Control and protection scheme of HVDC system with self-commutated converter in system fault conditions

For extending self-commutated converter application to future trunk power systems, it is important to develop a stable operation scheme as well as to realize substantial cost reduction through coordinated system and control design. Suppression controls of converter overcurrent and dc overvoltage in various system fault conditions are essential in order to ensure stable operation and cost reduction of HVDC systems with voltage source type self-commutated converters. Converter control and protection schemes which include such suppression controls have been developed, employing CRIEPI's ac/dc Power System Simulator test and EMTP analysis. This paper first discusses the cause of converter overcurrent at ac system faults, considering the effect of PWM pulse number and converter control speed. Continued operation has been achieved by adding a new overcurrent suppression scheme to the converter control. In the case of a dc line grounding fault, the selection of the grounding circuit constant and the adoption of a high-speed converter control practically ensure the reduction of dc overvoltage while suppressing converter overcurrent. The converter block and restart sequence after a dc fault, which is coordinated with dc circuit breaker operation, enables stable recovery of HVDC transmission as fast as the usual line-commutated HVDC system.