IEEE Tiransactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 12, No.

3, July 1997 1309

VOLTAGE STABILITY ANALYSIS OF MULTI-INFEED HVDC SYSTEMS

Denis Lee Hau Aik Goran Anderson

Member Senior Member
Royal Institute of Technology
Department of Electric Power Engineering
S-100 44 Stockholm
Sweden

Abstract - With the increased use of HVDC transmission the system planner and designer would be interested to know if
systems in power systems, situations have arisen and will be even analytical techniques developed for and findings accrued from the
more frequent in the future, where several HVDC systems are single-infeed HVDC system case are valid for multi-infeed HVDC
located in the vicinity of each other. It is evident that interactions system scenarios. At the outset there is strong inclination to
between the different HVDC systems will occur in such believe that the interaction phenomena and associated problems
configurations, and it is of importance to analyze such systems in for the multi-infeed HVDC system are closely related to the sin-
a systematic way to ensure that there are no risks of adverse gle-infeed HVDC system case, but the question is how close are
interactions. A method of analysis to cope with this task is their correspondence and under what conditions do they differ. A
presented and motivated in this paper. This method is host of other questions arise and therefore it becomes clear that a
demonstrated by application to a system with dual HVDC
systematic and analytical exposition of the basic nature and mech-
converters, and using the identified factors influencing the
anisms of these phenomena need to be developed.
interactions, its practical realization is also illustrated.
KEYWORDS Voltage stability, multi-infeed HVDC system. Therefore the objective of our work is to present a general and
eigenvalue decoyposition. systematic method for the voltage/power stability analysis of
multi-infeed HVDC systems. Naturally, this method has consoli-
1. INTRODUCTION dated many conceptual ideas developed for the single-infeed
In the past, situations have arisen where the HVDC link is termi- HVDC system since the latter is the forerunner to the multi-infeed
nated at a single AC system location of low short-circuit level rel- HVDC system. Thus, this method has its basis from the single-
ative to the power rating of the HVDC link. Such single HVDC infeed HVDC system case while at the same time is also a general-
converter feeding into an AC system is generally termed as a sin- ization of the latter.
gle-infeed HVDC system. When the AC system is relatively weak, The outline of the paper is as follows. Section 2 gives a short
the interconnected ACDC system brings concomitant problems summary of the work done concerning the single-infeed HVDC
relating to voltage and power instability. Therefore over the last system. In Section 3 the eigenstructure based methods are intro-
years, much research focus had been on problems of such nature duced and they are applied to a general multi-infeed HVDC sys-
for the single-infeed HVDC system such as in [ I ] where a compre- tem. Of particular importance and interest in this context are the
hensive and systematic analysis of all important ACDC interac- modelling aspects, which are also discussed in this section. It is
tions for the single-infeed HVDC system were given. Others, [2], also shown here that quantities introduced in Section 2 are particu-
[3], [4], worked on the various theoretical, computational, and lar cases of the general concepts introduced through the eigen-
other aspects of the problem. structure based methods. The proposed method of analysis is now
applied to a dual HVDC converter system in Section 4. Besides
As tht: use of HVDC systems continues to develop, situations demonstrating the virtue of the method, crucial parameters and
will also arise with two or more HVDC converters feeding into system characteristics determining the stability of this system are
AC system locations that are electrically in close proximity. identified. Conclusions and suggestions for further work are pro-
Already such systems are being planned or in existence such as vided in Section 5 .
those in Scandinavia, India, Southern California, Manitoba, and
2. ANALYSIS OF SINGLE-INFEED HVDC SYSTEMS
Quebec. Such systems, termed as multi-infeed HVDC systems, are
expected to usher in new phenomena concerning interactions The system analyzed in [I] is shown in Fig. 1 where the notation
between the various AC and DC systems, particulary when the AC of the relevant quantities and parameters is also introduced. The
system is again relatively weak. Naturally and quite appropriately short-circuit ratio, SCR, of this system is defined as

1
SCR = - (1)
96 SM 4416-5 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE Z
Transmission and Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power
Engineening Society for presentation at the 19% IEEWPES Summer
Meeting, July 28 - August 1, 1996, Denver, Colorado. Manuscript
submitted December 29, 1995; made available for printing May 21,
with all quantities expressed in P.u., and the nominal DC-power
1996. and nominal AC voltage as base power and base voltage, respec-
tively. Another useful variable is the Effective Short-circuit Ratio,
ESCR, defined as

ESCR = S C R - Q C N
0885-8977/97/$10.00 0 1996 IEEE
1310
with QcN,the total MVA rating of AC filters and shunt capacitors
connected at the AC commutation bus, in p.u. of nominal DC-
power.
For a more detailed discussion on and the motivation of using
this model, the reader is referred to [I]. The purpose of this model
is to study phenomena in the time scale slower than the current
control of the HVDC system but faster than the response of the
conventional voltage control in the AC system.
In principle two approaches have been presented conceming the
analysis of the stability of the power control loop or, more general,
the voltage stability of system in Fig.1. The first approach was
introduced by Ainsworth et al. in [2] in which the maximum DC
power achievable by the inverter, operating in constant y control
mode, as the direct current ncreased, is taken as the power sta-
bility limit of the interconnected ACDC system. The resulting
curve of Pd versus ld is known as the Maximum Power Curve
(MPC). A very important concept in this analysis is the Critical
Effective Short-circuit Ratio, CESCR. Under nominal conditions,
i.e., 1 p.u. of DC current, AC voltage, etc., if the actual initial
operating point corresponds to the maximum of MPC, then the
ESCR is said to be critical, CESCR.
The second approach was first introduced by Hammad in [ 3 ] .
There, the ratio between the voltage change, AU, and a reactive
power Injection, AQ, causing this voltage change was used as a
stability indicator, called voltage stability factor, VSF, defined as;
AU
VSF = - (3)
AQ
However i n this paper, VSF will be referred to as voltage sensi-
tivity factor. A small and positive value of VSF indicates a stable
operation and an increasing value of VSF corresponds to a
decreasing stability margin. When VSF becomes infinite, transi-
tion to the unstable region occurs, and a negative value of VSF i s
found in the unstable region.
The relation between the two methods was first pointed out in
[4] where i t was shown that at the maximum of MPC, VSF
becomes infinite, for the inverters operating in constant power
control mode.
3. ANALYSIS OF MULTI-INFEED HVDC SYSTEMS
A comprehensive study of various interactions i n a multi-infeed
HVDC system was given in [ 5 ] using various study tools. Other
studies, in [6], [7], also used similar approaches to investigate con-
trol interactions or system transient recovery. A more systematic
approach is made in [8], but the analysis is restricted to asynchro-
nous Multi-Terminal DC systems. So far, no systematic and gen-
eral methods aimed at analysis of power systems having several
I I
Fig. I : Sitnpl$ed model of an HVDC converter Atatcon connected
to an AC network.
HVDC-links have been presented.
In this paper, a general method for analysis of multi-infeed
HVDC systems based on eigenvalue decomposition technique will
be presented. Before specific application of the method, some of
its central concepts are first developed in the following section.
3. I Eigenstructure Based Methods
It was found in [9] that the voltage stability of a power system
was closely related to the properties of the power-flow Jacobian,
so that if the Jacobian was close to becoming singular this would
indicate a power system with small voltage stability margin. Much
work followed in this area as in [IO] and [ I l l . In [12] a method
was presented based on an eigenvalue decomposition of the Jaco-
bian at the steady-state operating point given in;
(4)
where,
U, AQ= vector of incremental chang in bus active, reactive
power, respectively.
AU, A8 = vector of incremental changes in bus voltage magnitude,
angle, respectively.
In (4) the Jacobian, J , has been partitioned into four sub-matri-
ces with self-explanatory notation. Also here, AU is used but in
our subsequent work AUIU would be used instead as the elements
of Jpu, JQu would then have more natural expressions.
In order to decouple the bus angles from the bus reactive power
incremental change equations of (4), though not by neglecting
them, it was suggested in [IO] to set AP =0, i.e., no active power
injections, thus giving;
AU
AQ=J -
RU
where,
and 1, is called the Reduced-Jacobian matrix in [ 121. In ( 5 ) a con-
densed relation between bus reactive power changes and bus volt-
age magnitude changes are given. If (5) is written as
(7)
itis easily seen that this equation constitute a generalization 01
-I .
VSF introduced in (3), and J , is thus the multi-dimensional
equivalent of VSF.
The eigenstructure analysis is now applied to J,. The modal,
eigenvalue decomposition is given by
where,
A = diagonal matrix with diagonal elements equal to eigenvalues
of J,
 1311

f= matrix with columns equal to left eigenvectors of J , which is the equivalent to (9), is given by
e= matrix with columns equal to right eigenvectors of J ,
If the modal decomposition of J , , (S), is applied to (3,it can “ti
AQ . = h .-
be written as 11 ut;
and the voltage stability of the multi-infeed HVDC system can
AUi
thus be determined by the quantities h,. The relationships in (IO)
A Q . = h.- (9) and (1 1) will serve as the basic tools for the subsequent voltage
1 ’ U;
stability study of multi-infeed HVDC systems. It is not only the
where,
quantities hli that are of importance and carry information of the
A Q . = the ith mode of incremental changes in bus reactive system. The modes AV,, and AQ,; contain information about the
power. most severe disturbances and these are of course also of great
AUi = the ith mode of incremental changes in bus voltage mag- value.
nitude.
The criterion of voltage stability is that all eigenvalues of J , are 4. VOLTAGE STABILITY ANALYSIS OF MULTI-INFEED
positive, as from [12]. It can be seen from (9) that if h, is posi- HVDC SYSTEMS
tive, the incremental change in bus voltage magnitude is “in
4. I Modelling
phase” with the incremental change in reactive power, increasing
bus vollage magnitude when positive reactive power increments
When studying complex systems such as a multi-infeed HVDC
are applied and vice-versa. This physically corresponds to voltage
system interconnected with a large AC network, it is often essen-
stable siituations. However when h, is negative, then the incre-
tial to abstract a simplified model from the complex system while
mental change in bus voltage magnitude is in “anti-phase” with
the incremental change in reactive power, decreasing bus voltage retaining the underlying topological structure. This would con-
magnitude when positive reactive power increments are applied ceivably preserve the fundamental system response, behaviour,
and vice-versa. This physically corresponds to voltage unstable and properties of the original system but now making it easier to
situations. At the boundary of stable and unstable operating point, study, expose, and elucidate them. At the same time, since this
A, becomes zero and physically this means that any infinitise- work is a generalization of the single-infeed HVDC system case,
mally small change in reactive power causes infinite modal volt- there is strong motivation to use a model analogous to the single-
age variation and therefore bus voltage instability. infeed HVDC system apart from being representative of the multi-
infeed HVDC system, so that parallels between them can be
drawn. With this framework in mind, the simplified model of Fig.2
The significance of the modal, or eigenvalue decomposition of
is used in this work to demonstrate the method. In this model the
J , should thus be clear.
converters are both inverters operating in the constant gammdcon-
stant power control mode. In general one or both could be rectifi-
3.2 Incorporation of HVDC Converters
ers operating in a variety of control modes, e.g., constant gamma/
The analysis developed in Section 3.1 is applicable to all sys- constant power, constant gammakonstant current, constant DC
tems whiere the equations and relations determining the behaviour voltage, etc. Further, it should be noted that our choice of inverters
can be llinearized to a form as in (4). For an integrated ACDC and control mode does not cause the method to lose its generality,
power system the HVDC converter equations have to be incorpo- it being applicable to any N-converter multi-infeed HVDC system
rated and this is still possible by treating the PQ load of the HVDC operating in any control mode. The nomenclature used in the fig-
converter as voltage dependant active and reactive power loads, ure and in this paper is similar to that of the single-infeed HVDC
where the voltage dependence is determined by the control mode system of Fig.1, but now with the subscript 1 and 2 denoting the
of the converter, i.e., constant power or current, constant y , etc. A correspondance of each parameter with the constituent ACDC
derivation of the Jacobian for different control modes can be found subsystem 1 and 2, respectively.
in [13].
The situation of interest in this paper could be described as quasi 4.2 Definition of Terms
steady-state [l], which means that the tools applicable to power
flow analysis can be used when due consideration has been taken First, the following are defined;
to the modelling of the different power system components [14]. Power Base Ratio, PBR, as the ratio of DC power ratings of
If the focus of the analysis is on the HVDC converters, all AC HVDC subsystems 2 and 1 given by;
buses except the converter AC buses could be eliminated in a sim-
ilar way as the active power injections were eliminated from (5). ‘dm2
Then ( 5 ) would become; PER = - (12)
AU ‘dn 1
A Q = J -t (10) Effective Short Circuit Ratio I , ESCRI, of the constituent ACDC
tR U , subsystem 1, which has the same meaning as (2),as;
where an index t has been used to denote that only HVDC con-
1
verter AC buses are included. The modal decomposition of (lo), ESCRl = - - b
2, cl
1312

transfer and injection, equations are straightforward to calculate,

AC subsystem I U1 6 6 1 thus only their notations are explained in appendix 9.1
4.3.2 Reduced-Jacobian Matrix
Applying the expressions in appendix 7.1 into equations set (16)
and the resulting form into (6),and assuming all impedance angles
of the AC network are 90 degrees for simplicity, the Reduced-
Jacobian matrix of the dual-converter HVDC system can be
obtained in the same form as (10) where;

JtR
AC subsystem 2 U2/62
Fig.2: Dual-Converter HVDC System
where zI, b,, are in per unit on a Pdnl base MVA and UR base voit-
age. P,, is taken as the common system MVA base.

Effective Short Circuit Ratio 2, ESCR2, of the constituent AC/DC The elements of J,R of (17) are functions of a,, a2, a-?,A, for
subsystem 2, which has the same meaning as (2), as; given system loading conditions. In turn, al, a2, a-?,A are all alge-
braic functions of (ESCRZ, ESCR2, PBR, ~ ~ 2The ) . expressions for
1
ESCR2 = - - I c 2 (14) the elements of J , and definitions of a,, a2, a.?, A are given in
z'2 appendix 7.2. The voltage dependant terms of the HVDC con-
where z ' ~ , Uc2 are in per unit on a Pdnz base MVA and UR base verter loads-which appear in the elements of the JtR, for two com-
mon HVDC control modes, are given in appendix 7.3.
voltage. While it is more meaningful to specify the Effective Short It can be seen from the expressions of J*R in appendix 7.2, that
Circuit Ratio according to base MVA of individual constituent as 212 tends to infinity, J , , , J 2 1 approach zero and J l I , J22 are
ACDC subsystems, it is more convenient to specify impedances independent of each other, meaning that the dual-terminal multi-
in per unit on the common MVA base. Thus from (12) and (14); infeed HVDC system decouples into two single-infeed HVDC
systems, as one would expect. When z12 tends to zero, the situa-
tion is more complex but it can be shown that the elements of JIR-'
,the inverse matrix of JtR, are all equal. The value of each of these
where 22, bc2, are now in per unit on a Pd,,l MVA base and U R matrix elements is equal to the VSF corresponding to the parallel
voltage base. impedance of the AC subsystems 1 and 2, as one would again
expect. These results provide a check on the method presented and
4.3 Application to Dual-Converter NVDC System as well as illustrating that the dual-converter multi-infeed HVDC
system is a general case of the single-infeed HVDC system.
4.3. I Jacobian Matrix
Since a l . a2, a j act like containers of the parameters (ESCRI,
Referring to Fig.2 ana (4), the Jacobian matrix of the dual-con- ESCR2, PBR, z12 ) and in tum they appear in a compact form as
verter HVDC system after eliminating the Thevenin equivalent terms of the elements of J,R, the eigenvalues of JtR are also certain
source buses of AC subsystems 1 and 2 as described in Section functions of (ESCRI, ESCR2, PBR, 212). This fact together with
3.2, can be written as; the voltage stability criteria of the next section will be used for the
- practical realization of the method in Section 4.3.4.
aApt 1 aAp*1 4.3.3 Voltage Stability Criteria
U l T u 2 q
In principle. the expressions of 3, in appendix 9 2 can be aub-
JP6 = -IPU =
stituted into ( 17) and applying the eigenvalue decomposition of
aApt2 aApt2
U- U- (8) on this resulting Reduced-Jacobian matrix, analytic form of its
1 au, 2a u2
- - eigenvalues in terms of (ESCRI, ESCR2, PBR, z12) could also be
obtained. Using symbolic terms instead, the eigenvalues, h , h
r r
2'
are found from the characteristic equation of the Reduced-Jaco-
bian matrix of (19), and they must be positive fnr voltage stable
systems. This leads to the following criteria.

(1 8)

The expressions for the power mismatch, associated power

 1313

where det(J,R) denotes the determinant of the Reduced-Jacobian AClDC subsystem I

matrix.
4.3.4 Practical Applications p-TJ HVDC subsystem I
A conceptual idea that eigenvalues of the Reduced-Jacobian AC subsystem I I
matrix, thus system voltage stability, depend on parameters such A Planned
as ESCRI, ESCR2, PBR, or 212, as determined in Section 4.3.2, 712 I I interconnection
provides a basis for defining the types of graph to plot in order to Y
analyze system voltage stability quantitatively. However, there AC subsvstem 2 I HVDC subsystem 2
being a variety of ways to define two dimensional graphical plots
using these identified parameters, one should only conceive graph-
. _ _link
_-
ical plots that correspond to some meaningful physical or practical AC/DC subsystem 2
situations. Two plausible cases based on Fig.2 are given below;
Fig.4: Cuse 2 - Plunning n new HVDC link und interconnection
stant.
Case I: AC subsystem 2 is interconnected to AC/DC subsystem 1
In this paper, due to space constraint, only Case 2 and its associ-
in the neighborhood. Now, a new HVDC link is envisaged to be
ated graphs are used to illustrate the practical application of the
installed for AC subsystem 2 and to be terminated at the bus which
method, see Fig.5, 6, and 7. Fig.5 is a graph that indicates a value
is the interconnection bus between AC subsystem 2 and AC/DC
of ESCR2, approximately 2.9 and z12=0.85p.u. constant, that cor-
subsystem 1 (see Fig.3). Here, the system planner would be inter-
ested to lknow if there is some limiting amount of DC power that responds to the limit between voltage stable and unstable regions
could be injected into the existing system so that its voltage stabil- since the minimum eigenvalue changes sign for this value of
ity would not be threatened. Such a limit is the ESCR2 as defined ESCR2. In Fig.6, ESCRZ is constant while zI2 is varied and the
in (15), with a given z12. ESCRI, PBR, for which the minimum transition point between voltage stability and instability occurs at
eigenvalue of the system becomes zero. zI2=O.95p.u. When determining the stability limit it is only the
zero-crossing in Fig.5 and Fig.6 that are of interest and these
Case 2: .AC subsystem 2 is existing in the neighborhood of ACI points can be plotted in a ESCR2-z12plane where they constitute a
DC subsystem 1. A new HVDC link is planned for AC subsystem curve as shown in Fig.7. This curve is consequently the border
2 and wiith that an interconnection with AC/DC subsystem 1 is between voltage stable and unstable regions. For example, the
also envisaged, perhaps to export the then excess power of AC/DC zero-crossing from Fig.5, i.e., ESCR2=2.9 at a constant
subsystem 2 to 1 (see Fig.4). Here, the system planner would be . u .Fig.6, i.e., zI2=O.95p.u.at a constant ESCR2=3.0
~ ~ ~ = 0 . 8 5 pand
interested to know the relationship between the coupling imped- , are found to lie on the voltage stabilityhnstability curve of Fig.7.
ance, z I 2 ,and newly injected DC power, hence equivalently ESCR The curve as shown in Fig.7 will be useful for the system planner
of ACDC subsystem 2, that would affect voltage stability of the
integrated ACDC system. 0.5 I
For a system there are a number of parameters that could be var- z I 2=0.X S p I ( . , ESCRI= I .06, PBR=O.S
ied: ESCRI, ESCE2, 212, loading conditions, HVDC control mode,
etc. There are thus a lot of possibilities to give graphical results for
analysis but there are only two principal types: (I) to plot mini-
mum eigenvalue as function of one parameter, eg. ESCR2 or z12,
while keeping the others constant, (ii) to identify stable and unsta-
ble areas, in the plane spanned by two of the parameters, eg.
ESCRI/ESCR2 or ESCR21z12,while the other parameters are con-
-1
0
' 2 ESCR2 4 6
AC/DC subsystem 1
Fig.5: Minimum eigenvulue-ESCR2 grupli

0.15
AC subsystem I HVDC subsystem 1 ETCR2=3 0 ESCRI=I 06 PBR=O 5
-
0.1

-4 0.05 -
AC subsystem 2 HVDC subsystem 2

J5.:k<-
- - Planned HVDC 0-
......
link
AC/DC subsystem 2

Fig.3: Cuse I - PIunning U new HVDC link

-0.05 '
0 1 1.5
212 (p.u.1
Fig.6: Minirnum eigenvulue-z12g r q h
1314

3.2

3
..............
2.8
............
2.6

2.4
0 1.5

Fig 7 ESCR-z12 graph, (see Eible 1 f o r tritical/noti-crit[calvalues)

Fig 9 Case T2 2 voltage unytable yysrem
when designing a new system.
4.3.5 Computer Simulations * = Xc-utation bus 1 PU 2 7 5 0015QRTl31 KV
*-AC c o m u k n t l o n bus 2 PU 275 OO/SQRT[ll XY

To verify that the theoretically predicted critical values of sys-

tem parameters that caused transition from voltage stable to unsta-
ble situations, computer simulations using SIMPOW load flow
and transient stab programs, described in [15], were per-
formed. A graph of Fig.7 was first generated to allow selection of
critical and non-critical values of system parameters, 212 and
ESCR2. Three points P, P E and~Pz12~as indicated
~ in Fig.7 were
selected for the simulations. The values of z12 and ESCR2 corre-
sponding to these points are given in Table 1 below. Point P is

Tuble I Criricul und non-critital vulues ojsyrrem purumererr ured in the

computer srmulutionr (jigures in brutkets clre tnricul vulues)
Fig I O . Cuse n . 3 voltage unstable system

It is clear from Fig.8, corresponding to Case T2.1, that the sys-

tem is voltage stable, and from Fig.9 and 10, corresponding to
Cases T2.2 and T2.3 respectively, that the system is voltage unsta-
ble, and thus the simulations verify the analytical results obtained
by the method presented above.

within the stable region of Fig.7 while PEsCRand PZl2are both in
the unstable region. Fig.8-IO show the response of the commuta-
tion AC bus voltages after a small disturbance of reactive power at
one of the commutation AC buses, simulated by the tripping of a
shunt capacitor, was applied at time t=O. 1 second.
Y l Y I
5. CONCLUSION
A general and systematic method based on eigenvalue decom-
position technique, for analyzing the voltage stability of multi-
infeed HVDC systems has been presented.
Using this method and the simplified model of Fig.2, it is shown
that voltage stability can be related to basic parameters such as the
effective short-circuit ratio of and coupling impedance between
the constituent ACDC subsystems, and the DC power base ratio
between the constituent HVDC subsystems.

The method was also found to be suitable for practical applica-

tions through use of graphical plots based on the method.
Computer simulations performed showed close correspondence
between the critical values of system parameters predicted by the
method and physical voltage instability phenomenon.
In this paper, only voltage stability for converters operating in
constant gammdconstant power control mode were considered but
another aspect of stable operation of multi-infeed HVDC systems
0 " ' ' 0'11' 0 ' 6 2 ' 0'92' 1111' I:S<' , 1 8 5 ' 2:15' 2!46' 2:77
A
3 08
is power stability for other control modes. Also, the eigenvectors
Lime lseconds)
SIMPOW of (S) could be analyzed to obtain further modal information of the
system. Using this method it is also possible to study how a new
Fig.8: Case T2. I voltage stable system
converter could be used to stabilize an interconnected system
 131s

through selection of appropriate controls, e.g., some kind of 7. APPENDIX

gamma control, etc. These and other aspects are currently being
considered and will be reported in the future. 7.I Power Mismatch Equations:

6. REFERENCES AP . = P.+ P . . - P
If f fJ di
‘Guide for Planning DC Links Terminating at AC Systems A Q , ~= Q ~ + Q . . + Q - Q . where;
ij di ci
Locations Having Low Short-circuit Capacities, Part I: AC/DC
Interaction Phenomena”, Cigr6-IEEE Joint WG 14.07/15.05.05, pi’ Q; : activeheactive power transfer between commutation AC
Cigv-6 Technical Brochure 68, Paris, France, 1991. bus i and AC subsystem i.
Ainsworth J.D, Gavrilovi’c and Thanawala H.L, “Static and P.., Q . . : activeheactive power transfer between AC/DC subsys-
‘I ‘1
Syrichronous Compensators for DC Transmission Converters
tem i to AC/DC subsystemj.
Connected to Weak AC Systems”, Paper 31-0, Cigre‘ General
Session 1980, Paris, France. pdi.
: activeheactive power injected into commutation AC bus
Hammad A., Sadek K., Kauferle J., “A New Approach for the i from HVDC subsystem i.
Analysis of and Solution’of DC Voltage Stability Problems at and i, j = 1,2; i # j . Their expressions can be found in any stand-
HV DC Terminals” Proceedings of Internationd Conference on
ard text, and e.g., in 141.
DC Power Transrnissiori June 4-8 1984, Montreal, Canada, pp.
164-170.
Frank& B. and Andersson G., “Analysis of HVDC convcrtcts
connected to weak ac systems”, IEEE Transactions on Power
Symms, vol. 5, no I , Feb. 1990, pp. 235-242.
Schectman M. et al., “The Behavior of Several HVDC Links
Terminating in the Same Load Area”, Paper 14-20]. Cigri Gen-
eral SPssion 1992, Paris, France.
Bui L.X., Sood V.K. and Laurin S., “Dynamic Interactions
Between HVDC Systems Connected to AC Buses in Close
Proximity” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 6 , no 1,
Jan. 199I , pp. 223-230.
Reeve J. and Lane-Smith S.P., “Multi-infeed HVDC transient
response and recovery strategies” IEEE Transuctiorzs on Power
Delivery. vol. 8, no 4, Oct. 1993, pp. 1995-2001.
Padiyar K.R. and Kalyana Raman V., “Study of voltage collapse
at converter bus in asynchronous MTDC-AC systems”, 1nt.
Jourrial on Electric Power & Energy Systems, vol. 15, no 1, Feb.
1993, pp. 45 - 53.
Tamura Y., Mori H. and Iwamoto S., “Relationship between
Voltage Stability and Multiple Load Flow Solutions”, IEEE
TrunsucfionsPAS, vol. 102, no 5, May 1983, pp. I 1 15-1 125.
Hill D.J., Lot’ P.-A., Andersson C., “Analysis of Long Term
Voltage Stability”, Proceedings ofthe loth PSCC, Graz, Austria, 2 U‘
u2 = Qd2 + P E R . E S C R 2 . U2 + 2
1990, pp. 1252-1269. ‘12
Ltif P.-A., Andersson G., Hill D.J., “Voltage Stability Indices for
stressed power systems”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems,
vol. 8, no 1 Feb. 1993, pp. 326 - 335.
%

Gao B., Morison G.K., Kundur P., “Voltage Stability Evaluation

Using Modal Analysis”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 7.3 Voltage Dependunce Terms of HVDC Active and Reactive
vol. 7, no 4, Nov. 1992, pp. 1529-1542.
Powers
Smed T., Andersson G., Sheble G.B. and Grigsby L.L., “A New
Approach to ACIDC Power Flow”, IEEE Transactions on
Power Systems, vol. 6, no 3, Aug. 1991, pp. 1238-1244. for constant-power control mode:
Smed ‘T. and Andersson G., “Analysis of PowerNoltage Stabil-
ity of HVDC Converters in AC Systems, Procmdings ofthe IEE
5th International Conference on AC and DC Transmission, Lon-
don, England. 1991, Pub.No.345, pp. 395-397. for constant-current control mode:
T.Adielson, “SIMPOW-A Digital Program System for Static and
Dynamic Simulation of Power Systems”, CEPSI Conference,
Bangkok, Nov. 1982.

where i = 1,2 and y, pi‘ ai are the HVDC system parameters which
1316

are self-explanatory.

Denis Lee Hau Aik (M’88) - was born in Kuching, East Malaysia.
He received his BE degree from the National University of Singa-
pore in 1984. In 1984 he joined the Sarawak Electricity Supply
Corporation (SESCO), East Malaysia. Since 1987 he has worked
as an electrical engineer on high voltage transmission and large
power plant projects for SESCO. Currently he is on study leave to
pursue postgraduate studies at the Royal Institute of Technology,
Sweden, under a Swedish Malaysian Scholarship program.

Goran Andersson (M’86-SM’91) - was born in Malmo, Sweden.

He received his M.S. and PhD. degree from the University of
Lund in 1975, and 1980, respectively. In 1980 he joined ASEA:s
HVDC division and in 1986 he was appointed professor in Elec-
tric Power Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stock-
holm, Sweden. His research interests are in power system analysis
and control, particularly issues involving HVDC and other power
electronics based equipment. He is a member of the Royal Swed-
ish Academy of Engineering Sciences and Royal Swedish Acad-
emy of Sciences.

Discussion
M.K. Pal (Consultant, Edison, NJ): The voltage stability analysis
presentled in the paper relies on the method of voltage/reactive
power relationship, expressed variously as sensitivity factors,
eigenvalues of the reduced Jacobian, etc. The drawbacks of the
general use of the method in voltage stability analyses have been
pointed out in [A-C], and are now generally acknowledged. The
method applies only when voltage stability results obtained from
static and dynamic analyses are identical. This would be the case
for the simplified systems shown in Figs. 1-4 of the paper, as well
as in systems where the load behaves as static load from voltage
stability viewpoint.
Note that the positive values of voltageheactive power
sensitivity factors or eigenvalues are strictly "criteria" for voltage
stability when a static analysis is used. They do not reflect reality.
Therefore, statements such as ".. . decreasing bus voltage
magnitude when positive reactive power increments are applied
..." should be made very carefully. This mixing up of analysis
criteria and what happens in reality has been responsible for
perpetuating much of the misconceptions in the voltage stability
literature. Irrespective of whether the equilibrium point is stable or
unstable, a positive reactive power increment will always cause the
bus voltage to increase and vice versa. Note that if the cases
shown in Figs. 9 and 10 were repeated for a reactive power
disturbance, simulated by switching in of a shunt capacitor, the
system response would be quite different. The system would settle
to a stable equilibrium point, provided the system modeling and
computation were correctly done.
\Ne also question the validity of reducing the entire AC
network to one or two equivalent buses, even when the focus of
the analysis is on the HVDC converters. This may be appropriate
for a preliminary investigation, but not acceptable for the final
decision making. Actually this reduction is hardly necessary,
considering the fact that the voltage stability limit considered in the
paper is identical to the steady state power limit, which can be
obtained very efficiently using a power flow based program such
as VSTAB described in [12]. Note that a well designed program
will rarely converge to an unstable equilibrium point, and
therefore, the power flow convergence can be accepted as stable
operation. A power flow based voltage stability analysis, when
applicable, is very efficient and powerful. On the other hand, our
experience with modal analyses of very large systems has been
disappointing.
[A] M.K. Pal, discussion of Reference [12].
h4.K. Pal, "Voltage Stability: Analysis Needs, Modelling
[B]
Requirement and Modelling Adequacy," IEE Proc. C,
Vol. 140, NO. 4, pp.279-286, July 1993.
[C] M.K. Pal, "Assessmentof Corrective Measures for Voltage
Stability Considering Load Dynamics, " Electrical Power
and Energy Systems, Vol. 17, No.5, pp.325-334,Oct. 1995.
Claudio A. Caiiizares (University of Waterloo): This inter-
esting paper successfully applies a well-known technique used
in voltage stability analysis of ac power systems to study volt-
age problems in combined ac-dc systems. The singularity of a
reduced reactive power Jacobian matrix is used to determine
the stability boundary, validating the results with time domain
simulati'ons.
Similar results were reported for ac-dc systems in [A, B],
based on singularities of the full dynamic Jacobian of the sys-
tem. Bifurcation theory was used in these _papers
. to explain the
reasons behind the voltage stability problems, and to propose
1317
numerical techniques to compute the stability boundary. Al-
though simplified models of the dc system and related controls
were used, the results were similar to the ones reported in the
present paper.
Comparing these somewhat similar methodologies, the fol-
lowing questions come to mind:
1. It appears that the numerical costs are higher when using
the reduced Jacobian as opposed to using the full system
Jacobian, as the matrix reduction degrades matrix poros-
ity. Thus, what would be the advantages of using such re-
duced matrix that justify the higher computational costs?
2. How detailed were the models of the HVDC and ac systems
used to obtain the results shown in the paper?
The authors' comments to these questions would be greatly
appreciated.
[A] C. A. Caiiizares, F. L. Alvarado, C. L. DeMarco, I. Dobson,
and W. F. Long, "Point of collapse methods applied to ac/dc
power systems," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, vol. 7 , no. 2,
May 1992, pp. 673-683.
[B] C. A. Caiiizares, "Conditions for saddle-node bifurcations
in ac/dc power systems," Int. J. of Electric Power B Energy
Systems, vol. 17, no. 1, February 1995, pp. 61-68.
Manuscript received August 27, 1996.
Denis Lee Hau Aik, G.Andersson: The authors thank the
discussors for their interests in the paper, and the issues and
queries raised by them are addressed in the following.
Dr. Claudio A.Canizares: From the conceptual perspective,
the main advantage in using a QV Jacobian matrix of the multi-
infeed HVDC system is that its modal form is akin to the volt-
age sensitivity factor (VSF) of the single-infeed case. This par-
allel points to the close relationship between the single-infeed
and multi-infeed scenarios, and has thus facilitated concepts
characteristic to the single-infeed case to be similarly extended
to the multi-infeed case. It can also be shown analytically that
the QV Jacobian matrix of the multi-infeed system of fig.2 in
the paper, reduces to the VSF of its constituent single-infeed
AC/DC systems when the coupling impedance between them is
set to an arbitrarily large value. From the practical viewpoint, it
would then be advantageous when one is investigating a multi-
infeed configuration but is also interested to find the limiting
VSF when the coupling transmission line suffers an outage.
For planning studies on new AC/DC interconnections or
operational studies on existing multi-infeed configurations, a
reduced AC system representation is usually employed ini-
tially. This would allow better identification of the potentially
critical cases, for subsequent detailed studies. As such, the
reduced AC system model would, typically, only have a small
number of representative buses. Thus, the computational bur-
den in reducing the power flow Jacobian matrix is deemed not
to be of critical importance. The method presented is, however,
aDDlicable to multi-infeed configurations embedded in a large
I I Y -
1318
AC system, and under such a scenario, we envisage that the
extra computational burden in reducing the power flow Jaco-
bian matrix would not be prohibitive as to render the method
impractical.
The HVDC models used in the SIMPOW power system
analysis software comprise the current controller, current order
controller (VDCOL and its associated circuits), and central
controller. The current controller is equivalent to the propor-
tional/integral control with saturation and rate limits. The volt-
age dependent current order limiter (VDCOL) has a variable
slope characteristic determined by the current order from the
central controller, subject to a minimum slope specified by the
user. Sample and hold circuits features are available but are not
modelled in our simulations. The central controller generates
the current order based on the power order divided by the DC
voltage for power control mode. The DC voltage is checked for
its excursion below a lower limit, upon which a predefined
constant DC voltage would be used for the division, i.e. the
central controller temporarily switches to constant current con-
trol mode. This state persists until the DC voltage recovers
above a user defined reset threshold.
Dr. M.K.Pa1: It is not evident to us, from the references
cited, that the drawbacks of the modal method in voltage stabil-
ity analysis have now been generally acknowledged. Rather,
from references, [ 121 of the paper and [ A l l , which drew dis-
cussions from more diverse sources than the cited references
[A] - [ C] , we perceived that the modal method has been gen-
erally well received. It is understandable and expected that a
relatively new approach in voltage stability analysis would ini-
tially receive caution against its indiscriminate use, but that
does not diminish its versatility and usefulness.
The statements Dr. Pal referred to were made in the context
of equation (9) in the paper. This equation, which describes the
relationship between the modal reactive power and the modal
voltage variation, is derived from the power flow Jacobian
matrix which mathematically relates between the physical
reactive power and voltage behaviour. Thus, when system
modelling is correct and assumptions made are reasonable, the
distinction between reality and criteria is unclear to us.
As elaborated in our closure to Dr. Canizares’ discussion,
we agree that the system model of fig.:! in the paper is very
simplified, and would therefore only be suitable for prelimi-
nary investigations. Nevertheless, it retains the essential char-
acteristics of a multi-infeed HVDC configuration. The virtue in
using a simplified model in initial investigations, is that it read-
ily exposes and distinguishes between the critical and non-crit-
ical cases. Thus, when the potentially critical cases have been
identified using the simplified system model, a detaiied repre-
sentation of the AC system in subsequent studies would, of
course, be necessary.
REFERENCE
[ A l l Morison G.K., Gao B., Kundur P., “Voltage Stability
Analysis Using Static and Dynamic Approaches”, IEEE
Transactions on Power Systems, vo1.8, no.?, Aug.1993,
pp. 1159-1171.
Manuscript received November 5 , 1996.