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Engineering studies for Itaipu convertor
station design
Abs~ract: The paper presents a discussion on some of the engineering studies performed to determine the
d~s.lgn param.eters of the Itaipu ~onvertor stations. The following studies are discussed: steady-state con-
ditIOns, reactive-power compensatIOn, Insulation co-ordination and arrester protective scheme current stresses
system stability, main characteristics of the master control, AC and DC filter and DC line res;nance. For each'
of these st~dy areas, the paper gives a summary of the study methodology used, indicates the main study
results, and Includes some of the system problems encountered and the solution adopted.
Introduction
Itaipu power plant is ahydroelectric project being constructed
by Brazil and Paraguay on the Parana River, with 12600 MW
installed capacity to be generated by 9 x 823.5 MVA, 50Hz
units and 9 x 737 MVA, 60Hz units. In accordance with the
agreement signed by the two countries, each one will have
the right to buy one half of the power to be generated by
Itaipu and, in addition, one country will have the first priority
to buy the excess power that could not be used by the other.
Considering the terms of the agreement, that Paraguay would
only need the total of its share of the power in the far future
and that Brazilian frequency is 60 Hz, it was decided to con-
struct ahybrid AC/DC transmission system with two 600 kV
bipolar lines [1] of 795 and 8l5km, to transmit the 50Hz
generation and three 750kV AC transmission lines to transmit
the 60Hz power to Brazil [2,3].
The convertor station specifications were issued in
November 1978 and the contract was awarded to the ASEA/
PROMON Consortium in J une 1979. It is the scope of this
paper to report the results of several studies performed, up to
now, comparing them with the requirements of FURNAS
specification. These studies were done in Brazil and Sweden by
the Consortium in closeco-operation with FURNAS, to finalise
the equipment and control specifications for the Itaipu HVDC
convertor stations.
2 Steady-state conditions: main circuit parameters
The purpose of this study, carried out using the well known
DC formulas, was to establish the main circuit parameters of
the HYDC transmission aswell asits steady-state characteristics,
related to the following operating modes:
(a) balanced bipolar
(b) monopolar with ground return
(c) reduced DC voltage
(d) bipole paralleling
(e) high reactive absorption
(I) reverse power.
The FURNAS specification required transmission of rated
power of 6300 MWfrom the rectifier AC 500 kV busbar. The
rated power at the inverter substation 345 kV AC busbar was
calculated, based on the minimum line resistance with maxi-
mum ambient temperature of 40C dry and 29C wet bulb.
Paper 2320 C (P9, Pl0), received 23rd J une 1982
Mr. Peixoto is with FURNAS Centrais Eletricas SA Rua Real Grandeza
219, 13~ andar, Bl.A 22281, Rio de J aneiro, Brazil. Mr. Frontin is also
with FURNAS Centrais El<'tricas SA, Rua Real Grandeza 219, 16~
andar, Bl.C 22281, Rio de J aneiro, Brazil. Mr. J ardini is with THEMAG
Engenharia, Praia de Botafogo 518, 11~ andar, 22250, Rio de J aneiro,
Brazil
The power should be transmitted by two bipoles with
twelve pulse groups per pole. The thyristor valves are air in-
sulated, water cooled and designed for indoor use. The valves
are built up as a quadruple valve unit, the single valve being
made up of eight thyristor modules connected in series, each
containing 12 thyristors, type YST-45 (85mm diameter).
Redundancy is 3%.
Rated voltage was chosen as 600kV (at the rectifier) based
on the lowest present worth cost of convertor stations, DCline
and losses when compared with 500 and 550kV [2]. The
minimum losses were estimated by the Consortium as 18MW
per bipole resulting in a rated current of 2.61 kA. At the
specified low ambient temperature of 30C dry and 24C wet
bulb, the Consortium guaranteed 3392 MWper bipole without
additional cost. An overload capability of 25%for 5sand 15%
for 20 s can be applied to both normal and low ambient con-
ditions. The minimum continuous current is 10%of rated. In
the reverse power mode the Consortium guaranteed, without
additional cost, 3007 MWat the 345 kV AC busbar, limited by
transformer tap range.
After aDC line fault, three sequential restarts arepermitted,
each one with individually adjustable deionisation time from
0.05 to 1s. If they are unsuccessful, one restart is tried with
75% of the nominal voltage under the normal operating con-
dition. The equipment will be capable of operation in this
reduced voltage condition continuously, that means maximum
values of 'Y = 36.1, Q = 38.5 compatible with the valve cir-
cuit design, The range of 'Y can also be used for high reactive
absorption during receiving-system light load.
Taking into acount rated power, rated voltage of 600 kV,
maximum line resistance (maximum line length and maximum
temperature), chosen nominal values of a=15 and 'Y =17,
and contraints related to the maximum short-circuit capability
of the valves (about 30kA), the values in Table 1were deter-
mined for each six-pulse bridge.
Load tape changers (LTC) are provided on the AC side of
the transformers. The LTC on the inverter station transformers
controls, during steady state, the rectifier DC busbar voltage in
the range 592.5 to 607.5 kV, corresponding to two tap steps to
avoid shunting. If 1%measuring tolerance is considered, the
range could actually be 586.5 to 613.5 kV. The LTC in
the rectifier controls the firing angle a of the rectifier, a isin
the range 12.5-17 .50. The LTC range was calculated using the
Trans-
former dx, %
yYLi. Ratio (kV)
MVA
8.9 7%
500/127.4-127.4
940.4/470.2-470.2
8.6 +8%,-6%
345/122-122
900.6/450.3-450.3
above data and includes 0.75% measuring tolerance inthe DC
current, ground return circuit of total resitance of 0.7.Q,
maximum and minimum DC current, AC voltage variation
550-475 kV at Foz do Igua,!u and 362-321 kV at Sao Roque,
the four modes of operation (a) to (d) described above,
transformer reactance tolerances, resistive voltage drop 0.4%
and constant voltage drop of the thyristor 0.21 kV.
A range of - 6 to +20 steps of 1.25%was determined for
the rectifier and inverter station transformers. This range will
cover all conditions except operation at reduced DC voltage
with extreme parameter tolerances and DCvoltage higher than
525 kV at Foz. A reduced DC voltage of 80%can be obtained
under such conditions and this deviation from the specification
was accepted by FURNAS. It should be noted that to prevent
equipment operation under excessive steady-state voltage two
protections are provided: one at a level UdioG = (l - k 6.5)
UdioL, where k> 1.2 and 6.5=1.25% is the tap step, which
blocks the order to change the tap to increase the commutating
voltage (UdioG equals 1.019 and 1.003 Udion for rectifier and
inverter, respectively). The second level is UdioL = 0.99
Udiomax (1% is the measuring tolerance) that orders achange
of tap to decrease the commutating voltage (UdioL equals
1.034 and 1.022 times Udion for rectifier and inverter,
respectively).
3 Reactive-power compensation
The study of the reactive compensation to supply the demands
of the convertors and system comprised the verification of:
(a) reactive balance in steady-state operation
(b) voltage variation when switching reactive devices
(c) fundamental frequency overvoltages
(d) self excitation of synchronous machines
(e) low-order harmonic resonance
(f) power recovery after system faults.
The reactive compensation in both stations is designed, accord-
ing to the specification, to allow transmission of the nominal
rating of 700MW per generator with anyone switchable
element out of service, in any stage of development shown in
Table 2 and bipolar operation. The reactive compensation
should also permit the transmission of the maximum output
of 727 MW per generator with all elements in service up to a
maximum of eight generators.
For Foz do Igua,!u these requirements will be met over the
voltage range 0.95 to 1.05p.u. at the rectifier 500 kV AC bus-
bar, although the equipments are designed to operate up to
1.10p.u. The generators' MVAR capability at the rectifier
busbar was considered part of the reactive compensation.
For the Sao Roque station, these requirements will be met
over the voltage range 0.93-1.05 p.U. at the inverter 345 kV
AC busbar. With nominal DC infeed and at 0.95 p.u. AC
busbar voltage, there will be zero exchange of reactive power
to the receiving system and at 1.05p.u. 300 MVAR can be
supplied to the receiving AC system. In addition, there will be
a further controlled 300 MVAR supply capacity to cover
emergency conditions.
Table 2: Stages of development
Bipole voltage
Number of
machines
kV
300
+600, - 300
600
600
-I- 600
= 600
300
+ 600, - 300
600
The reactive-power consumption of the convertors was
calculated by the Consortium considering the normal range of
DC voltage and the angles a; (12.5-17 .5) and 'Y (17). For
this calculation the nominal value of convertor transformer
reactance was used based on the FURNAS specification. The
values of the compensation are shown in Table 3 and fulfil
the specified requirements unless the average of all transformer
reactances is above the nominal value. If the average is 5%
above nominal there will be alack of 75 and 55MVAR at Foz
and S. Roque, respectively. As it is considered unlikely that
such deviation will occur, the amount of compensation in-
dicated inTable 3will be retained until acheck can be made on
the reactance of the convertor transformers as manufactured.
This would permit the determination of the possible need of
extra compensation, allowing this to be installed in due time.
Besides the case of bipolar operation used for dimensioning
as per the criteria specified, the other operating modes were
analysed but with all reactive devices in. The given reactive-
power compensation is adequate for the majority of cases.
However, in a few situations it will not be possible to operate
in the full range of AC voltage in the sending end.
It was required in the specification that thevoltage variation
when switching the largest compensation device should be
lower than 5%of the preswitching value at Sao Roque. In the
proposal, the largest element size was 444 MVAR. As this
would result in voltage variation higher than 5%, a special
action in the control of 'Y was proposed to solve the problem
during the scheduled operation. When switching in a filter or
capacitor, 'Y would be rapidly increased and then returned to
its initial value slowly. When switching out, 'Y would be in-
creased slowly to allow the synchronous condenser to pick the
extra reactive power, and then 'Y would be rapidly decreased
after switching out the device. This control would not cover
unscheduled tripping. FURNAS considered this a deviation
from the specification and the size of the banks was changed
to the values of Table 3.
For Foz do Igua,!u, with the filter sizes shown in Table 3,
the voltage variation when switching one filter bank will be
higher than 5% in the initial stage. To solve this problem,
FURNAS is considering the installation of a branch of each
filter bank on a separate switch bay by advancing the instal-
lation of bays that will be later utilised for complete fIlter
banks. This will permit the installation of the required filters,
while meeting the voltage-variation criterion.
Another requirement related to reactive compensation was
that, during complete DC load rejection (blocking of all con
vertor groups), the fundamental frequency overvoltage at the
AC convertor busbar should not exceed 1.4p.u. and should be
reduced to 1.05 p.u. of the initial voltage within 5s, without
any switching operations. For the rectifier system the voltage
at the generator terminals should not exceed 1.3p.u. Also in
the situation of partial blocking of the convertor groups, at
any stage, the fundamental frequency temporary overvoltages
with some convertors remaining in service should not exceed
the design limits of the thyristor valves. In the final instal-
lation, when blocking one bipole from an initial operation
Equipment Foz do Igua,>u
Filters 2 X 350 + 3 X 280.3
(number X MV AR = 1540.9
at 500 and 345 kV)
Shunt capacitor
(number X MVAR
at 345 kV)
Svnchronous com-
pensation (number X
MV ARc/MVARi)
3 X 220.8 +279.8 -
296 +4 X 237 +
296.3 =2482.5
~Gndition of three poles at rated load, the convertor busbar
:'undamental frequency voltage should not exceed 1.3p.u.
For complete blocking it was not possible to keep the AC
overvoltage level lower than 1.5p.u. at the rectifier station
unless contraints of initial voltage and tap position of the step-
up transformer were imposed. To solve this problem, the
five equivalent networks were represented on the simulator.
The equivalents 1and 2 were represented by LR circuits wned
to 2.15 or 2p.u. frequency, respectively. Impedance anglewas
85 at 60Hz. Equivalents 3 and 4 matched the same Z (0.:)
plot of the actual network, but tuned to 120 and 110Hz. At
the second harmonic the impedance angle is 75. Equivalent 5
------'QI:~" ,
PLC Ii Iters
f2
...
I!J
~
...
u
5
0
P
compensation could be decreased but this would result in lack
of reactive power and, consequently, operating restrictions.
However, all equipment is able to withstand this overvoltage,
and this exception is under consideration. It is important to
point out that, owing to the characteristics of the control
equipment, simultaneous blocking of two bipoles is unlikely to
occur. For internal faults in one convertor only that convertor
will be blocked. Persistent commutation failure during system
AC faults, if initiating blocking, would result in complete load
rejection at the sending end. However, in the case of Itaipu
control equipment design, for commutation failure due to
system faults, blocking is not carried out. Blocking would
occur only if the commutation failure lasts for longer than one
second. With reference to self excitation of the Itaipu gener-
ators, preliminary investigation by dynamic simulation showed
that, if the number of generators is greater than the number of
filter banks at any configuration, no risk of self excitation
exists. This will be included in the supervision system. For the
inverter station, a synchronous condenser connected with one
filter or capacitor bank must of be permitted and this is
~overed by station layout and protection.
With respect to low-order harmonic resonance in the re-
:ei\'ing system, in the Consortium proposal, a preliminary
lli\'estigation was made regarding the resonant frequency of
the network in the various stages of the development of the
'X system. This was based on anLR equivalent network with
i" l:::;J edance angle of 85 from the fundamental frequency to
:",e :::'::d harmonic. The number of synchronous condensers
se:e::e~ ,esulted in a resonant frequency of the system plus
:11:e, .i::~ synchronous condensers above 2.15 times funda-
:- ::e:: ::c:. O..1ngto changes in system configuration later on, it
'.'-.is:" :s:.y:e,ed that some combination of system plus compen-
satlo" :'J '.::d be in resonance at the second harmonic. Then a
sim:.:::.: :,:, study was conducted to evaluate this condition and
to ~J :-'.;::.:,e \\ith the results obtained during the proposal
period. To compare and analyse the effect of these conditions,
- - ." "'- J -
electrode
to the Iine
other pole
represented the actual system with no adjustment. Fault
clearing, transformer DC saturation and valve faults (misfire
and firing through) were studied and it was concluded that
although a second harmonic resonance could be found in the
actual system, the angle of the impedance was very low,
offering a high damping of the possible oscillation. Conse-
quently, the transient performance of the actual system was
better than the simple equivalent considered in the proposal
with the same number of synchronous condensers.
It should also be noted that the number of synchronous
condensers chosen was essentially determined by the require-
ments of system recovery after faults.
4 Insulation co-ordination and arrester protective scheme
Only zinc-oxide gapless arresters are provided for the Itaipu
HYDC system (Fig. 1).
Extensive overvoltages studies were performed to evaluate
the energies and currents for which the arresters would have to
be tested, and to find the maximum current and respective
waveshape that define the protective level and, consequently,
the insulation. The studies covered fundamental frequency
overvoltages, switching-surge overvoltages and lightning surges.
In the first group, complete and partial blocking of the con-
vertors was examined. In the second group, investigations
of transients were related to load rejection, fault clearing,
switching of transformer, filters and lines, valvefaults and the
consequences on the AC side, monopolar faults on the DC
lines, ground faults on the AC phase of the valve side of the
convertor transformers, faulty closing of bypass switches,
ground faults on the DC busbar including fast surges, bipole
paralleling, DC mter switching and current extinction in one
three-pulse commutation group. In the third group, the effect
of lightning surges injected from AC and DC lines and due to
shielding failure were evaluated.
Digital computer programs were used to study fundamental
frequency and lightning overvoltages; whereas TNA, DC
simulator and computer programs wereused to study switching-
surge overvoltages. In the latter, as ageneral rule the TNA and
Table 4: Arrester characteristics andstresses
6
Stress Location (Fig. 1) 1A 18 2 3 4A
arrester parameters
48 Foz S. Roque
Number of colums 8 4 6 (3) 2 2 2
Energy capability, MWs 8 4.2 6.5 2 3.6 5.3 3.6
Switching Maximum continuous
surge voltage, kVp 206.7 206.7 347.5 10 614 450 296
Maximum energy form
studies, MWs 14.4
4.2 6.5 2 3.6 5.3 3.6
Maximum current, kA 6.3 2.1 1.8 60 O.b-
1 1
waveshape,J .1 .S 1000 1000 1000 (2) 1000 45 X 90 45 X 90
Protective level, (1) (1)
kV 325/312 316/302 579 110 1057 862 552
20% margin
(reference) 390/374 379/362 695 132 1269 1035 663
Impulse Maximum current, kA 3 3 3 11 17.5 12.8 10
surge Protective level, kV (1) (1)
332/319 332/319 626 101 1380 1050 677
25%margin
(reference) 415/399 415/399 783 127 1725 1312 847
(1) Lower values refer to SaoRoque station andhigher onesto Foz
(2) High frequency dueto filter dischargewaveshape(closeto lightning- surge type)
(3) Preliminary value
(4) AC/DC filter arrester specification not yet finalised (location 5and7)
the DC simulator were used for general investigations of worst
cases and digital programs used to make the final calculations
of energy and currents in the arrester. This procedure was
adopted because the energy given in TNA and simulator
studies is considerably lower than that obtained with digital
calculation owing to the inherent damping of the former tools.
Inthe digital simulation, the arresters were represented by their
average characteristic less 2.5% (manufacturing tolerance).
The protective level is taken for this same reason asplus 2.5%
above the average characteristic. The results presented in terms
of arrester stress are shown in Table 4, together with other
characteristics.
The maximum stress obtained in the studies for the 1A
arrester was 14.4MWsduring an AC phase-to-ground fault on
the valve side of the transfonner in parallel-operation mode of
convertors and a certain range of fault application instants. As
this condition has a low probability of occurrence and the
energy specified of 8MWscovers most of the cases in parallel
operation and all other modes of operation, this risk was
accepted by FURNAS. In any case, should this high-energy
(14.4MWs) condition occur, the protective level will not be
exceeded even if the arrester fails. For the other arrester the
conditions that gavehighest energy were:
arrester lB- current excitation in only one three pulse
group
arrester 2 - faulty closing of the bypass switch
arrester 3 - DC busbar fault
arrester 4A/4B - discharge DC line at 1.7p.u.
arrester 6 - fault clearing [4] .
Asrequired by the FURNAS specification, the insulation levels
were selected in the following way:
Non- self- restoring insulation: For the oil insulation the BIL
is equal to standard IEC value greater than 1.20/0.83 times the
switching surge protective level of the arrester. The BSL is
equal to 0.83 BIL. For the values, 15 and 20%margin areused
for switching surge and lightning/fast surges, respectively. It
should be noted that minimum values of BIL = 1425 kV and
BSL = 1175 kV for the Foz transformer, and BIL = 1050kV
and BSL = 870 kV for the Sao Roque transformer were
specified for AC side.
Self- restoring insulation: For all equipment, except the ones
mentioned above, the BSL is equal to standard lEC value
greater than 1.25 times the switching-surge protective level of
the arrester, to give an overall risk of failure not greater than
one flashover in 100 years within the substation. The BIL is
Table 5: Self- restoring insulation levelsfor Foz (1)
Sector Protected by BIL Margin BSL Margin
protected arrester
kV % kV %
DC line end 4A 1800 30 1321 25
DC switchyard 4B 1675 31 1321 25
Valve sideof
DC reactor 2+2 1675 34 1448 25
Neutral busbar 3 325 221 150 36
Transformer
valveside
lower Dwind 3 + 1B 750 73 533 25
lower Y wind 3+1B+1B 1050 37 928 25
upper Dwind 2+1B 1300 36 1119 25
upper Y wind 2+1B+1B 1800 39 1514 25
Busbarbetween 12
pulsebridges 2 850 35 724 25
Acrosssingle
valve 1A/1 B 399 20 374/363 15
-'Ie busbar
~:z 8: l;;uEzu 6 1550 48, 1 ~"75 .-
::::=: - ::_:=- 0
";-: 72:
73
~==
-
--~
~'" l.
~"
Table 6: Nonselfrestoring insulation levels for Foz (1)
Sector Protected by BIL Margin BSL Margin
protected arrester
kV % kV %
DC reactor
line side 4B 1550 21 1287 21
DC reactor
valve side 2+2 1675 33 1390 20
Across DC
reactor (note 2) 1800 20 not governed
Transformer
valve side
lower D 3 + 1B 650 50 540 27
lower Y 3+1B+1B 1175 54 975 31
upper D 2 + 1B 1300 36 1079 20
upper Y 2+1B+1B 1800 40 1494 23
Line side
F5?zIgua<;u 6 1425 36 1175 36
Sao Roque 6 1050 55 870 58
(1) For Sao Roque all insulation that depends on arresters 1A/1 B is slightly lower.
(2) There is no arrester across the DC reactor. The margin is applied to maximum overvoltage from the studies.
selected as the best lEC combination from BSL. It should be
noted that, for AC equipment, minimum values of ElL =
1550kV and BSL =1175kV, for Foz, and BIL =l175kV
and BSL =900 kV, for Sao Roque were specified. The in-
sulation levels for the station were determined by these criteria
and the knowledge of the arrester location involved in the
protection. Tables 5and 6show these values.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the overcurrents due
to short circuit across one valve, phase-to-ground short circuit
on the valve side of the convertor transformers, DC line short
circuits, other DC current transients due to control action or
AC busbar short circuits.
Fig. 2 show the condition of short circuit across valve.
When the valve 3 starts conduction and there is a fault across
valve 1, a phase-to-phase short-circuit occurs. The maximum
current value is calculated by
. Id V
1 1 - - = - [cos(wt+a+/3)- e- Rt/Lcos(a+mJ
2 2Z
where V is the crest phase-to-phase Thevenin voltage, Z =
yR2 +(WL)2 is the Thevenin impedance that includes system
impedance and convertor transformer impedance, /3 = tan-
1
(R/ wL), a is the firing angle and I d is the DC current.
The maximum occurs when wt +a +/3 = 180
0
, and before
this maximum occurs ablocking order is given to all convertors
of the pole with the current Id interrupted by the valvesin the
~1ther3, 6 or l2-pulse groups. This is the reason for the term
(- Id/2) in the formula and can be understood if superposition
i, considered (Id injected from the DC line divides into Id/2 in
" ::C:',e 1 and 3). To find the maximum value based on the
;-~:-:~~ula in eqn. 1, many cases need to be investigated including
'.:::-:J ';Soperating conditions in terms of active and the reactive
::~.'.~~ and DC/AC voltages that relate the variables V,
L' 0: and transformer reactance for each tap position.
X,~ 2., Z includes system impedance this should be the mini-
:-~.;:~~.3..l~leforeseen. In the Itaipu design the values obtained
v.e~e::- .J kA, for the FozdoIgua~ustation,and27.6,forthe
Sac> RJ ::c-...:e station working asrectifier.
All tillS extensive calculation is avoided if the current is
estimateci by the phase-to-phase short-circuit calculation using
the value of V that corresponds to Udiomax, a =amin with Z
equal to the minimum transformer reactance X
tmin
, then
taking this condition as the study margin. This calculation
results in 33kA for Foz, reducing to 31kA if the system im-
pedance isincluded, then to 28.3 kA by introducing a and L/R,
and finally to 27kA if Id/2 is subtracted.
A requirement in the specification was that the valves
should block immediately after this current loop (27 kA), even
with maximum overvoltage (1.3 p.u.). If this blocking does not
occur, subsequent current loops stress the valve 3 and cease
only when the ACbreakers open. For this case, the specification
required the value capability to withstand two additional
current loops without subsequent blocking. The second and
third current loops are evaluated by the formula in eqn. 1,
without the term I
d
/2 because the DC current was previously
blocked by the other valves. This results in amaximum current
equal to 28.3 kA for the Foz valves, requiring testing at maxi-
mum temperature with the equivalent current of one loop of
27kA and two loops of 28.3 kA.
Related to phase-to-ground faults on the valve side of the
convertor transformer, the calculations were performed con-
sidering the voltage and impedance in the circuit path of the
fault current. For instance, for faults in phase a of the lower .6..
transformer, the voltage is (Va - V
c
) = VLand the impedance
is 2Xtmin +Xelect and the circuit path is from the fault point
to A to N to C to E (Fig. 2).
For faults in the phase a of the lower Y, the voltage is the
vectorial sum of the phase-to-phase values in the Y and the 1 \
using the impedance 4Xtmin +Xelect. In all cases, the short-
circuit current is below 17kA.
'E
DC reactor
.8
Ul
.S
OJ
3 5
c
.~
u
i1t
' 3
0
V/.f3
/
:0
It'l
'0
A
Ul
N
C1J
Ul
0
C
u
commutating
.t::.
u
reactance
~
.~
<II
6 2 4
To evaluate the overcurrents on the DC side of the
smoothing reactor and line, the HVDC simulator was used to
investigate the following conditions:
DC line to ground fault
blocking of the inverter
uncontrolled rectifier and subsequent blocking of the
inverter
transition of the inverter to rectifier mode of operation
parallel operation.
The maximum current peak value, 13kA, was obtained. For
equ~~ment on the valve side of the smoothing reactor the
declslve current 25kA was measured at a short-circuit across
convertors.
AC busbar short circuits were evaluated with conventional
procedure and the results are shown in Table 7.
6 Stability studies
During the preparation of the specification FURNAS conducted
extensive stability studies in all development stages and with a
complete representation of the system [2,3] .The recovery time
of the DC system after faults was specified as 160ms, based on
this digital study and a preliminary simulator study. 1985 was
found to be the most critical year, because it represents the
last stage of the development of the DC system with the
weakest receiving system. In 1988 the AC part of the Itaipu
power plant is completed and the receiving system is much
stronger.
Owing to the possible difficulties of reproducing these
studies during the bid preparation, the specification asked for
a demonstration of the control behaviour in a reduced AC
system (total of 14 busbars) that has the same response of the
actual network (year 1988) in the first swing, even recognising
t~at the behaviour in the dynamic period could be completely
dlfferent. The Consortium did not present the study in the
proposal, but guaranteed a performance equivalent of the ref-
erence system to be demonstrated afterwards.
After the award of the contract, it was agreed to study the
years 1983, 1985 and 1988 (heavy and light load) with the
complete system representation. Important conclusions related
to time to recovery and modulation of the DC system were
determined. The study concentrated on the 1985 heavy load
condition [5]; this year, with constant power mode of
control, a reduction in AC voltage will be accompanied by a
reduction in DC voltage and, consequently, a demand for
higher current. This increase in current aggravates the initial
voltage reduction owing to the increase in reactive-power requi-
rement and communication drop. The use of constant current
mode of control would be, in this situation, better for the
system, or any other measure that avoids high increases in
current or reductions in voltage (i.e. lower setting of VDCL or
increased synchronous compensation). The studies performed
by the Consortium confirmed this principle and showed that
recovery in 400 ms is better than 160ms. This will be achieved
by introducing a time constant of this order in the constant-
power control loop between the DC voltage signal and the
calculation of Iorder =Porder/ Ud' During the preparation of
the specification, power modulation was found to be useful
because its action was to avoid increase in current. Studies on
modulation signals made by the Consortium found that a
modulation of 'Y derived from AC voltage at Sao Roque (see
Table 7: AC busbar short-circuit current, kA
rms
Station 30 10 Breaker rating
"
4~ 50
=
.,' ~
.
- - - -
Fig. 3) w?uld givesat.isfactory performance and was preferable
for. cer.tam :easons; mc1uding the fact it does not introduce
oscillatlOns m the Paraguayan system. This modulation should
have a lower limit so that 'Y does not corne below 'Y . = 17
to ensure asufficient margin for commutation (see F ig,.n3).
V
S.Roque
s T,
('.sT, )(l.sT
Z
)
K=Z36, 4 I P u.
T) = 2.0
TZ=0.0127
l!.y = 13E
max
1
m
;nref=17E
This modulation solved all stability problems for all years
of the system studies and will be incorporated into the control
system at Sao Roque [5] .
7 Main characteristics of the master control
The master control functions are mainly related to the inter-
action between the AC systems and the DC link, which are
performed automatically or through action of the system
operators.
The master control is organised in an hierarchical manner:
station control, bipole control and pole control such that the
lowest level possible controls the minimum unit or block of
power with the maximum independence.
The pole control receives the power order from the bipole
control and is responsible for the various additional power
orders, such as stabilising of the 50Hz network and 60 Hz
frequency regulation. The calculation to allow short and long
time overloads, as well as start, stop, paralleling and deparal-
leling sequences, are executed at the pole level.
The bipole control is responsible for the transmission of the
power order received from the operator to the pole control. Ir-
a loss of transmission capability occurs within one bipole, an
additional power order is transmitted to the other bipole to
compensate for this loss. The selection of the operator control
location for power control and bipole/pole functions is also
made at bipole level.
The station control is responsible for the supervision of the
number of fIlters in operation, due to the related conditions c':'
both AC and DC systems, and the reactive-power balan~e
Regarding the hardware, microprocessors will be the heart cC
the master control and a redundant microcomputer stmctu:e
will be used by the two highest levels of the control hierarc}-"
The functions performed by the microprocessors are differe;'-
in each station, mainly in the normal operation mode. T::e
lead station (Foz do Igua~u) performs almost all the funeti:"
related to the power transmission, the trail station (Sao RO':L2
receiving and processing the final current order in synchro':-is:-
with the lead station.
The communication between stations will utilise 1\\,: :e-
dundant and independent channels: power-line carrie: ~:-
microwave. The received telegrams will then be C0mDJ :e:. '.
achieve ahigh degree of security. An error-rate l11onit:ri;:: :. -
counting feature will be supplied which will allow J :'e~:_
ance analysis of the telecommunication.
_ Regarding the operator, each bipole may ':'e __
trom anyone of four different locations. t\C J t oJ '::.
IS!3.tion control room and bipolc ,>J =-~::-o~:- ::~- =~
1
--:~
the master station concept is dependent on the actual control
location. The station control room at Sao Roque is to be the
master station, in normal conditions, as all control facilities
are placed there, such as mimic AC and DC panels. When Sao
Roque is acting as the master station, there is a possibility of
receiving the power order and ramp from the system operation
centre (S aC).
The normal control mode will be synchronous power
control, 'synchronous' meaning that the pole-current order
generated by the lead station is transmitted by telecom to the
trail station. In this case, all control functions summarised as
follows are available:
(a) automatic synchronisation between the current orders
to be applied at both the rectifier and inverter
(b) keeping the earth current to minimum levels regardless
of the voltage levels of the poles
(c) compensation for loss of power when the inverter takes
over the current control for any reason (this is performed by
the automatic margin regulator)
(d) automatic power-loss compensation within the bipole
due to the loss of aconvertor
(e) possibility to help the speed regulation of the 60 Hz
system
(I)stabilising the 50Hz frequency due to loss of Itaipu
generators
(g) possibility of receiving automatic generation controls
signals
(h) utilisation of a continuous overload due to low ambient
conditions
(i) utilisation of a short time overload of at least 125%
during 5s and 115% during the next 20 s following system
disturbances and possibility of paralleling.
In some few situations it is impossible to utilise the synchron-
ous power control: loss of telecommunication, loss of pole
control equipment and complete loss of communication
between stations. In these cases, the following operation
modes shall be used:
Asynchronous power control: This mode will be used when
there is a loss of the telecommunication between the pole
power controllers. All the additional inputs (i.e. frequency
stabilisation) and facilities are switched off and two operators
(one at each station) are necessary to set anew power order.
Current control: This mode ismainly utilised due to loss of
pole control equipment, and its operation procedure is similar
to the power asynchronous mode. A device named current
order medmory allows this operation.
Automatic current margin control (AMC): It isintended to
be used when there is no communication (including voice)
between the two stations. In this case, one operator at the
rectifier station is able to run the system. A follow up control
isutilised at the inverter.
The disturbance indices for harmonic distortion and telephone
interference required in the specification were:
Foz do Igual.(u Sao Roque
lndi\'idual harmonic
::s~crtion (D
n
)
T=,~:.~ harmonic
::s~= =~ion(D)
T~:~~hc:ne-int1uence
:'::c~== ( IIF I
IT :::',=:UCI (design
'J 'J ~ec~iT,'2 )
These :'::-:-.:~sshould not be exceeded for any foreseeable
operatlr,g condition of the HYDC transmission system and
using the worst point of the envelope of the AC system
impedance, either with all filters in operation or with a com-
plete filter bank out. For the purpose of the performance
calculations, one filter bank should be assumed as comprising
at least one filter branch of each type and at least 15%of the
total filter fundamental frequency MYAR, independent
of the switching scheme.
For the purpose of the calculation each characteristic
harmonic current should be assumed as having the maximum
value possible for the complete range of firing angles, com-
mutating reactances and DC currents permitted for the
operating condition considered. The noncharacteristic har-
monic currents should also be calculated pessimistically
by assuming a combination of the most onerous conditions
of variation of firing angle and commutating reactance
between phases within a bridge, between bridges in 12-pulse
pairs, between 12-pulse pairs within a pole, between poles
in a bipole, and between bipoles. The individual harmonics
should be assumed as having their maxima occurring simul-
taneously.
The filters should be considered off-tune in the calculations
and their harmonic impedances obtained by assuming a
combination of maximum system frequency deviation of
duration exceeding one minute, maxumum temperature
variation, initial mistuning, capacitor failure to the maxi-
mum extent possible prior to the first alarm being generated
and detuning due to component ageing.
The harmonic impedance of the AC system was specified
by envelopes obtained from extensive digital computer
calculations of the system impedance, as a function of
frequency for different developments of the system and
years of development. The calculation of Dn, D and TIF
should be done using the worst point within these envelopes.
For IT calculations a table of harmonic system impedances
related to aspecific year was given.
The harmonics have been calculated for one 12-pulse
bridge and for Id in the range 10-110% Idn. For the charac-
teristic harmonics, the combination of the ranges of 0;, rand
dx were considered. For the calculation of noncharacteristic
harmonics, the same combination of 0; and dx were considered.
The asymmetries which are responsible for the generation of
these harmonics were considered either as statistical (normal
distributions defined by media fJ .- and standard deviation a) or
as systematic, asshown in Table 8.
Distribution
} l a
Firing angle
asymmetry,
0
e1 0 0.02
Transformer phases
reactance, % 0 0.33
Asymmetry between
Ll-" % 0 0.66
Negative sequence, % 0.5
Many runs were done using a Monte Carlo method and a
distribution of harmonic magnitude and angles was obtained.
A maximum value II was obtained for each harmonic by
II =fJ .- +Kp a, where Kp is chosen for 99%confidence level. To
obtain the total harmonic due to n twelve-pulse groups two
approaches were used: In = nIl (for harmonics of order 6n +
1, n odd) and In =nfJ .- +Kpa Vii (other noncharacteristic har-
monics). The linear addition was considered for the 6n 1, n
odd because they are due to asymmetries between 1 and Ll
windings and could be systematic owing to the design of the
transformer.
For Foz do Igua~u, as a result of these calculations, a
scheme with two 350 MVAR and three 280.3 MVAR filter
banks has been proposed. The 350 MVAR banks contain one
3rd/5th double tuned branch (69.7 MVAR), one II/13th
double tuned branch (134 MVR) and one HP branch tuned
to the 24th (146.3 MVAR), whereas the 280.3 MVAR banks
contain one II/13th and one HPbrancheach. These different
branches are to be installed gradually as the number of 50Hz
generators at Itaipu power plant increases.
The highest TIF for this scheme with one filter out is
36.9. To reduce this figure to the specified values the Con-
sortium is studying a change in the HP filters to have 3
branches tuned to the 24th harmonics and two branches
double tuned to 24th and 36th (or 48th) harmonics.
The total distortion exceeded 4% in many stages, even
with all filters in (values up to 6.2), caused mainly by the 7th
harmonic, for which the individual distortion is up to 1.5%
in the final stage. A decision about the need for extra filtering
to solvethis problem will be taken later on, after arecalculation
per bipole of the disturbance indices with the actual measured
values of the transformer reactances. This approach has been
suggested due to the fact that the noncharacteristic harmonics
of order 6n 1 (n odd), which are considerably influenced
by the assumption of a systematic difference between the
reactances of the Y and ll.-connected transformer windings,
are responsible for a large percentage of the disturbance
indices which exceed the specified limits. Among those non-
characteristic harmonics the seventh isparticularly influential.
It is foreseen that seventh harmonic branch will have to be
added to the present scheme, if additional filters are called
for by a decision based either on the already calculated
disturbance indices or on the above mentioned recalculated
values. It should be noted that an increase in MVAR is not
desirable, because of problems of generator self excitation
and dynamic overvoltages.
For Sao Roque a scheme with ten filter banks and two
shunt-capacitor banks has been presented by the Consortium.
The total filtering MVAR (2482.5 MVAR) is divided in the
following independently switchable units, to be installed
gradually as the transmitted power increases:
Bank size, MVAR
220.8 11th,13th
HP
11th, 13th, 3rd/5th
3rd/5th, HP
The impedance of all types of HP arms together reaches
minimum around frequencies ranging from the 21st to the
27th harmonic. It is worth noting that the 11th and the 13th
harmonic filters are of the damped type, with aconfiguration
similar to that of the HP arms. This filter scheme met the
specified criteria. It should be noted that for both stations
there will be filters tuned to 3rd/5th harmonics. These
branches are needed to meet the performance requirements
and are useful to decrease the temporary overvoltages on
fault clearing, transformer energisation etc. by minimising
resonant conditions.
With reference to the IT product, the design objectives of
35000 and 25000 specified for Foz do Igu~u and Sao Roque,
-2spectively, are exceeded considerably for the filtering
:~:'.e::e proposed. The maximum values of the IT product
, , ,,:',~ ,":- :~'e F:z j.J IguJ ;;-uand Sao Roque were of the order
, ,.: c:'~=:: : :':. :es:-2c:iwly. At Foz the problems are
minimised in comparison with Sao Roque, because the soil
resistivity is low (about 500 D-m). At Sao Roque the problem
is aggravated because the soil resistivity could be in the range
1000 to 5000 D-mand the AC lines entre Sao Paulo city with
a very high density of telephone circuits. To evaluate this
problem FURNAS is conducting an extensive study that
includes harmonic penetration analysis with three-phase
representation of part of the AC network, soil resistivity
measurement for all frequencies of interest, calculation of the
induced harmonic voltage in the telephone lines as afunction
of the separation between the power and telephone lines. If
high interference is confirmed in this new programme of
analysis, FURNAS is considering the conversion of the two
shunt banks into HP filters.
9 DCfilter
During the short time available to perform the, studies rtquired
to determine the data to be included in the convertor speci-
fications, it was not possible to do the inductive co-ordination
study required to specify the DC filter. Based on the
experience of other projects and very preliminary studies that
consider different aspects of the inductive co-ordination
such as dangerous induced voltages, secondary interference
and interference on controls, it was decided to ask the bidders
to quote two filter alternatives: adesign to limit the harmonic
current at the terminal of the HVDC line to the values shown
in Fig. 4 (level 1) and a design to limit the currents to amag-
nitude equal to three times these values (level 2). Rules
allowing the determination of the cost of a filter design in
between the values for levelland level 2were also requested.
With this information in hand FURNAS could choose the final
DC filter configuration after contract award. Based on the
noise criteria of 240 mVein an open wire telephone circuit,
in bipolar operation and 10dB higher noise level in mono-
polar operation (less than 2% of time), it was decided to
install the filter level 2 design. The detailed design of this
filter resulted in a configuration with branches tuned to 100/
300 Hz, 1200/2400 Hz, 120/600 Hz at Foz and 100/120 Hz,
720 Hz 1440/2160 Hz at Sao Roque. The design was different
for the two bipoles due to different lengths.
It should be noted that, for the calculation of the harmonic
voltage, the same presumptions related to transformer
I
I
6. 0
tn
40
E
~
,or
<l:
c
~
'-
:J
1. 0
u
'='
08
c
06 0
r
'-
0. 4
a
L
r
C
:J
0.2
E
><
a
E
0. 1
1000 2000 3000
frequency. Hz
Fig. 4 Current for DC filter level 1
-,:~
- ~
- ..
.=:~
~~
~J
~~
=~
:-~
~~
- 9
-~
~~
= "
~~
':- '"
~~
~,
~~
:-~
- - ~
-=:c,
:-~
Table 9: Harmonic currents - bipole 1, amperes
= "equency In Monopolar Bipolar
maximum
specification FI SR FI SR
- , 2
100 6.0 10.3 9.9
120 6.0 8.7 10.0
600 1.5 2.0 2.0
700 0.9 1.2 2.0
1440 0.9
1800 0.9 2.0
2400 0.6 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.2
reactance, asymetries etc. were used as indicated for the AC
filter design in the previous item of this paper.
The filter configuration mentioned in the preceding text
was considered complex, due to the double tuned frequency
characteristics, and an optimisation of this design was started.
This new calculation took into consideration that some of
the low harmonic current values indicated in Fig. 4 could be
higher and still satisfy all aspects of the inductive co-
ordination. Therefore, the optimisation should try to obtain
better results in relation to the telephone interference in
Sao Roque where the number of telephone circuits is very
large.
The new filter design has arms tuned to 100/300 Hz,
600 Hz 1200 Hz at Foz and 120/360 Hz, 720 Hz, 1440 Hz at
Sao Roque, and deviates from the specification mainly in the
lower harmonics asshown on Table 9.
These higher values were considered acceptable and, in
addition, were compensated by improvements in other fre-
quencies, so that the overall interference was reduced as
seen in Fig. 5. It should be noted that the curves for Fig. 5
were obtained with the worst consistent set of harmonic
voltages, not with the voltages that gave the maximum
individual harmonic. This design was accepted by FURNAS
and. asaresult, few telephone circuits will need to be changed.
It should be noted that the filters are rated for the con-
:itions of one branch out of operation. In this situation, in
~i;J ia operation the telephone interference will be higher,
'':: o::illess than monopolar operation with all filter branches in.
of the DC lines, around 800 km, indicates a possi-
::' [osonance at second harmonic depending on the DC
~e~~::~ sizo, Owing to this a study was carried out in two
J ~~'S: :':~st, ,oJ find the condition where the second harmonic
~oS'J ~;~~,:o::uld occur and, secondly, to evaluate the system
c'''o~';cltEos j, such aresonant condition.
For the first study adigital calculation was used to evalU3.to
the resonant frequency of the circuit comprising internsi
impedance of the convertors and of the DC reactor at botL
ends and the DC line. DC filters were not included, as the
FURNAS specification required operation without them.
If DC mters are included in the calculation, the second
harmonic resonance is avoided as they have branches tuned
to that frequency as indicated in the previous item. Various
modes of operation were considered in the calculation and the
results of the resonant frequencies, asafunction of DC reactor
size, are shown on Fig. 6.
130[ , I
1'0 Ii!!Ifil~~~I~~!ilii!il!!li!i!ii:iiii:iiiilli:i
,
~ , ~-l " '. ,I
~ , ~I...... b' I
90 monopolar " Ipo ar
(,300kV " ~" " ,,600kV
monOPol~r~OOkV " ,~ ')1",-
I ........
80
0,1 0.2 0,270.3
DC reactor inductance
04
H
Fig. 6 DC line resonance
---- 815 km
....... 795 km
To analyse the results it is important to have in mind
that the temporary frequency variation specified was 0.95 ~
1.15p.u. for Foz and 0.985 - 1.06p.u. for Sao Roque,
corresponding to second harmonic frequencies of 95 to 115
Hz and 118 to 127Hz. If all modes of operation are con-
sidered together with this frequency range, it can be seen
(Fig. 6) that a resonant condition always exists for DC
reactor sized from 0.2 to 0.6 H. If higher values are used the
second harmonic is avoided, but first harmonic resonance
can appear leading to aworse condition.
It should be mentioned that, for the calculation of the
curves shown in Fig 6, a value of 7.33 times the transformer
impedance was considered for the internal impedance of the
convertor. This valuewas chosen based on some DC simulator,
and theoretical investigation was undertaken for the 'char-
acteristic harmonics. These conclusions, however, were extra-
polated for the low harmonics. On the other hand, it is realised
that a resonant condition could lead to high currents and
overvoltages. However, it is expected that some action of the
control of the HVDC system will introduce damping to these
oscillations, reducing the possible overvoltages and
overcurrents.
One reactor of size 0.27 H was initially considered because
of transportation limitation, and also because more than one
reactor would not solve all resonance conditions (Fig. 6).
With this reactor size the following investigation was
undertaken:
Bipolar operation with two twelve-pulse groups per pole
was chosen, because, in this situation, the resonant frequency
4':1
is close to 100Hz (see Fig. 6). With the system set up
containing loss compensation devices in transformers, reactors
and valves, a phase-to-ground fault on the valve side of the
convertor transformer was simulated. The rectifier source
frequency was adjusted to around 50Hz to get the maximum
total direct voltage plus second harmonic on the DC side.
Comparative cases were evaluated with different gains in the
rectifier current control loop.
It was verified that, for normal gain, the overvoltage was
lower than 1.4p.u. With gain reduced to 1/9 of the normal
one the overvoltage reached values above 1.7p.u. These cases
indicate the positive damping effect of the controls for this
phenomenon. The concept of control action and the DC
reactor size was, in principle, accepted by FURNAS, but
some doubts remained due to possible influence of the simu-
lator losses on the phenomenon. It was agreed with the
Consortium to accept, in principle, a DC reactor size of 0.27
H; but to make final investigation with the actual Itaipu
HVDC control system on the new simulator under con-
struction that will have much lower losses.
1 PEIXOTO, C.A.O., PORTELA, C.M., LOBLEY, D.J ., and J ARDINI,
J .A.: 'Design optimization and environmental impact for the Itaipu
600 kV HVDC lines and electrode lines'. Proceedings of CIGRE
symposium on transmission lines and environment, Stockholm,
Sweden, 1981
2 PEIXOTO, C.A.O.: 'Itaipu 6300MW HVDC transmission system
feasibility and planning aspects'. Proceedings of the symposium
on incorporating HVDC power transmission into system planning,
Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 1980, pp. 211-236
3 PEIXOTO, C.A.O., CLARKE, C.D., J ARDINI, J .A., and MOUNT
FORD, J .D.: 'Simulator and digital studies on Var compensation for
the Itaipu HVDC transmission system'. Proceedings of the IEEE
1980 international conference on overvoltage and compensation
on integrated AC-DC systems, Winnipeg, Canada, 1980, pp. 27-42
4 BUENO, E.G., J ARDINI, J .A., J OHANSON, A., PAAJ ARVI, B.,
and EKSTRON, A.: 'Insulation co-ordination of the Itaipu HVDC
stations application of ZnO arresters'. CIGRE SC 33 meeting,
Rio deJ aneiro, Brazil, 1981
5 PEIXOTO, C.A.O., TAAM, M., FRONTIN, S.O., FIGUEIREDO,
E.F., PORANGABA, H., and SVENSSON, S.: 'Itaipu HVDC trans-
mission-stability studies'. CIGRE SC 14 meeting, Rio de J aneiro,
Brazil, 1981