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Modelling, control design and analysis of VSC based HVDC transmission

systems

Conference Paper · December 2004

DOI: 10.1109/ICPST.2004.1460096 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 2004 lnfematlonal Conference on
Power System Technology - POWERCON2004
Singapore, 21-24 November 2004

Modelling, Control design and Analysis of

VSC based HVDC Transmission Systems
K. R. Padiyar Nagesh Prabhu
Department of Electrical Engineering Deparment of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Science Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore, India 560 012 Bangalore, India 560 012
Email [email protected] Email: knprabhuC3ee.iisc.emet.h

A6smcf- The development of power semiconductors, spe- and continuous across the operating range. For active power
cially IGBT's has led to the small power HVDC transmission balance, one of the converter operates on dc voltage control
based on Voltage Source Comerten (VSCs). The VSC based and other converter on active power control. When dc line
HVDC transmission system mainly consists of two converter
stations connected by a de cable. power is zero, the two converters can function as independent
This paper presents the modelling and control design of VSC STATCOMs.
based H M C which uses tweIve pulse three level converter This paper presents the modelling and control design of
topology. The reactive current injected by individual VSCs can VSC based HVDC which uses twelve pulse three level con-
be maintained constant or controlled to regulate converter bus verter topology. The modelling of the system neglecting VSC
voltage constant. While one VSC regulates the de bus voltage
the other controls the power Bow in the dc link. Each VSC is detailed (including network transients) and can be expressed
can have up to 4 controllers depending on the operating mode. in D-Q variables or (three) phase variables. The modelling of
The controller structure adapted for power controlIer is of PID VSC is based on (a) D-Q variables (neglecting harmonics in
type and all other controllers are of PI type. Each operating the output voltages of the converters) and (b) phase variables
mode requires proper tuning of controller gains in order to and the modelling of switching action in the VSC which
achieve satisfactory system performance. This paper discusses
a systematic approach for parameter optimization in selecting
also generates harmonics. The eigenvalue analysis and the
eontroller gains of VSC based HVDC. controller design is based on the D-Q model while the transient
The analysis of VSC based HVDC is carried using both D-Q simulation considers both models of VSC. Each VSC has a
model (negkting harmonics in the output voltages of VSC) and minimum of three controllers for regulating active and reactive
three phase detailed model of VSC using switching functions. power outputs of individual VSC. An additional controller at
While the eigenvalue analysis and controller design is based
on the D-Q model, the transient simulation considers botb
a VSC is required if the ac bus voltage is also to be regulated.
models. The analysis considers different operating modes of the Thus there are a large number of controller parameters to be
converters. tuned. A systematic approach [4], for parameter optimization
in selecting the controller gains is discussed in detail.
Keywords: Voltage Source Convertes(VSC), HVDC, Parameter The paper is organized as follows. The modelling of VSC
optimization, Eigenvalue analysis, Transient simulation.
based HVDC link is described in section II. The optimization
of the controller parameters is covered in section III while a
I. INTRODUCTION
case study is presented in section IV.Section V presents the
The development of power semiconductors, specially conclusions.
IGET's has led to the small power HVDC transmission based
on VoItage Source Converters (VSCs). The VSC based HVDC 11. MODELLING OF VSC BASED HVDC
installations has several advantages compared to conventional The VSC based HVDC transmission system mainly consists
HVDC such as, independent control of active and reactive of two converter stations connected by a dc cable (see Fig. 1).
power, dynamic voltage support at the converter bus for
enhancing stability possibility to feed to weak AC systems y D C Cable-
or even passive loads, reversal of power without changing
the polarity of dc voltage(advantageous in multiterminal dc
systems) and no requirement o f fast communication between
the two converter stations [1]-[3].
vsc 1 vsc2
Each converter station is composed of a VSC. The ampli-
tude and phase angle of the converter AC output voltage can Fig. 1. Schematic representation of VSC based HVDC
be controlled simultaneously to achieve rapid, independent
control of active and reactive power in all four quadrants. Usually, the magnitude of ac output voltage of the converter
The control of both active and reactive power is bi-directional is controlled by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) without

0-7803-8610-810~)20.00 Q 2004 IEEE 774

changing the magnitude of the dc voltage. However, the three the jfhac bus voltage 4.
Wrth the two converter VSC based
level converter topology considered here can also achieve the HVDC system, j = 1,2.
goal by varying the dead angle B with fundamental switching The dc side capacitors are described by the dynamical
frequency [SI, 161. A combination of multi-pulse and three equations as,
level configuration [7]is considered for both VSCs to have 12-
pulse converter with 3-level poles. The amplitude and phase
angle of the converter AC output voltage can be controlled
simultaneously to achieve rapid, independent controI of active
and reactive power in all four quadrants.
The detailed three phase model of converters i s developed
by modelling the converter operation by switching functions.
(see Appendix-A).

A. Mathemutical model in 0 - Q frnma of reference where,

When switching functions are approximated by their fun-
damental frequency components neglecting hammnics, VSC
based HVDC can be modelled by transforming the three
Idcl
1
= - kml sin(& f Q I ) I D ( If) kml COS(O1 f " l ) I p ( l )
+ +
Idcz = - k , ~sin(& a z ) I ~ ( z ) k,z cos(& +
a2)1~(2)
I q l ) and I q l ) =e D-Q components of converter-1 current
phase voltages and currents in to D-Q variables using Kron's 11.
transformation [8], [9]. The equivalent circuit of a VSC viewed ) D-Q components of converter-2 current
Z q 2 ) and I Q ~are
from the AC side is shown in Fig. 2. 12.
IdLl and IdL2 are the DC cable currents in the left and right
hand side sections of the cable.

B. Converter Control
The Fig. 3 shows the schematic representation for converter
control. In reference [IO], [ll]?the dynamical equations of the
current control are dealt with in detail. The reactive current
reference ( I R ( j r) e f ) of jth converter can be kept constant or
regulated to maintain the respective bus voltage magnitude
at the specified value. The active current reference ( I p ( j ref)
)
can be either obtained from DC voltage controller or power
controller.
I

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of a VSC viewed from the AC side

"1jJi
In Fig. 2, R,,, X,j are the resistance and reactance of the
interfacing transformer of VSCj . The magnitude control of
j t h converter output voltage Ti,
is achieved by modulating
the conduction period affected by dead angle of individual
converters. One of the converter controls dc voltage while the
other converter controls dc link power.
The output voltage of j t h converter can be represented in
D-Q frame of reference as:

$1 = 4Grj)+ v&j) (1)

v ~ ( j=)kmjVdcj sin(6j + Cyj) (2)

Fig. 3. Converter controller
= k m j v d c j COS(@j f
vQ(3) aj) (3)
Referring Fig. 3, active and reactive currents for j t h con-
m e r e , k,j = /c'cos(p,), k' = kp,&, IC = for a 12
verter are defined as
pulse converter, pj is the transformation ratio of the interfacing
transformer T j and Vdcb and Vacb are the base voltages of I Q ( j )COS(^'^)
Ipp(j)= lo(j,sin(0j) -i- (7)
dc and ac sides respectively. cvj is the angle by which the
fundamentaI component of j t h converter output voltage leads (8)

775
 and aj and & are calculated as
where P is a positive definite matrix and solved from the
(9) Liapunov equation
P A + A ~ =P -Q 116)

where Q = CfC
A t t = 0,
b ( j ) v D [ j )sin(ej) f vQ(j)
cm(ej) (11)
J = xpxo (17)
VR(J)
= Vo(j) cos(8j) - VQU)
sin(Qj) (12)
If X O lies on the hypersphere of radius unity, the expected
~ ) VR(~)
V P ( and ;ire the in phase and quadrature components value of J can be expressed as,
of qj) with respect to jihbus voltage. The equations 7 and 8,
results in positive values when j t h VSC is drawing real current 7= trip] (18)
and inductive reactive current. B. Algorithm for optimization
The various operating combinations of VSC based HVDC
The performance index 7 given by equation (18) can be
are summarized in Table I.
obtained in terms of the initial state Xo and initial values of
TABLE I the controller parameters [ T ~ which
] are determined by trial
OPERATING COMBlNATlONS OF vsc BASED HVDC and error. The algorithm for minimization is given as below.

E 4 Power

Additional 4 cases (cases 5-8) are obtained when VSCl

L.
stop. Else go to step-

The parameters are optimized within the range of upper and

lower bounds. The upper and lower bounds for parameters are
operates as an inverter and VSC2 operates as a rectifier. determined to ensure a stable system. The above algorithm
111. OPTIMIZATION OF THE CONTROLLER PARAMETERS is implemented using the optimization routine 'fmincon' of
MATLAB [12] where the update for the parameters Ark are
With 4 controllers at each converter station there can be up obtained by line search.
to 17 controller gains to be selected for a two terminal VSC
base HVDC link. Each operating mode requires proper tuning IV. CASESTUDY
of controller gains in order to achieve satisfactory system The system diagram is shown in Fig. 4, which consists of a
performance. generator and AC transmission system on either side of VSC
A systematic approach for parameter optimization [41 in HVDC cable transmission. The generator data is adapted from
selecting controller gains of VSC based HVDC is discussed IEEE FBM [9], [13]. The data for HVDC cable transmission
in the section to follow. is adapted from [14]. The data for the transmission line
A. Statement of the optimization problem parameters is given in Appendix-B.
Consider a system defined by the equation

X = [A(r)]X
Y = [CIX
where matrix [A(r)] involves one or more adjustable pa-
rameters. [TI is the vector o f controller gains to be optimized.
The optimization problem is based on the standard infinite
time quadratic performance index which is to be minimized
by adjusting the controller parameters and can be stated as,

J = L-u"Y dt (14)

Assuming the system is stable, J can be expressed as

J =XTPX (151

776
 The modelling aspects of the electromechanical system
comprising the generator modelled with 2.2 model, mechanical
system, the excitation system, power system stabilizer (PSS),
torsional filter and the transmission line are given in detail in
reference [SI, [9].
B
-= a':
4.@

4- .OmM 0.5 1.5 P5

o':3zT
lime (sec)
The analysis is carried out on the test system based on the
following initial operating condition and assumptions. ^. 0.9

1) The generator delivers 0.125 p.u. power to the transmis- 0.85

sion system. L- 0.15

08 05 1.5 2.5
2) The magnitude of generator terminal voltage is set at
1.05 p.u. Time (sec)
3) The magnitude of both the converter bus vokages are
Fig. 6. Simulation results for step change with optimal conuollerparameters
set at 1.01 p.u. The magnitudes of both the infinite bus (case- 1 )
voltages are set at 1.0 p.u.
4) The VSCI draw5 0.9 p a . power from busl to feed to
HVDC cable for rectifier operation and draws -0.9 p.u. parameters obtained for case-1 are shown in Fig. 7. It is to be
power from busl with inverter operation. The base MVA noted that, the system is unstable and the optimal parameters
i s 300 MVA, AC voltage base is taken to be 500kV and
of case-1 operation are found unsuitable for case-3. Hence
DC voltage base is 150kV. for case-3 operation, the optimal parameters are separately
5) Generator rating is taken to be 300 MVA in all case obtained.
studies.
0.1 r I
A. Simulation results 0.05

The initial values of parameters are suboptimal and are ?

P
a
I
4.m
obtained by trial and error. To study the performance of -U
4.1
controller and optimize the performance, a step change in the
reference is applied and the simulation results for suboptimal
and optimum controller parameters (obtained by the algorithm)
1
are given in the sections to follow. c
?
-
OS
The simulation results for step change in reactive current a
w
0.8
and power reference of VSCI with case-1 (when the controller e
0.7
parameters are suboptimal) are shown in Fig. 5. a5 I t.5 2
I
2.5
Time (sec)
O.W, 1
Fig. 7. Simuhtion results for step change with case-3 using the optimal
contmller parameters of case-1

I The simulation results for step change in reactive current of

0.5 I 1.5 E 2.5
Time (sec) VSCl and power reference with case-3 (when the controller
O.S[ I parameters are optimal) are shown in Fig. 8. It is observed that,
the response to step change in power is slow with rectifier
on voltage control and inverter on power control (case-3)
compared with case-1. This is observed (results not shown
0.151 I here) even when VSCl is operating as an inverter and VSC2 as
D.5 I 1.5 2 2.5
Time (Sec) rectifier. In general, the controller gains for different operating
modes are simillu only when the change pertains to the
Fig. 5. Simulation resula for step change with suboptimal controller
parameters (case-1) operation of the reactive current control.

The simulation results for step change in reactive current B. Eigenvalue Analysis
and power reference of VSCl with case-1 (when the controller In this analysis, the overall system is linearized at the
parameters are optimal) are shown in Fig. 6. The optimal operating point and the eigenvalues of system matrix are
parameters obtained for case-2 can be used with case-2 as computed for cases 1-8 and are given in TabIe 11. Comparing
the only difference with this case is that, the reactive current the eigenvalue results of Table 11, it is to be noted that, the
reference is obtained from bus voltage controller. voltage control marginally improves the damping of swing
The simulation results with case-3 for step change in reac- mode with rectifier operation of VSCl whereas, it marginally
tive current of VSCl and power reference using the optimal reduces the damping of swing mode with inverter operation

777
 I
0.5 I 1.5 a 25
Time (sec) 4
1 I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 1
I I Time (sec)

; 4

075- ' t
05 1 1.5 2 2.5
Time (sec)

Fig. 8. Simulation results for step change with optimal controller parameters
(case-3)
Fig. 9. Variation of rotor angle and power at converter 1 for three phase
fault (D-Q model)
of VSCl. In general, inverter operation improves the damping
of swing mode than rectifier operation. 0

41 h 4I

\,i?..----
TABLE II
EIGENVALUES OF THE DETAILED SYSTEM
U3 -2

-1.1389f j 7.5117
-1.1859i j 7.3823 I
*
-1.1233 j 7.4699
4
1
0 1 2 3 4
Time (sec)
5 6 7

C. Transient simulation Fig. 10. Variation of rotor angle and power at converter I for three phase
fault mree phase model)
The transient siInulation of the combined nonlinear system
with D-Q and detailed three phase model of the system i s
carried out using MATLAB-SIMULINK [12].
the power controller becomes slow if the dc voltage
A large disturbance is initiated at 0.5 sec in the form of
controller is located at the rectifier station.
three phase fault at converter-1 bus of VSC HVDC with a
2) Although, the inverter operation improves slightly the
fault reactance of 0.04(p.u.) and cleared at 4.0 cycles.
damping of swing mode than rectifier operation, the
The simulation results for case-1 with D-Q model of VSC
mode of operation of VSC based HVDC system has
HVDC are shown in Fig. 9. The simulation results for case-i
no significant effect on the damping of generator swing
with three phase model of VSC HVDC are shown in Fig. 10.
mode.
It is to be noted that, there is a good match between the
3) The D-Q model is quite accurate in predicting the system
simulation results (variation of rotor angle ( 6 ) and power of
performance.
converter l(P1)) obtained with D-Q and three phase models
of VSC HVDC. Also, the power flow in the HVDC link is
brought back to the reference value in a short time. A
APPENDIX
SWITCHING FUNCTIONS FOR A THREE LEVEL vsc
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we have presented the analysis and simulation In three level bridge, the phase potentials can be modulated
of VSC based HVDC system. The modelling details of HVDC between three levels instead of two. Each phase can be
system with twelve-pulse three level VSC are discussed. A connected to the positive dc terminal, the midpoint on the dc
systematic approach for the selection of controller parameters side or the negative dc terminal. The switching function Pa(t)
based on parameter optimization is presented. for phase 'a' is shown in Fig. 11. The switching functions of
The following points emerge based on eigenvalue analysis phase b and c are similar but phase shifted successively by
and transient simulation. 120° in terms of the fundamental frequency.
1) The optimal controller gains depend significantly on the The converter terminal voltages with respect to the neutral
location of the dc voltage controller. The response of of transformer can be expressed as,

778
 1.51 I
Neglecting converter losses we can get the expression for
dc side currents as,

where p is the transformation ratio of the interfacing trans-

former of VSC.
B
APPENDIX
SYSTEMDATA
The data for generator in per unit are given in references
I
I [9], [13]. AU data are in p.u. on 300 MVA base.
I ,
Transmission system data (300MVA,500kV):
Rt = 0.0,X t = 0.14,RI = 0.02, Xi = 0.5, Bcl = 0.3,
Rel = 0.02, X e l = 0.28059, Rez = 0.02, Xe2 = 0.30,
Bc2 = 0.3
v, = LO~LB,, vl = I . O ~ L B vz ~, =1.01~0~

[ “1 [ ]
Ea1 = lLOo, Eb2 = l L O a
Sa ( t ) VSC data:
(A.1) R, = 0.0064, X , = 0.096, & = 50.368, gc = R P ’
1
= Sb(t) vdc
VT, W) b, = 1.775
DC CabIe data (300MW, 150kV base):
where, SQ(t) - P ~ $ )
( [
pa f ) f P b ( t ) + P =

6 “I
SQ(t)is the switching function for phase ‘a’ of a 6-pulse 3-
Rdcl = 0.0333, X k , = 3, Rdcz = 0.0333, x d c z = 3,
b,, : 0.73513
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