HVDC Transmission:

Part of the Energy

Solution?

Peter Hartley
Economics Department & James A. Baker III
Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
 Why has HVDC taken
off?
• HV is
is needed
needed to
to transmit DC a long
distance.
• Semiconductor
Semiconductor thyristors
thyristors able
able to
to handle
handle high
high
currents
currents (4,000
(4,000 A)
A) and
and block
block high
high voltages
voltages (up
(up
to
to 10
10 kV)
kV) were
were needed
needed forfor the
the widespread
widespread
adoption
adoption of
of HVDC.
HVDC.
• Newer
Newer semiconductor
semiconductor VSC VSC (voltage
(voltage source
source
converters),
converters), with
with transistors
transistors that
that can
can rapidly
rapidly
switch
switch between
between two
two voltages,
voltages, has
has allowed
allowed
lower
lower power
power DC.
DC.
• VSC
VSC converter
converter stations
stations also
also are
are smaller
smaller and
and
can
can be
be constructed
constructed as as self-contained
self-contained modules,
modules,
reducing
reducing construction
construction times
times and
and costs.
costs.
 Increased Benefits of
Long-Distance
Transmission
• Long distance
distance transmission
transmission increases
increases
competition
competition inin new
new wholesale
wholesale electricity
electricity
markets.
• Long distance
distance electricity
electricity trade, including
across nations,
nations, allows arbitrage
arbitrage of price
price
differences.
differences.
• Contractual
Contractual provision
provision of
of transmission
services
services demands
demands more stable
stable networks.
• Bi-directional power transfers, often
needed in new
new electricity markets, can be
accommodated at lower cost using using HVDC
HVDC
 Electricity Costs and
Prices
Fluctuate Substantially

Source:
Source: NEMMCO
NEMMCO Australia
Australia
(2003)
(2003)
Relative Cost of AC versus
DC
• For equivalent transmission capacity, aa
DC
DC line has lower construction costs
than an AC line:
line:
• A
A double
double HVAC
HVAC three-phase
three-phase circuit
circuit with
with 6
6
conductors
conductors is is needed
needed to to get
get the
the reliability
reliability of
of
a
a two-pole
two-pole DCDC link.
link.
• DC
DC requires
requires less
less insulation
insulation ceteris
ceteris paribus.
paribus.
• For
For the
the same
same conductor,
conductor, DC DC losses
losses are
are less,
less,
so
so other
other costs,
costs, and
and generally
generally final
final losses
losses too,
too,
can
can bebe reduced.
reduced.
• An
An optimized
optimized DC DC link
link has
has smaller
smaller towers
towers
than
than anan optimized
optimized AC AC link
link of
of equal
equal capacity.
capacity.
 Example Losses on
Optimized Systems for
1200 MW

Source:
Source: ABB
ABB (2003)
Typical tower
structures and
rights-of-way for
alternative
transmission
systems of 2,000
MW capacity.

Source: Arrillaga
(1998)
(1998)
 AC versus DC
(continued)
• Right-of-way for an AC Line designed to
carry 2,000 MW is more than
wider
than the right-of-way
right-of-way for a DC
DC line
line of
of
equivalent capacity.
• This
This is
is particularly
particularly important
important where
where land
land is
is
expensive
expensive oror permitting
permitting is
is a
a problem.
problem.
• HVDC “light” is now also transmitted via
underground cable – the recently
commissioned Murray-Link in Australia is
200 MW over 177 km.
• Can
Can reduce
reduce land
land and
and environmental
environmental costs,
costs,
but
but is
is more
more expensive
expensive per
per km
km than
than overhead
overhead
line.
line.
 AC versus DC
(continued)

• Above costs are on a per km basis. The

remaining costs
costs also differ:
differ:
• The
The need
need to
to convert
convert to
to and
and from
from AC AC implies
implies
the
the terminal
terminal stations
stations for
for a
a DC
DC line
line cost
cost more.
more.
• There
There are
are extra
extra losses
losses in
in DC/AC
DC/AC conversion
conversion
relative
relative to
to AC
AC voltage
voltage transf
transfoormation.
rmation.
• Operation
Operation andand maintenance
maintenance costs
costs are
are lower
lower
for
for an
an optimized
optimized HVDC
HVDC than
than for
for an
an equal
equal
capacity
capacity optimized
optimized ACAC system.
system.
 AC versus DC
(continued)
• The
The cost
cost advantage
advantage of HVDC
HVDC increases
with
with the
the length,
length, but
but decreases
decreases with
with the
the
capacity,
capacity, of of a
a link
link..
• For
For both
both ACAC and
and DC,
DC, design
design characteristics
characteristics
trade-off
trade-off fixed
fixed and
and variable
variable costs,
costs, but
but
losses
losses are
are lower
lower onon the
the optimized
optimized DC DC link.
link.
• The
The time
time profile
profile of
of use
use of
of the link
link affects
affects
the
the cost
cost of
of losses,
losses, since
since the
the MC
MC ofof
electricity
electricity fluctuates.
fluctuates.
• Interest
Interest rates
rates also
also affect
affect the
the trade-off
trade-off
between
between capital
capital and operating costs.
 Typical Break-Even
Distances

Source: Arrillaga
(1998)
 Special Applications of
HVDC
• HVDC is particularly suited
suited to undersea
transmission, where the losses from AC
are large.
• First
First commercial
commercial HVDC
HVDC link
link (Gotland
(Gotland 1
1
Sweden
Sweden,, in
in 1954)
1954) was
was an
an undersea
undersea one.
one.
• Back-to-back converters
converters are used to
connect two AC systems with different
frequencies – as in Japan – or two
two regions
where AC is not synchronized – as in the
US.
 N. American Transmission
Regions

Four major
major independent
independent asynchronous networks,
networks, tied
tied together
together only
only
by DC
DC interconnections:
interconnections:
1. Eastern Interconnected Network
Network –– all
all regions
regions east
east of
of the
the Rockies
Rockies
except
except ERCOT
ERCOT and
and Quebec
Quebec portion
portion of
of the
the NPCC
NPCC reliability council.
2. Quebec
Quebec –– part
part of
of the
the NPCC
NPCC reliability council.
council.
3. Texas –– the ERCOT reliability council.
the ERCOT reliability council. Source: Arrillaga
4. Western Interconnected
Interconnected Network – the the WSCC
WSCC reliability
reliability council.
council. (1998)
 Special Applications
(continued)
• HVDC links can stabilize AC system
frequencies and voltages, and help with
unplanned outages.
• A
A DC
DC link
link is
is asynchronous,
asynchronous, and and the
the
conversion
conversion stations
stations include
include frequency
frequency
control
control functions.
functions.
• Changing
Changing DC DC power
power flow
flow rapidly
rapidly and
and
independently
independently of of AC
AC flows
flows can
can help
help control
control
reactive
reactive power.
power.
• HVDC
HVDC links
links designed
designed to to carry
carry a
a maximum
maximum
load
load cannot
cannot be be overloaded
overloaded by by outage
outage of
of
parallel
parallel ACAC lines.
lines.
 Some Early HVDC
Projects
• Most
Most early
early HVDC
HVDC links
links were
were submarine
submarine cables
cables
where
where the
the cost
cost advantage
advantage of of DC
DC is
is greatest.
greatest.
• Others
Others involved
involved hydroelectric
hydroelectric resources,
resources, since
since
there
there is
is no
no practical
practical alternative
alternative to
to long
long
distance
distance high
high voltage
voltage transmission
transmission of of
hydroelectric
hydroelectric energy.
energy.
• Pacific
Pacific DC
DC tie
tie installed
installed in
in 1970
1970 parallel
parallel to
to 2
2 AC
AC
circuits
circuits –– system
system stabilization
stabilization was
was aa major
major
issue.
issue.
• Square
Square Butte
Butte link
link in
in N.
N. Dakota
Dakota (750
(750 km,
km, 500
500
MW,
MW, 250
250 kV)
kV) displaced
displaced transporting
transporting coal,
coal, with
with
system
system stabilization
stabilization aa major
major ancillary
ancillary benefit.
benefit.
Selected Recent Projects

• Itaipu, Brazil: 6,300 MW at ±600 kV DC.

• Two
Two bipolar
bipolar DC
DC lines
lines bring
bring power
power generated
generated
at
at 50
50 Hz
Hz in
in the
the 12,600
12,600 MWMW Itaipu
Itaipu
hydroelectric
hydroelectric plant
plant to
to the
the 60Hz
60Hz network
network in
in
São
São Paulo.
Paulo.
• Leyte-Luzon, Philippines: 350
350 kV
monopolar, 440MW, 430 km overhead,
21 km submarine.
submarine.
• Takes
Takes geothermal
geothermal energy
energy from
from Leyte
Leyte to
to
Luzon
Luzon
• Assists
Assists with
with stabilizing
stabilizing the
the AC
AC network.
network.
 Selected Projects
(continued)

• Rihand-Delhi, India: 1,500 MW at ±500

kV
• Existing
Existing 400
400 kVkV AC
AC lines
lines parallel
parallel the
the link.
link.
• Takes
Takes power
power 814
814 km
km from
from aa 3,000
3,000 MWMW coal-
coal-
based
based thermal
thermal power
power station
station to
to Delhi.
Delhi.
• HVDC
HVDC halved
halved the
the right-of-way
right-of-way needs,
needs,
lowered
lowered transmission
transmission losses
losses and
and increased
increased
the
the stability
stability and
and controllability
controllability of
of the
the system.
system.
 Selected Projects
(continued)
• Proposed Neptune Project: 1,000 km
1,200 MW submarine cable from Nova
Nova
Scotia to Boston, New York city and NJ.
• Take
Take natural
natural gas
gas energy
energy toto NY
NY with
with less
less
visual
visual impact,
impact, while
while avoiding
avoiding a a NIMBY
NIMBY
problem
problem in in NY
NY and
and allowing
allowing old
old oil-fired
oil-fired plant
plant
in
in NY
NY to
to be
be retired.
retired.
• Help
Help improve
improve network
network stability
stability and
and reliability.
reliability.
• The
The southern
southern endend has
has aa summer
summer peakpeak
demand,
demand, the the northern
northern end
end a a winter
winter one,
one, so
so aa
bi-directional
bi-directional link
link allows
allows savings
savings from
from
electricity
electricity trade.
trade.
 HVDC versus Gas
Pipeline
• Variable costs of an overhead HVDC link
are less than the variable costs of
pipeline gas.
• For
For 1,000–5,000
1,000–5,000 MW MW over
over 5,000
5,000 km
km pipeline
pipeline
gas
gas is
is about
about 1.2–1.9
1.2–1.9 times
times more
more expensive
expensive
(Arrillaga,
(Arrillaga, 1998).
1998).
• Relative costs depend on the cost of
land,
land, and the
the price of gas
gas among other
factors.
• LNG also competes with HVDC for
exploiting some gas reserves.
 Renewable Energy &
HVDC

• HVDC seems particularly suited to many

renewable energy sources:
• Sources
Sources o off supply
supply (hydro,
(hydro, geothermal,
geothermal, wind,
wind,
tidal
tidal)) are
are often
often distant
distant from
from demand
demand centers.
centers.
• Wind
Wind tu turrbines
bines operating
operating at at variable
variable speed
speed
generate
generate powerpower atat different
different frequencies,
frequencies,
requiring
requiring conversions
conversions to to and
and from
from DC.
DC.
• Large
Large hydro
hydro projects,
projects, for
for example,
example, also
also often
often
supply
supply multiple
multiple transmission
transmission systems.
systems.
 HVDC & Solar Power

• HVDC would appear to be particularly

relevant for developing large scale solar
electrical power.
power.
• Major sources are low
low latitude, and high
high
altitude deserts, and these tend
tend to be
remote from major demand
demand centers.
• Photovoltaic cells
cells also produce
produce electricity
as DC, eliminating the need to convert at
source.
Average Potential Electricity
From Photovoltaics (1983-
92)

Source:
Source: Institut für Solare
Solare
Energieversorgungstechnik
Energieversorgungstechnik

Panels are assumed to have an efficiency of 14% at peak

radiation and standard temperature reduced to approximately
13% efficiency due to system losses.
Source:
Source: National Renewable
Renewable Energy
Laboratory
Laboratory
Potential power from SW
of USA, Northern
Mexico
• 6 kWh/m22 light a day yields about 280
kWh/m22 of electricity a
a year for panels at
13% efficiency.
• For average distances of 5,000 km,km,
HVDC transmission losses would be
about 25%.
• About 20 panels each 30km×30km
(18,000km22) would be needed to replace
the 3,800 billion kWh of electricity
produced in US in 2000..
 Grid-Connected PV
Plants
• First installed in Japan
Japan (Saijo)
(Saijo) and USA
USA
(Hesperia) in the early 1980s.
• Now more than
than 25 plants world-wide
with peak power output from 300 kW kW to
more than 3 MW
• Most of the plants have fixed, tilted
structures, without tracking.
• These plants have
have proved easy to
monitor and control and have achieved a
25% annual capacity factor even with
modest downtime.
 Seasonal Fluctuations
• Available
Available sunlight
sunlight does
does not
not vary
vary greatly
greatly by
by
season
season in
in the
the SW,
SW, while
while demand
demand also
also peaks
peaks in
in
summer.
summer.
• Following
Following map
map is
is Dec/July
Dec/July means
means over
over 10
10 years.
years.

Source:
Source: Institut
Institut für
für Solare
Solare
 Daily Fluctuations
Load (GW)
• Capacity is needed
to meet unexpected
falls in output or
hydro hydro
demand surges.
• Balance of system
net daily load curve capital costs depend
pumped
on peak load net of
pumped
storage storage solar output.
• Solar output is less
peaked when panels
solar output track the sun, but
this raises costs.
• For SW of US, power
could be sent west in
Hours of day morning hours, east
in the afternoons.
 Spatial and Temporal
Arbitrage
• High
High capacity
capacity HVDC
HVDC (bi-directional) links
between time zones, oror different climates,
can flatten
flatten peaks in solar output and
and in
demand.
• Only
Only excess
excess demands
demands are
are traded
traded as
as
geographical
geographical differences
differences in
in prices
prices are
are eliminated
eliminated
through
through arbitrage.
arbitrage.
• Hydroelectric capacity and pumped
pumped storage
allow
allow electricity
electricity prices
prices to
to be
be arbitraged
arbitraged over
over
time.
time.
• Hydrogen
Hydrogen produced
produced through
through electrolysis
electrolysis might
might
be
be another
another cost-effective
cost-effective way
way to
to store
store electricity.
electricity.
Transcontinental Energy
Bridges
• Siberia has
has large coal
coal and
and gas reserves and
and
could produce
produce 450-600 billion kWh of
hydroelectricity annually, 45%
45% of Japanese
Japanese
output in 1995.
• AA 1,800
1,800 km
km 11,000MW
11,000MW HVDC
HVDC link
link would
would enable
enable
electricity
electricity to
to be
be exported
exported from
from Siberia
Siberia to
to Japan.
Japan.
• Siberia
Siberia could
could also
also be
be linked
linked to
to Alaska
Alaska via
via HVDC.
HVDC.
• Zaire could produce 250–500
250–500 billion kWh
kWh of
hydroelectricity annually to
to send to
to Europe
(5-6,000 km) on a 30-60,000 MWMW link.
• Hydroelectric projects on a similar scale
have
have been proposed
proposed for
for Canada,
Canada, China
China and
and
Brazil.
 New Technologies
Needed?
• For transfers of 5,000 MW over 4,000
km, the optimum voltage rises to 1,000–
1,100 kV.
• Technological
Technological developments
developments inin converter
converter
stations
stations would
would be
be required
required to
to handle
handle these
these
voltages.
voltages.
• Lower
Lower line
line losses
losses would
would reduce
reduce the
the optimum
optimum
voltage.
voltage.
• However, environmentalist opposition
opposition
and unstable international relations may
may
be the biggest obstacle to such
grandiose schemes.