HVDC Notes

High Voltage DC Transmission Lines(HVDC)

Summary

    A high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current (AC) systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses. For underwater power cables, HVDC avoids the heavy currents required to charge and discharge the cable capacitance each cycle. For shorter distances, the higher cost of DC conversion equipment compared to an AC system may still be justified, due to other benefits of direct current links.

    HVDC allows power transmission between unsynchronized AC transmission systems. Since the power flow through an HVDC link can be controlled independently of the phase angle between source and load, it can stabilize a network against disturbances due to rapid changes in power. HVDC also allows the transfer of power between grid systems running at different frequencies, such as 50 Hz and 60 Hz. This improves the stability and economy of each grid, by allowing the exchange of power between incompatible networks.

    The modern form of HVDC transmission uses technology developed extensively in the 1930s in Sweden (ASEA) and in Germany. Early commercial installations included one in the Soviet Union in 1951 between Moscow and Kashira and a 100 kV, 20 MW system between Gotland and mainland Sweden in 1954. The longest HVDC link in the world is the Rio Madeira link in Brazil, which consists of two bipoles of ±600 kV, 3150 MW each, connecting Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia to the São Paulo area. The length of the DC line is 2,375 km (1,476 mi).

    High voltage is used for electric power transmission to reduce the energy lost in the resistance of the wires. For a given quantity of power transmitted, doubling the voltage will deliver the same power at only half the current. Since the power lost as heat in the wires is proportional to the square of the current for a given conductor size, but does not depend on the voltage, doubling the voltage reduces the line losses per unit of electrical power delivered by a factor of 4. While power lost in transmission can also be reduced by increasing the conductor size, larger conductors are heavier and more expensive.

    High voltage cannot readily be used for lighting or motors, so transmission-level voltages must be reduced for end-use equipment. Transformers are used to change the voltage levels in alternating current (AC) transmission circuits. Because transformers made voltage changes practical, and AC generators were more efficient than those using DC, AC became dominant after the introduction of practical systems of distribution in Europe in 1891, and the conclusion in 1892 of the War of Currents, a competition being fought on many fronts in the US between the DC system of Thomas Edison and the AC system of George Westinghouse.

    Practical conversion of power between AC and DC became possible with the development of power electronics devices such as mercury-arc valves and, starting in the 1970s, semiconductor devices as thyristors, integrated gate-commutated thyristors (IGCTs), MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs) and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT).

Images of existing Top HVDC lines and Stations in the world

Note: I mentioned links through media-fire. maybe gives a problem in mobile downloads, use desktop or Laptop to better view & downloads.

UNIT WISE E-NOTES (HVDC handwritten notes with average info)

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