing multiple pi sections and
distributed parameters were used to improve the accuracy of
the results. Power flow analysis was performed using well-
known simulation tools [4], [5]. Power versus distance envelops
were estimated based on system voltage and current limitation
of each cable. The information and methods provided in this
paper are useful for design engineers and companies interested Fig. 2. Simplified model of HVAC T&D system with a cable pi section.
in assessing the feasibility of supplying power to offshore long
tiebacks involving multiple subsea electrical loads. conditions, such as cable laying depth, umbilical length, and
trefoil or flat cable, the cable current carrying capability needs
II. S YSTEM A SSUMPTIONS FOR B OUNDARY E STIMATION to be derated. In this analysis, a 30% current derating factor has
been applied. Therefore, a 1.0-p.u. cable current corresponds to
A. System Transmission Voltage 70% of the nominal current provided in the cable datasheet.
It is assumed that for a given cable, the transmission voltage
of the system is 80% of the cable rated voltage. The 20% volt- D. Cable Model
age derating factor is applied to limit the electrical insulation
Cable model has been selected to simplify system load
stress1 on the cable for subsea application. The transmission
flow equations. For Mode 1 operation (constant sending end
voltage (derated nominal voltage of the cable) is therefore
voltage), multiple pi sections are used as the cable model, with
considered as the reference voltage of the system and is taken
one pi section per kilometer (km) of transmission line. For
as 1.0 per unit (p.u.). If the power cable is already designed for
Mode 2 operation, a distributed cable parameter model is used.
adequately high insulation stress, then the transmission voltage
These models are similar to the models implemented in well-
does not need to be derated.
known simulation software [4], [5].
B. System Operating Mode
E. Transformer Impedance and Load Characteristics
Two modes of system operation are considered.
1) Mode 1: The sending end voltage is kept constant at The impedance of the sending and receiving ends transform-
1.0 p.u. The acceptable voltage fluctuation is ±10% of ers is assumed to be 5%. Loads are assumed to be located on the
its transmission voltage (derated nominal voltage). As seabed and connected to the transmission line at the secondary
a consequence, at no-load condition, the voltage at the of a single subsea transformer. The primary of the subsea
receiving end of the cable is allowed to increase due to transformer is connected at the receiving end of the cable.
Ferranti effect, up to 1.1 p.u of the transmission voltage. Therefore, interspersed loads distributed along the transmission
When the cable is loaded, the voltage droop at the cable line are excluded in this analysis. It is also assumed that the
receiving end is limited to 0.9 p.u. subsea transformer is only supplying variable frequency drives
2) Mode 2: The receiving end voltage is kept constant at (VFDs). VFDs are usually designed to operate near-unity power
1.0 p.u. Depending on the transmission distance and factor seeing from their input side, regardless of the motor
system loading conditions, the transmission voltage is power factor. Subsea processes require VFDs to run at different
selected and adjusted to match the 1.0-p.u. voltage at operating points. An overall 2% margin on the power factor is
the cable receiving end. The voltage adjustment can be considered at the transformer secondary. Therefore, estimations
done through a tap-changing transformer with multiple are based on a lagging power factor of 0.98.
taps located topside or onshore. The subsea transformer For topside drive systems where a single VFD is used for
is therefore designed with an input voltage equal to the each load, the VFD is located topside or onshore and connected
system transmission voltage and does not need to be at the cable sending end. In that case, it is assumed that motor
redesigned for each site. power factor is 0.85 lagging. The VFD is supposed to provide
cable and load reactive power. Motor and VFD efficiencies are
excluded in this investigation. Therefore, the estimated power
C. Acceptable Transmission Current transfer capability of the transmission line is not the same as
The nominal current rating of the cable is provided in cable shaft power rating.
datasheet. Due to significant variability in ambient conditions
such as temperature and soil resistivity and cable installation III. P OWER T RANSFER B OUNDARY E STIMATION M ETHOD

1 The voltage stress on the insulation of a given conductor can be calculated

A. Limiting Factors To Transmit Power With HVAC Cables
as follows E0 = U/(r × ln(R/r)) (kV/mm), where U is the voltage applied 1) Receiving End Voltage Under No-Load Conditions: A
to the conductor (e.g., phase-to-ground voltage), r is the radius of the copper
conductor under the inner semiconductive layer of the cable, and R is the radius simplified HVAC T&D model is shown in Fig. 2. The power
of the insulated conductor under the outer semiconductive layer [3]. generation unit (grid or topside turbo generator) is simplified as
2384 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2014

a voltage source. Lumped impedance of the power generation loaded with line charging current. In that case, no power can be
unit and the sending transformer is replaced by the resistance transferred to the load. That cutoff distance corresponds to the
RST and the inductance LST . In this case, only a single pi transmission limit of the cable, based on the current limitation.
section of the cable is shown, with its lumped parameters RC ,
LC , and C. The impedance of the subsea transformer is given
by RT and LT . Overall, subsea loads are represented as an B. Power Transmission Boundary Estimation
equivalent impedance with its power factor. A more accurate For a given ac power cable, load flow equations of the system
model is used, with multiple pi sections or uniformly distributed are solved with varying distance and for each loading condition,
line parameters. If a voltage VSE is applied at the cable sending from no load to full load.
end, the voltage VRE at the cable receiving end under no-load The no-load power corresponds to 0 MW, and full load
condition is given by corresponds to the approximate maximum power that can be
VSE carried by that cable. This power is estimated as the product
VRE = √ (1) of the derated transmission voltage and the derated current
cos(dω LC)
carrying capability of the investigated cable, with a 98% power
where d corresponds to the transmission distance, L in henries factor. The total power is divided into 50 equal steps, and the
(H) and C in farads (F) are the cable inductance and capacitance maximum transmission distance is estimated for each power
per unit length (for example, kilometers or miles), ω (ω = 2πf ) step. The initial transmission distance is 1 km, which corre-
corresponds to the transmission voltage pulsation (in radians sponds to a cable with one pi section. The distance is linearly
per second), and f is the transmission voltage frequency (in increased by 1 km (i.e., by one pi section); load flow equations
hertzs). For a given cable, the maximum transmission distance are then solved for that system (for all 50 power steps), at each
dmaxV is limited by the voltage rise at the cable receiving end bus of the system and at each distance step.
based on assumption (see Section II-A) and is given by For example, at the twentieth kilometer of a transmission
  line, load flow equations of the system are solved first for 1 km
1 1 of the transmission distance. Voltage and current at each bus of
dmaxV = a cos × √ . (2)
k ω LC the transmission line (grid bus, sending end bus, receiving end
bus, and load bus) are calculated. Then the new set of load flow
k = 1.1 is the coefficient defining acceptable margins on the equations is solved for 2 km, i.e., with a cable having two pi
voltage rise due to Ferranti effect; according to assumption (see sections for all 50 power steps. In this case, the system buses
Section II-A), maximum acceptable voltage rise at the receiving are the following: grid bus, sending end bus, first pi section
end is supposed to be no more than 110% of the nominal bus, second pi section bus, receiving end bus, and load bus.
transmission voltage. The unit of dmaxV is the same as the unit This approach is repeated over the total transmission distance
used to define the per unit length of L and C. of 20 km.
2) Cable Current Carrying Capability: Under no-load con- At each distance segment, computed voltages and currents at
ditions, the cable mainly carries the reactive current for charg- each bus are stored with the corresponding power and distance.
ing the line capacitance2 , which can be approximated by [6] For each distance segment and for each power increment, the
voltage at each bus is controlled to be between 90% and 110%
IC = VSE ωC (A/unit length). (3)
of its nominal derated value. The distance where one of the bus
The line charging current depends on the transmission fre- voltages reaches the upper or lower limits for the power level is
quency, i.e., the lower the frequency, the smaller the charg- considered as the maximum distance due to voltage limitation,
ing current. In addition, the current increases with the line i.e., dmaxV . If none of the voltage is out of the limits, then the
capacitance, which is distributed along the transmission line; maximum distance is defined by the no-load conditions. The
therefore, it increases with the transmission distance; the longer same approach is applied to the sending end current, which is
the distance, the higher the charging current. limited to the maximum allowable current on the cable (derated
Under loaded conditions, the cable carries the reactive cur- nominal current). The distance at which the sending end current
rent to charge the line, the active current for line losses3 , and the reaches 100% of derated current is considered as the maximum
useful active and reactive currents for the load. This imposes distance due to current limitation, i.e., dmaxI .
limits on the current carrying capability of the cable. For a The overall transfer capability of the cable is the smaller of
selected transmission distance, the current margin remaining the two distances, i.e.,
after the line is charged corresponds to the useful current for
the load. There is a cutoff distance where the cable is fully dmax = min(dmaxV , dmaxI ). (4)

A power versus distance envelop is then plotted for that

2 There are other leakage currents, but the capacitive current has the largest cable and corresponds to the power transfer capability of the
magnitude. The active component of the charging current is a small fraction
of the cable charging current and can be neglected for transfer capability selected cable. Fig. 3 shows the receiving end voltage of a given
estimation [1]. cable for increments of receiving end power by 25%. At no-
3 There are mainly four types of losses: dielectric losses, conductor losses
load condition, that voltage increases as the distance increases
(due to conductor resistance), metallic shield losses, and armor losses [1]. All
these losses are neglected in this estimation; they represent a small fraction of (Ferranti effect). The cable receiving end voltage drops as
the cable nominal power capability. the load increases. The maximum transmissible distance
SONG-MANGUELLE et al.: POWER TRANSFER CAPABILITY OF HVAC CABLES FOR SUBSEA T&D SYSTEMS 2385

Fig. 5. Power versus distance envelope summarizing the results based on

voltage and current limitations.
Fig. 3. Receiving end voltage versus distances of a given cable for receiving
end power increments of 25%.
However, the actual limit comes from the current rating of the
cable. At no-load condition, the cable current rating is reached
at about 60 mi. The current rating of the cable is fully utilized in
supplying the reactive power demand of the cable and resistive
losses. As load increases, the load current gets added to the
reactive power. Hence, the amount of reactive power that can
be supplied with increasing load gets progressively limited,
thereby limiting the distance of transmission.
Therefore, from the distances corresponding to the voltage
limit and the current limit, the lowest distance determines the
power transmission capability of that cable. Selected results are
discussed in the next sections.

IV. S ELECTED R ESULTS

A. Convention HVAC T&D Without Compensation at 60 Hz
Fig. 4. Sending end current versus distances of a given cable for receiving end The method described in the previous section has been
power increments of 25%. applied to several HVAC cables. Some of the cable parame-
ters used are provided in [3]. According to assumption (see
determined by the voltage limitation is defined as the distance Section II-A), the transmission voltage of a 110-kV cable class
where the no-load receiving end voltage reaches 1.1 p.u. For is 88 kV, 106 kV for a 132-kV cable class, and 120 kV for a
the remaining power steps, the voltage continues to drop, as 150-kV cable class. These voltages correspond to 1.0 p.u. of
compared with the no-load voltage. Given that subsea processes the system voltage. According to assumption (see Section II-C),
start with the no-load condition, that corresponding distance the reference current of these cables are derated to 70% of the
becomes the transmission capability of the cable, even if the current value given in [3].
transmission distance is longer under loaded conditions. Fig. 4 Figs. 6–8 show the power versus distance envelops of the
shows the corresponding sending end current for the same 110-, 132-, and 150-kV cable classes. The following are
power steps. observed.
The current limitation for each power steps corresponds to
the distance where the sending end current reaches 1 p.u. 1) Regardless of the cable cross section and the voltage
(derated nominal current of the cable). Fig. 5 shows the power rating of the cable, the power transfer limit of these three
versus distance envelope summarizing the results based on volt- sets of cables is approximately 60 mi.
age and current limitations. The same methodology is applied 2) For low power loads (0–40 MW), the cable cross sec-
to all cables used for subsea HVAC T&D. It is observed that tion has minor impact on the maximum transfer tieback
the increase in receiving end voltage at no-load condition sets distance.
a limit to the maximum distance (approximately 70 mi). As 3) For a given application, increasing the cross section of
the load increases, the voltage at the receiving end is reduced, the cable mostly increases the maximum power that can
and hence, the distance over which power can be transferred be supplied to subsea loads. It has minor impact on the
increases. maximum transfer tieback distance.
2386 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2014

Fig. 9. Mode 1 operation. Example of receiving end voltage of a 35-kV XLPE

Fig. 6. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 110-kV cable class cable.
(uncompensated 60-Hz transmission).

Fig. 7. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 132-kV cable class

(uncompensated 60-Hz transmission). Fig. 10. Mode 1 operation. Example of sending end current of a 35-kV XLPE
cable.

B. Low-Voltage XLPE and EPR Cables Without

Compensation at 60 Hz
Low-voltage cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) and ethylene
propylene rubber (EPR) cables have been also investigated. The
cables have been designed specifically for subsea applications;
hence, they have high insulation capabilities. Their electrical
insulation stress is between 3 and 4 kV/mm. Therefore, the
transmission voltage used is not derated. Three sets of cables
have been used: 35-kV XLPE and 35- and 69-kV EPR. A
derating factor has been only applied to their current rating, ac-
cording to assumption (see Section II-C). The method described
in the previous section has been also used.
Fig. 9 shows an example of the cable receiving voltage. Both
the upper (1.1 p.u.) and lower (0.9 p.u.) limits are used to set
the cable power transfer capability limits. The corresponding
sending current is shown in Fig. 10. The cable transfer limita-
Fig. 8. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 150-kV cable class tion is mainly determined by the voltage limitation. Therefore,
(uncompensated 60-Hz transmission). the derating factor applied to the cable current has only a minor
SONG-MANGUELLE et al.: POWER TRANSFER CAPABILITY OF HVAC CABLES FOR SUBSEA T&D SYSTEMS 2387

Fig. 11. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 35-kV XLPE

107 mm2 cable (uncompensated 60-Hz transmission). Fig. 13. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 35-kV EPR cable
class.

Fig. 12. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 35-kV XLPE cable
class (uncompensated 60-Hz transmission).
Fig. 14. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer capability of a 69-kV EPR cable
impact on the maximum tieback distance, as shown in Fig. 11. class.
A summary of the results is shown in Fig. 12 for different cable
cross sections. Low power loads (5–8 MW with approximately there is negligible compensation from the load. However, an
1–2 subsea VFDs for motor rating of 3.5–7 MVA) can be inductive compensation may be connected at the end of the
supplied with these cables for a tieback distance up to 85 mi. line capacitor, to reduce the amount of charging current [see
A similar analysis has been performed for EPR cables with Fig. 15(b)].
35- and 69-kV transmission voltages. The results are summa- Assume that an inductance is connected in parallel to the
rized in Figs. 13 and 14. receiving end right-hand side capacitor. The current i0 through
As explained in the previous sections, the transmission ca- the new branch is then reduced. The current through the capac-
pability of ac cables is limited due to voltage rise at no-load itor located at the right of the pi section can be calculated as
(Ferranti effect) condition and cable charging current, which follows:
reduces the margin of load current that can be transmitted. The
line charging current is the sum of currents flowing through line i0 = ic2 + ixRE . (5)
capacitances. With a simplified single pi section, as shown in
Without compensation,
Fig. 2, the line charging current corresponds to the sum of the
c 
two currents flowing through the two capacitors. i0 = jVRE ωd . (6)
2
C. Conventional HVAC T&D With Compensation at 60 Hz With compensation,
 
For HVAC systems where loads are supplied by VFD, the c 1
i0 = jVRE ωd − . (7)
power factor at the receiving end is near unity. In that case, 2 ωdLRE
2388 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2014

Fig. 15. Basic principle of line capacitance compensation at cable receiving

end. (a) Fixed compensation. (b) Line model with fixed compensation. Fig. 17. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer boundary of 35-kV XLPE class
cables with compensation at 60 Hz.

transfer tieback distance increases from 60 mi to approximately

90 mi with a fixed inductive compensation of 20 Mvar. The
rating of the compensation only depends on the transmission
distance, not on the maximum load installed at a given distance.
This statement is consistent because the transmission distance
is limited by the Ferranti effect at the cable receiving end at
no-load conditions. Similar results are shown in Fig. 17 for
XLPE cables, which shows a distance increase from 80 mi
(uncompensated system at 60 Hz shown in Fig. 13) to approxi-
mately 110 mi.

D. Effects of Frequency on the Transmission Line

Assuming a lumped model of the transmission line, as shown
in Fig. 2, if a voltage VSE is applied at the cable sending
Fig. 16. Mode 1 operation. Power transfer boundary of 150-kV class cables end, the receiving end voltage at the subsea cable end under
with compensation at 60 Hz.
no-load conditions can be calculated as given in (1), and (8)
shows that the maximum transmission distance increases as the
Equation (7) shows that if an inductance is connected at the transmission frequency decreases, i.e.,
receiving end of the cable, the magnitude of the line charging  
current will be reduced compared with its initial value without 1 1 1
dmaxV = a cos × √ × . (8)
compensation [see (6)]. k 2π LC f
That current reduction consequently lowers the amount of
current to flow through the cable. Therefore, system transmis- With the same approximation, (9) shows that the maximum
sion distance may be increased for the same load, or higher load transmission distance due to current limitation also increases
may be supplied at the same distance. The cable power transfer when the frequency decreases, i.e.,
capability is improved with the compensation. The amount of 2 1
compensation can be selected to reduce a given percentage of dmaxI = × . (9)
2πCVSE f
the cable capacitance; the higher that percentage, the bigger the
inductance. This method has been used to highlight effects of Based on (8) and (9), for a given transmission voltage, the
compensation on cable transfer capability. It has been assumed maximum transmission distance of a power cable increases if
that a fixed inductive compensation is installed on the receiving the transmission frequency decreases. However, physical sizes
end of the cable, to compensate for 20% of the total cable capac- of the passive components such as topside transformer, subsea
itance. The fraction of the cable capacitance to be compensated distribution transformer, and input transformers for each VFD
should be defined based on an acceptable size of inductance to will also increase.
be marinized. This aspect is out of the scope of this estimation. For a transmission frequency of 20 Hz, their size and weight
Selected results are shown in Fig. 16, with the corresponding will be approximately three times the size of 60-Hz trans-
reactive power to be installed subsea. Compared with the un- formers. This may be a limitation to expending low-frequency
compensated results with the same cable (Fig. 8), the maximum power transmission lines. The size and weight increase of
SONG-MANGUELLE et al.: POWER TRANSFER CAPABILITY OF HVAC CABLES FOR SUBSEA T&D SYSTEMS 2389

Fig. 18. Sending end configuration for a low-frequency transmission T&D

system.

subsea transformers also increases the installation complexity

and cost. Low-frequency systems incur additional complexities,
i.e., system interfaces such as sending end switchgear and
subsea switchgear; dry and wet connectors should be designed
for low-frequency operation because they are not available in
the present subsea systems. An additional power conversion
station (see Fig. 18) is also required to reduce the transmission
frequency from 50/60 Hz to a lower frequency (e.g., 20 Hz). Fig. 19. Mode 2 operation. Sending end voltages that produce constant
Therefore, this low-frequency subsea system may not be a receiving end voltages at different loading conditions and different tieback
distances.
promising alternative to an existing ac system.

V. A LTERNATE A PPROACH : C ONSTANT

R ECEIVING E ND VOLTAGE M ETHOD
A. Preliminary Considerations
Results presented in the previous sections are based on
Mode 1 operation according to assumption (see Section II-B).
In that operating mode, the sending end voltage is kept constant
and the receiving end voltage is allowed to fluctuate according
to the transmission distance and the system loading conditions.
Such system operation has the disadvantage that the subsea
distribution transformer is required to be qualified for a wider
range of voltage. Therefore, it may be beneficial to design a
T&D system where the voltage at the receiving end is kept
constant at the transformer nominal voltage, regardless of the
step-out distance or subsea load power level (from no load to
full load). One solution to fulfill the requirement of constant
receiving end voltage is to use a tap-changing transformer at
the sending end. In this case, the sending end voltage can Fig. 20. Mode 2 operation. Sending end current based on a constant receiving
end voltage method.
be adjusted to keep the receiving end voltage constant with
fluctuations in load or changes in tieback distance. Fig. 19
shows the sending end voltage variation, which produces a to 1.0 p.u., and the cable has been increasingly loaded from
constant receiving end voltage (1.0 p.u.) regardless of load level no load to its full load capability with 50 power steps. The
and distance, for a 150-kV cable with 400 mm2 cross section. receiving end current IRE has been calculated according to the
It has been assumed that the sending end voltage can fluctuate load variation. Then the sending end voltage and current have
between 0.85 and 1.1 p.u of the cable nominal derated voltage. been calculated according to (8) [7]. Examples of results are
For a given distance, it is assumed that the sending end voltage shown in Figs. 20 and 21.
is linearly varied with change in the load, as shown in Fig. 22. The sending and receiving ends voltages and currents are
The chosen transmission distance corresponds to the distance related as follows:
where the no-load sending end voltage is set to 0.85 p.u., as     
VSE cos h(λd) −ZW sin h(λd) VRE
shown by the red dots in Fig. 20. = (10)
ISE YW sin h(λd) − cos h(λd) IRE
√
B. Line Model and Analysis Method where γ = LC is the propagation constant of the line, and d
is the transmission distance. The cable impedance ZC is given
A two-terminal passive components model of a transmission by ZC = RC + jXC , YC = jωC, and the cable is given by
line has been used, with its distributed parameters RC , LC , and 
C [7]. The sending end voltage VSE has been kept constant ZW = ZC /YC YW = 1/ZW . (11)
2390 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 50, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2014

VI. C ONCLUSION
A methodology to estimate power versus distance envelops
for subsea power T&D systems has been presented considering
various system assumptions, practical operating conditions, and
cable models. The power transfer capability of a given HVAC
cable is affected by cable voltage and current limitations.
Cable voltage is limited by acceptable transmission voltage
increase under no-load conditions due to Ferranti effects (upper
margin) and voltage droop under loaded conditions (lower
margin). Current carrying capability of a cable is influenced
by installation conditions. Current cable limitation is dictated
by the system transmission frequency and reactive charging
current for the line capacitance.
Based on various system assumptions, calculation and simu-
lation results discussed in this paper have shown that most of the
investigated HVAC cables have comparable cutoff transmission
distance where the cable is fully loaded with the capacitive
Fig. 21. Mode 2 operation. Example of power transfer boundary. charging current of the line. For noncompensated systems, this
distance is around 60–70 mi, with the constant sending end
operating mode, regardless of the cable cross section.
Investigated cables include 110-, 132-, and 150-kV nominal
voltage classes, with cross sections between 185 and 400 mm2 .
This distance can be increased by around 5 mi if a tap-changing
transformer is used to keep the receiving end voltage constant,
regardless of the cable loading conditions. On the other hand,
this transmission distance can be also increased by 10–15 mi if
a fixed inductive reactance is installed subsea to compensate up
to 20% of the total cable capacitance.
For 35-kV (XLPE and EPR) and 69-kV EPR cables
specifically designed for the subsea transmission, the cutoff
distance is approximately between 80 and 90 mi without
compensation and around 110 mi with 20% compensation.
However, electrical power that can be transmitted up to such
distance is approximately 6 MW; taking into account system
efficiency, only a single load (e.g., pump load) can be sup-
plied. These cables are therefore suitable for a topside drive
application.
The methodology presented in this paper can be extended to
Fig. 22. Sending end voltage adjustment as a function of cable loads, for all
tieback distances.
subsea T&D systems with variable compensation or combined
fixed (inductive or capacitive) and variable compensation.

The transmission distance is then swept from 1 km to a very

long distance (e.g., 300 mi). Then the maximum transfer capa-
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
bility based on current limitation dmaxI is defined whenever the
sending end current reaches its derated value. The maximum Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America
transfer capability dmaxV based on voltage limitation is defined (RPSEA) (www.rpsea.org) is a nonprofit corporation whose
whenever the sending end voltage is out of its upper (1.1 p.u.) mission is to provide a stewardship role in ensuring the focused
or lower (0.85 p.u.) limits. research, development, and deployment of safe and environ-
The cable power transfer capability is taken as the minimum mentally responsible technology that can effectively deliver
between dmaxI and dmaxV . An example of sending end voltage hydrocarbons from domestic resources to the citizens of the
versus power is shown in Fig. 22. For a given transmission United States. RPSEA, operating as a consortium of premier
distance, the sending end tap-changing transformer plots are U.S. energy research universities, industry, and independent
defined as the calculated sending end voltages at that distance research organizations, manages the program under a contract
for each loading conditions. An example of results is shown with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Tech-
in Fig. 21. For this particular cable, Mode 2 operation without nology Laboratory. The authors would also like to thank the
compensation increases the transmission distance about 5 mi RPSEA working group for valuable suggestions and the GE
compared with Mode 1 operation (see Fig. 8). Global Research Center for facilities for this investigation.
SONG-MANGUELLE et al.: POWER TRANSFER CAPABILITY OF HVAC CABLES FOR SUBSEA T&D SYSTEMS 2391

R EFERENCES Song Chi (S’04–M’07) received the Ph.D. degree in

electrical engineering from The Ohio State Univer-
[1] W. A. Thue, Electrical Power Cable Engineering. New York, NY, USA:
sity, Columbus, OH, USA.
Marcel Dekker, 1999.
Since 2008, he has been an Electrical Engineer
[2] T. Worzyk, Submarine Power Cables. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 2009.
with GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA.
[3] XLPE Cable Systems, rev. 1, ABB, Zurich, Switzerland, 2005.
Dr. Chi is a member of the Industrial Drives Com-
[4] Operation Technology Inc., ETAP, Power System Analysis Software,
mittee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society.
ETAP, Irvine, CA, USA, 2010.
[5] EMTP, EMTP-RV ElectroMagnetic Transients Program User’s Guide,
EMTP, Middleton, WI, USA, 2007.
[6] C. S. Schifrren and W. C. Marble, “Charging current limitations in oper-
ation of high-voltage cable lines,” IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. 75,
no. 3, pp. 803–817, Jan. 1956.
[7] A. Panosyan, “Modeling of advanced power transmission system con-
trollers,” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. Hannover, Hanover, Germany, 2010.

Joseph Song-Manguelle (M’07–SM’10) received

the B.S. degree in pedagogical sciences and the M.S. Satish K. Gunturi (M’05–SM’12) received the
degree in electrical engineering from the University Ph.D. degree in materials science and metallurgy
of Douala, Douala, Cameroon, and the Ph.D. degree from Cambridge University, Cambridge, U.K.
in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal In- He was a Principal Scientist with ABB Corpo-
stitute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland. rate Research, Zürich, Switzerland, dealing with
He held engineering positions with GE Global power electronics packaging. He is currently a Senior
Research, Munich, Germany, and GE Oil and Gas, Materials Technologist with GE Energy Storage,
Le Creusot, France, where he was involved in the Schenectady, NY, USA. Prior to that, he was a Senior
design and test of large variable-frequency drives Engineer with GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY,
(VFDs), as well as developing new solutions for USA.
solving torsional vibration issues resulting from VFDs. In 2008, he joined GE
Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA, where he designed high-voltage direct
current power transmission and distribution systems for future long tieback
subsea applications. Since 2012, he has been a Senior Electrical Engineer with
ExxonMobil Development, Houston, TX, USA, where he is focused on oil
and gas facilities design, as well as technical qualification of subsea electrical
components such as subsea power cables, subsea VFDs, subsea motors (induc-
tion and permanent magnet), subsea transformers, and subsea switchgears.
Dr. Song-Manguelle is a member of the Petroleum and Chemical Industry
Committee Standards and Marine Subcommittees, the Industrial Drives Com-
Rajib Datta received the B.E. degree in
mittee, and the Power Electronics Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications
Society. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Industrial Drives electrical engineering from Jadavpur University,
Calcutta, India, in 1992, the M.Tech. degree in
Committee for the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS.
electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, India, in 1994, and the
Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Science
Maja Harfman Todorovic (S’03–M’08–SM’13) re- (IISc), Bangalore, India.
ceived the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering From 1995 to 2000, he was a Research Scholar
from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IISc.
USA. From 2000 to 2001, he worked on converter topolo-
Since 2008, she has been a Lead Power Engineer gies for large-scale wind parks with the ABB Cor-
with GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA. porate Research Center, Ladenburg, Germany. From 2001 to 2012, he was a
Dr. Todorovic is a member of the Industrial Drives Senior Engineer and Laboratory Manager in the power conversion organization
Committee and the Power Electronic Devices and with GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA. In 2013, he was an Associate
Components Committee of the IEEE Industry Appli- Professor with Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA. Since 2014, he
cations Society. has been a Principal Engineer at GE Global Research.

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