Converter Station Design of the 800 kV UHVDC

Project Yunnan-Guangdong
Donghui Zhang#1, Marcus Haeusler#2, Hong Rao*3, Chun Shang*4, Tao Shang*4
#

Siemens AG, Energy Sector, Power Transmission Solution

91056 Erlangen, Germany
1

[email protected]
[email protected]

China Southern Power Grid Co., LTD.

Guangzhou, China
3

[email protected]
[email protected]
5
[email protected]

Abstract As one of the most important power transmission

schemes in South China the Yunnan-Guangdong 800 kV
UHVDC Project is currently under construction. This UHVDC
link will connect Chuxiong in the Yunnan province to Suidong in
the Guangdong province over a distance of 1418 kilometers. The
significant increase of existing dc power transfer capability to its
nominal bipolar dc power of 5000 MW is achieved by entering
the ultra high dc voltage (UHVDC) operation range at a voltage
level of 800 kV. Hence, it will be the dc transmission scheme with
the worlds highest dc operation voltage and presents a major
step forward in HVDC technology.
In this paper the basic design aspects of the overall converter
station concept of the Yunnan-Guangdong 800 kV UHVDC
Project are introduced. Some highlights of main equipment
taking into account challenges of the increased steady state and
transient voltage stresses are given.

Keywords: UHVDC, Low SCR, Insulation Coordination

I. INTRODUCTION
In China, several giant hydropower plants are being
constructed in the Southwest area, where the abundant
hydropower resources will be exploited in the next three
decades. As one of the most effective methods to reduce the
greenhouse gas emission, such continuously generated clean
energy will be transmitted to the gigantic urban areas in
Eastern and Southern China through a large transmission
distance in the range of 1500 to 2100 km.
As a result, HVDC long distance transmission schemes
with a transmission capability of over 5000 MW has been
determined as the most economic power transmission solution.
In order to fulfil these demands, the maximum dc voltage
levels of 500 kV to 600 kV in the currently world-wide
existing HVDC schemes were determined to be increased to a
new adequate level 800 kV.
The worlds first HVDC project in the Ultra High Voltage
(UHV) range with an operation dc voltage of 800 kV and a
transmission capacity of 5000 MW Yunnan-Guangdong
UHVDC Project is now being constructed in China Southern
Power Grid. The key features of this link and some design
aspects for key UHVDC equipment were provided in [1]. This

paper discusses the technical challenges from increased

voltage and power rating to the 800 kV UHVDC system and
the special design requirements of the Yunnan-Guangdong
UHVDC project. Some aspects of determination of converter
station arrangement and design of equipments configurations
and parameters are also provided in this paper.
II. GENERAL INFORMATION
A. Location
The Yunnan-Guangdong 800 kV UHVDC project was
designed to transmit 5000 MW dc power over a long distance
of 1418 km from Chuxiong in Yunnan province to the load
centre in Guangdong province. The rated dc current of this
UHVDC link was determined as 3125 A, which is a little
higher than that of 3000 A in the existing 500 kV HVDC
systems in China Southern Power Grid.
The Chuxiong Converter Station is located in Chuxiong
City and about 58 km north-west to Kunming, where is high
altitude area. The altitude of Chuxiong Station above China
Yellow Sea level is 1850 m. The Suidong Converter Station is
located at Zengcheng City in Guangdong Province, about 35
km away from Guangzhou and 16 km away from Zengcheng
City. Though the altitude of Suidong Converter Station is very
low, the industry centre around Guangzhou city is the heavy
pollution area. Both high altitude and heavy pollution level are
challenges for external insulation of the 800 kV outdoor
equipments.
B. AC System Conditions
The Chuxiong Converter Station, which operates as
rectifier in the normal power transmission direction, would be
fed by two hydro power plants Xiaowan and Jinanqiao via
four 500 kV ac transmission lines. This local AC/DC system
would be connected to the other part of Yunnan power grid
through four short 500 kV ac transmission lines (shorter than
20 km).
In summer 2010, after Yun-Guang UHVDC system would
be bipolar commercial operated, a huge synchronous AC/DC
parallel transmission system consisting of 4 HVDC systems

(500 kV Tian-Guang, Gui-Guang I and Gui-Guang II HVDC

systems and 800 kV Yun-Guang UHVDC system) would
emerge in China Southern Power Grid. All of these four
HVDC systems and the more than 8 500 kV ac transmission
lines parallel with them are built for the task of power
transmission from West to East in the southern area of China.
Based on the AC/DC system configurations of China Southern
Power Grid in years 2010 to 2012 a large amount of load flow
calculation and stability simulation were performed. In order
to improve the power delivery capability from Yunnan to
Guangdong in the heavy load season, the local AC/DC
systems consisting of Chuxiong Converter Station and two
hydro power plants shall operate separately or islanded from
the other parts of the synchronous ac power grid. Comparing
with the rated dc power of 5000 MW the ac system in the
islanded local AC/DC system would be very weak. The Short
Circuit Ratio (SCR) at the Chuxiong station ac busbar could
be even lower than 1.7.
Operation under very low SCR would lead to very high ac
overvoltages at the Chuxiong station ac busbar in the case of
bipolar dc load rejection. Mitigation methods including
upgrades of main equipments and coordination of DC Control
and Protection logics against the very high ac overvoltages
were introduced in [2]. Another disadvantage of low SCR to
dc operation is the potential low order harmonic resonance
between the ac network impedance and the ac filters in the
converter station. In order to meet the ac harmonic voltage
distortion limits special ac filter configurations are considered
for the Chuxiong station.
III. CONVERTER STATION DESIGN
A. Arrangement of Thyristor Valves
The Yunnan-Guangdong 800 kV UHVDC project is
designed based on the proven technology and the project
experiences in the 500 kV, 3000 MW HVDC systems.
However, if the classical configuration of one 12-pulse bridge
per pole in common bipolar HVDC systems would also be
employed in the Yun-Guang UHVDC system, the increased
voltage and power stress would bring unconquerable
challenges to design of key equipments, such as, converter
transformer. The solution for Yun-Guang UHVDC Project is a
series connection of two 12-pulse bridges with 400 kV rated
voltage each to reach the rated dc voltage of 800 kV per pole
(see Figure-1).
Each 12-pulse thyristor valve is arranged in one individual
valve hall. Two valve halls of one pole are connected through
dc wall bushings and dc disconnectors. There are totally four
valve halls in one station. The valve towers of the Yun-Guang
Project are arranged as double-valves, which are suspended
from the ceiling of the valve hall. Hence, in each hall of one
12-pulse valve group there are six towers.
The well-proven modular design with stacked thyristors
and heat-sinks is adopted for the UHVDC application. One
thyristor valve with two modular units comprises four valve
sections and is composed by 60 series connected thyristors.
The converters of the Yun-Guang Project are based on 5 inch
direct light-triggered thyristor (LTT) technology which has

already been successfully implemented in several other

HVDC schemes in China.
Chuxiong Converter Station

525 kV, 50 Hz

DC Overhead Line

Smoothing Reactor

Suidong Converter Station

Smoothing Reactor

AC System
12-pulse
Group

12-pulse
Group

Pole 1

1 DC Filter:
TT 12/24/45

1 DC Filter:
TT 12/24/45
12-pulse
Group

12-pulse
Group

12-pulse
Group

12-pulse
Group
1 DC Filter:
TT 12/24/45

Pole 2

1 DC Filter:
TT 12/24/45
12-pulse
Group

12-pulse
Group

4 Filter Banks:

4 Filter Banks:

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
1 HP 3
2 C-Shunts

525 kV, 50 Hz
AC System

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
1 HP 3
2 C-Shunts

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
2 C-Shunts

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
2 C-Shunts

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
2 C-Shunts

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
2 C-Shunts

1 DT 11/24
1 DT 13/36
2 C-Shunts

1 DT 11/24
2 C-Shunts

Figure-1: Single Line Diagram of Yun-Guang UHVDC

System
For an uninterruptible power transfer during block or
deblock of any individual 12-pulse valve groups, dc bypass
switches and group disconnect switches are included. The dc
current could be commutated between the thyristor valves and
the bypass path by the bypass breakers. However, no dc
current interruption capability is required for this purpose, as
the converter will be controlled to compensate the dc current
in the breakers. Only a small ac current driven by the 12-pulse
harmonic voltage of the bridge has to be interrupted.
B. Arrangement of Smoothing Reactors
Considering the very high insulation requirements for the
oil-type smoothing reactors, dry-type smoothing reactors with
75 mH inductance of each coil are used in Yun-Guang
UHVDC project. The total inductance of 300 mH per pole per
station is supplied by four 75 mH coils. In the steady state
operation the four smoothing reactor coils will have the same
smoothing effect for the harmonic currents, so long as they are
connected in series with thyristor valves in the dc circuit. For
a more economical and technically feasible installation of all
four coils, two of them are installed on the high voltage dc bus
and the others on the neutral bus. All of the four coils of one
pole have the identical design and therefore only one spare
coil is enough for one station. The only difference between the
coils for high voltage and neutral bus is the insulation levels to
ground (support insulators). Additionally, for protection
against lightning surge stresses from the dc lines, the coils
installed at the 800 kV bus are directly protected with parallel
surge arresters.
From this arrangement another benefit can be get for the
system design: the harmonic voltage drop across the neutral
bus reactor (connected to the electrode line) significantly
reduces the harmonic voltage to ground stresses of the other
converter equipments. This especially affects the steady state
voltage ripple of the 800 kV converter transformers.

C. Insulation Requirements Investigation

An important and challenging subject for the arrangement
shown in the Figure-1 is the overall arrester arrangement in
the converter station. The resulting identical overall arrester
protection scheme as used for both Chuxiong and Suidong
stations of the Yun-Guang UHVDC Project is shown in the
Figure-2.
SR

SR

92

10
800 kVdc

10a

1 AC-Bus

V1

52
A2

V2

C2

72
V3
62

V3

A
C1

91
400 kVdc

V3
1 AC-Bus

51
V3

71
V3
61

V3

A
81
valve hall boun dary

82
E1

neutral

E2

Figure-2: UHVDC Arrester arrangement

The ZnO-arresters type 'A2' will be installed on the
secondary side of the star group converter transformer 800 kV
winding to ground. Because of the installation of smoothing
reactors on the neutral bus the crest continuous operating
voltage (CCOV) of this type of arrester is reduced which
allows lower protective and insulation levels. Without this
type of arrester, a series connection of multiple arresters
would define the protective level at this location which would
lead to higher protective levels.
However, installation of smoothing reactors on the neutral
bus leads to increased insulation level to ground on their valve
side terminals (location 81 in Figure-2). Also during transient
disturbances the voltage to ground can rise and hence
additional arresters can be useful to limit voltage stresses on
the equipment, e.g. arrester type M at the twelve-pulse group
mid-point. Another type of this arrester, type C1 is
connected in between both 12-pulse groups at the 400 kV bus.
This arrester is connected to ground and is required for
operating condition with the high voltage (upper) 12-pulse
valve group out of service. It will limit incoming switching
surge to adequate values for the 400 kV bus.
The arresters type SR is connected across the terminals of
each smoothing reactor coil on the 800 kV bus. During typical
disturbances in the dc circuit (e.g. commutation failures due to
ac faults at inverter station) this arrester should not become
active. Its major task is to protect the coils in case of lightning
surges coming from the dc OHL lines into the dc switchyard.

The Chuxiong station is located at 1850 m above sea level.

Reduced air density for such an installation location can affect
the external insulation withstands strength, namely the air
clearances. Therefore it is essential to verify adequateness of
equipment design and layout arrangement.
The equipments connected to 500 kV exposed at ac side are
determined to be designed for the increased external insulation
levels as follows: SIL=1300 kV/ BIL=1800 kV. It should be
noted that these external insulation levels are valid for
equipment type tests conducted in test labs below at 0 m
above sea level.
Similarly, for the equipments at dc side the safety margins
according to IEC 60071-5 are adequate for installations on
altitudes up the 1000 m above sea level. However, for an
altitude of 1850 m the IEC Standard 60071-2, 1996 requires
an additional correction factor (depending on factor m) which
has to be taken into account for clearance calculations. It is
important to note that a general increase of insulation levels
by this factor is not suitable since this would also affect
internal insulation, which is altitude independent. Therefore
only the air clearances of air insulated equipment (insulators
and bushings) as well as the layout of dc valve hall and dc
yard has to be verified to include sufficient safety margins.
One major challenge for design of main equipment for
UHVDC applications up to 800 kV is the choice of adequate
external insulation material. Installations in heavily polluted
areas and operation conditions in combination with rain or fog
show that polluted insulators may be subjected to highly nonlinear voltage distribution along the insulator surface. Local
increase of electrical field strength may lead to corona, partial
flashovers or finally complete flashovers. A hydrophobic
surface, such as silicone surface, will neither allow a
continuous water film along the surface nor build-up of a lowresistive pollution layer. Both are basically responsible for
unequal voltage distribution and flashover problems.
The external insulation of all the equipments on the 800 kV
busbars is designed using silicone surfaces. This includes for
example post insulators, surge arresters, dc PLC coupling
capacitors, dc voltage dividers, dc measuring shunts, dc
disconnectors, dc bypass breakers as well as dc wall bushings.
The excellent experiences gained with this insulation surfaces
due to its hydrophobic effects provide a solid basis for reliable
and safe operation for polluted areas at high dc voltage levels.
An improvement in the flashover performance can also be
achieved by simply increasing the creepage distance. However,
if using porcelain solutions based on increased creepage
distance requirements for the equipments on the 800 kV dc
busbars, manufacture dimensions of these equipments would
be very large (e.g. post insulator heights of approx. 14 to 15
m). These impose problems of mechanical strength especially
regarding weight in combination with seismic design
requirements.
D. AC Filters
For the ac systems connected to the Chuxiong and Suidong
stations of the Yun-Guang UHVDC project, the following ac
filter performance requirements are specified:
- individual harmonic distortions:

3rd/5th
Dn 1.25% / 1.0%
odd harmonics
Dn 1.0% / 0.8%
even harmonics
Dn 0.5% / 0.5%
- total harmonic distortion: Drms 1.75% / 1. 5%
- telephone harmonic form factor: THFF 1.0% / 1.0%
For the Chuxiong station considering the large equivalent
harmonic impedance and the high contents of background
harmonics in the islanded operation mode, low-order noncharacteristic harmonic filters (3rd and 5th harmonics) are
required. However, in the normal operation mode, these low
order harmonic filters are not needed.
Due to low reactive power consumptions of dc converters
in the low dc load range only few ac filter capacities could be
in operation. In order to reduce the individual harmonic
distortions of the 3rd and the 5th harmonics for low dc power
transfers in islanded operation mode, triple tuned ac filters
type A 5/11/24 and type B 3/13/36 would be required in the
Chuxiong station. However, for increasing dc loads, two
double tuned ac filters type A 11/24 and type B 13/36 in
combination with a single tuned 3rd harmonic filter are fully
adequate to fulfil the harmonic performance requirements.
The 3rd harmonic filter provides a low impedance branch for
the large ac currents of low order harmonics, such as 2nd, 3rd
and 5th harmonics. Comparing both filter design schemes, the
configuration with double tuned ac filters (type A 11/24 and
type B 13/36) and single tuned 3rd harmonic filter provides
large economical benefits and is selected as basis for design
calculation in details.
For the Suidong station, using the double tuned ac filters of
the tuning frequencies only on the characteristic harmonics of
11th, 13th, 24th, and 36th, the specified ac filter performance
could be met.
The conservative filter performance calculation of both
stations were done with all worst conditions taken into
account, such as large filter detuning factors, great power
frequency deviation, high background harmonics and huge
low order ac harmonic impedances of the islanded Chuxiong
sides ac system. The performance limits at the ac busbars of
both Chuxiong and Suidong statons shall be met during whole
load range with any one subbank out of service.
In order to meet the requirements of ac filter performance
and reactive power compensation, 4 A-type, 4 B-type, 2 Ctype ac filters and 8 C-shunts (all 187 MVAr each) would be
installed in the Chuxiong station. And the Suidong station
would be equipped with 4 A-type, 3 B-type filters (190 MVAr
each) and 8 C-shunts (210 MVAr each).
E. DC Filters
Harmonic voltages which occur on the dc side of a
converter station cause ac currents which are superimposed on
the direct current in the transmission line. These alternating
currents of higher frequencies can create interferences in
neighbouring telephone systems despite limitation by
smoothing reactors. DC filter circuits, which are connected in
parallel to the station poles, are an effective tool for
combating these problems.

In the past the common dc filter configurations are the

single and the double tuned filters with or without the highpass feature. In the new scheme triple tuned dc filters are also
used due to various technical and economical advantages. The
determination of filter configuration is made on the basis of
achieving the smallest equivalent disturbing current caused by
the HVDC line and with minimum filter costs. The most costintensive element in a dc filter is the high voltage capacitor.
Therefore an effort is always to be made in the design of dc
filter circuits to optimize the cost of high voltage capacitors.
Since the characteristic harmonic currents have the largest
amplitudes, the dc filters are usually matched to these
harmonics (i.e. ordinal numbers 12, 24, 36, 48, ...). For the
Yun-Guang Project one triple tuned dc filter is used per each
pole and station. The triple tuned arrangement allows very
effective filtering by tuning to 12th, 24th and 45th harmonic
frequency. The harmonic impedance characteristic is shown in
Figure-3 and shows the low impedance characteristics at the
four lowest characteristic harmonics up to the 48th harmonic.
As a result, in the normal operation of Yun-Guang UHVDC
project with all dc filters in service, this triple tuned dc filter
12/24/45 would have the similar harmonic current reduction
performance as if the normal configuration of two double
tuned dc filters (12/24 and 36/48) per pole were used. One
high voltage capacitor could therefore be saved in each pole
and station.

Figure-3: Impedance of DC Filters (TT 12/24/45)

Importance for the dc filter performance at bipolar
operation is to ensure a symmetric configuration between both
poles in order to minimize the ground mode currents. In case
any filter branches are out of service, the dc control will
automatically take necessary measures to build a symmetric
configuration. The equivalent disturbing current and telephone
interference could be therefore limited to its possible
minimum.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
This paper provides an overview of the converter station
design of the worlds first 800 kV UHVDC link - YunnanGuangdong UHVDC project.
It describes and discusses the technical challenges caused
by the special location and operation conditions. The special
consideration and design practices in the overall converter
station arrangements, the insulation coordination, the ac filters
and the dc filters are also summarized in it.

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

S. Balbierer, M. Haeusler, V. Ramaswami, Rao Hong, Shang Chun,

and Shang Tao, Basic Design Aspects of the 800 kV UHVDC Project
Yunnan-Guangdong, the Sixth International Conference of Power
Transmission and Distribution Technology, Guangzhou, China, Oct.
2007.
M. Haeusler, D. Zhang, W. Liu, X. Jin, and H. Cai, Aspects of Islanded
Operation of the 800 kV UHVDC Project Yunnan-Guangdong, the
Sixth International Conference of Power Transmission and Distribution
Technology, Guangzhou, China, Oct. 2007.

Donghui Zhang
Siemens AG, PTD H123
91050 Erlangen
Germany
email: [email protected]

Donghui Zhang, born in 1973, received his B. degree from

Tsinghua University in 1997 and Dipl.-Ing. degree in
Electrical Engineering from University of ErlangenNuremberg, Germany, in 2001. Since he joined Siemens AG
in 2001, he has been working on HVDC system engineering
for many HVDC projects world wide.
Marcus Haeusler
Siemens AG, PTD H123
91050 Erlangen
Germany
email: [email protected]

Marcus Haeusler, born in 1966, received his Dipl.-Ing.

Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Karlsruhe,
Germany, in 1992. Since he joined Siemens AG in 1992, he
has been working on HVDC system engineering for many
HVDC projects world wide. Currently he is responsible for
HVDC system engineering.
Hong Rao
CSG Technology Research Center

6 Huasui Road,
Guangzhou, China
email: [email protected]
Hong Rao, received his B.Sc.(Eng.) degrees in Electrical
Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and
Technology in 1983. He is currently a senior engineer with
CSG Technology Research Center(TRC). His research interest
is in AC&DC power system ,HVDC, and simulation.

Shang Chun

EHV Power Transmission Company

116 Tianhe Road,
Guangzhou, China
email: [email protected]

Shang Chun, born in 1966, received his Master Degree in

HV Electrical Engineering from Wuhan University of
Hydrolic and Electrical Engineering China in 1993. He has
been working on HVDC system engineering and operation for
years. Currently he is responsible for UHVDC system
engineering project management.
Shang Tao
EHV Power Transmission Company ,
116 Tianhe Road,
Guangzhou, China
email: [email protected]

Shan Tao, born in 1969 received his Bachelors Degree in

Power Electrical Engineering from the Huazhong University
of Science and Technology and work for HVDC since 1994.
Currently he is responsible for Currently he is responsible for
UHVDC system engineering project management.