Difference between HVDC Transmission System and

EHV transmission System:

While comparing these two transmission lines we should consider the following.
•Economics aspects
•Technical Performance
Economics Aspects
S.No HVDC Transmission Lines HVAC Transmission Lines
For lines designed for same insulation It
can carry as much power with level, it can It can carry as much power
1 carry more power with two conductors of with three number of
the same size. conductors (positive and conductors
negative).
For a given power level, it requires less For given Power level, the cost
2 right of way, cheaper towers, reduced of the towers and conductors
conductor costs. are high
Cable Insulation strength is
required more. Hence it
3 Cable insulation required is less
consume high cost on the
insulation factor.
The net power losses are reduced as the The power losses is very high
4 decreased the number of comductor as it has three number of
usage conductors.
 Due to the skin effect, power
losses increases, therefore the
HVDC does not have skin effect hence the
5 operation cost very increases as
net operation cost get reduced.
compared with HVDC transmission
lines.

6 Dielectric losses is less Dielectric losses is high

Corona loss and radio interference is less Corona loss and radio interference
7 compared to that of A.C. This leads to the is high and which causes high
choice of economic size of conductors for D.C Operational cost

DC does not require shunt compensation. So

It is requires shunt compensation
8 In DC we do not want to install shunt
devices.
compensation devices.

Terminal equipment such as converters

9 Terminal equipment cost is low
inverters, filters cost is high
 In AC No maintenance cost. Even
HVDC requires High maintenance cost. I.e
10 We do not want to touch our
failure of IGBTs leads to high cost.
system for a year.

DC Tranmission systems are more economical,

For transferring power to Short
if the transmitting distance is more than break
11 distance, AC Tranmission power
even point. The break even point will be 500
has more advantages.
to 600 KM depending on the PU Units
Technical Performance
S.No HVDC HVAC
But In AC transmission, the
tranmitting power is depending on
the voltage ange. Hence power
Full Control on Power Transmitted: DC does
carrying capatity of the
not affect by the distance of the transmission
1 transmission line decreases after
line. In DC we can send constant power over
some distance. The power transfer
long distance.
is limited by the consideration of
transient and steady state
stability.
Voltage control is very compicated
in AC transmission system due to
line charging and inductive voltage
drops. Voltage profile is flat due to
surge impedance loading. AC
Voltage control: DC Converter station requires transmission line needs reactive
reactive power related to the line loading, the power control to maintain the
2
line itself does not require reactive power same voltage at receiving end.
control The reactive power componsation
is directly propotional to the
length of the transmission line,
hence the long distance
transmission lines needs high
reactive power.
 The fault current increases as
Fault current: DC line allows the fault
3 the number of interconnection
current upto maimum rating of the line.
of AC system increases.

AC System Needs reactive

DC Does not require any line
power compensation componts
compensation devices because of the
(shunt reactor )in long
4 Inductor and capacitor charecteristics on
transmission lines to overcome
DC. Inductor act as short circuit and
line charging and stability
capacitor acts as open circuit on DC
limitations.

Interconnection problem: In DC Two

systems are interconnected with different Two system can not be
5 frequencies. Synchronization of DC tie interconnected with different
lines, no need of co-ordinated control for frequencies.
inter connection.
 But In AC system, the ground
Ground Impedance: DC does not have any offers high magnitude of
6 ground impedance, hence the ground can be impedance, hence the ground
taken as current return path. current can not permitted for
steady state operation.

Fast control to limit the fault current in DC:

DC breakers in Two terminal DC links are
7 avoided. At the same time the cost of DC Circuit Breaker is compulsory.
circuit breakers are very high as compared
with AC circuit breaker.

Transformer is the heart of the AC

Transformer can not be used to reduce the
8 power system. Which can be used
voltage level
to reduce the voltage level.
 Types of DC Links:
1) Monopolar link :–

It has a single conductor of negative polarity and uses earth or sea

for the return path of current. Sometimes the metallic return is also
used. In the Monopolar link, two converters are placed at the end
of each pole. Earthing of poles is done by earth electrodes placed
about 15 to 55 km away from the respective terminal stations. But
this link has several disadvantages because it uses earth as a return
path. The monopolar link is not much in use nowadays.
2) Bipolar link: –
The Bipolar link has two conductors one is positive, and the other
one is negative to the earth. The link has converter station at each
end. The midpoints of the converter stations are earthed through
electrodes. The voltage of the earthed electrodes is just half the
voltage of the conductor used for transmission the HVDC.
The most significant advantage of the bipolar link is that if any of
their links stop operating, the link is converted into Monopolar
mode because of the ground return system. The half of the system
continues supplies the power. Such types of links are commonly
used in the HVDC systems.
3) Homopolar link:–

It has two conductors of the same polarity usually negative

polarity, and always operates with earth or metallic return. In
the homopolar link, poles are operated in parallel, which
reduces the insulation cost. The homopolar system is not used
presently.
 HVDC Back to Back System:

As we know that High voltage AC is used to transmit the

electrical power for reducing the power transmission losses and
because of the flexibility of AC System. In a transmission
system different Grids are interconnected but some time it may
happen that one or more Grid or Power System may not be in
synchronization with other grid or Systems. To overcome these
things a HVDC Back To Back System is used. A scheme
diagram for the use of HVDC Back to Back System or HVDC
Link is shown in figure below.
 In an HVDC Back to Back / HVDC Link configuration two
independent neighboring systems with different and incompatible
electrical parameters like Frequency / Voltage / Short-Circuit
Power Level etc. are connected via a DC link. The basic principle
of operation of an HVDC linking system is based on the
conversion of AC to DC and vice-versa by means of Rectifier and
Inverter as shown in figure below.
 Process involved in this System is simple theoretically. But
in practice it is very much complex as it involves high voltages
power semiconductor devices. Power from two or more neighboring
system is first converted in DC with the help of power rectifier
system and summed up. After summing, the resulted power is again
converted in AC with the help of power inverter and supplied to
different Grids. Thus a HVDC interconnection phase is involved in
linking of different power systems to obtain a stable power system
with uniform parameters.
HVDC link is much more beneficent than the frequency
converter as frequency matching of two or more asynchronous
systems is very much difficult than conversion and inversion
,this situation can be better understood by knowing that
allowable variation in frequency in power system is +/- 1 HZ
otherwise it may result in system collapse.
Why it is called Back to back System?
It is called back to back system because in electronics and
power electronics if two bipolar components are connected in
series with opposite polarity then this pair is known as back to
back system. Here also rectifier and inverter are identical and
connected in series operating on High Voltage DC so this is
known as HVDC back to back System.
Advantage of HVDC Back to Back System:

 Power can be upgraded to desired frequency.

Two asynchronous systems can be joined successfully without

loss of stability.

Stability of the system is increased as well as power flow can be

maintained within the optimal limits.

More active power can be added where the AC system already is

at the limit of its short-circuit capability.