An Application of HVDC to the de-icing of Transmission Lines

Author

Horwill, C. ; Davidson, Colin C. ; Granger, M. ; Dery, A.

Author_Institution

AREVA T&D Power Electron. Activities, Stafford

fYear

2006

fDate

21-24 May 2006

Firstpage

529

Lastpage

534

Abstract

Ice accumulation on transmission lines in extreme climatic events can result in severe damage to the lines and towers, with the possibility of being unable to restore the service quickly enough to preserve electricity supplies to customers. To prevent such a situation, Hydro-Quebec TransEnergie are investing in a dedicated "De-icer" installation at its strategically important Levis substation, near Quebec city. The HVDC-based installation, scheduled for handover in August 2006, injects a high direct current into the transmission line to be de-iced. When not being used as a de-icer, the installation operates as a static var compensator (SVC), using the HVDC valves as a thyristor controlled reactor (TCR) in a circuit which minimises the power losses of the valves. The detailed function of the de-icer installation is described in the paper, along with descriptions of the principal equipments and the circuit topologies used in the two modes

Keywords

HVDC power transmission; freezing; network topology; poles and towers; static VAr compensators; substations; thyristor applications; De-icer installation; HVDC-based installation; Hydro-Quebec TransEnergie; Levis substation; circuit topologies; climatic events; electricity supplies; ice accumulation; power loss minimisation; static var compensator; thyristor controlled reactor; tower damages; transmission line de-icing; Cities and towns; Distributed parameter circuits; HVDC transmission; Ice; Poles and towers; Power transmission lines; Static VAr compensators; Substations; Transmission lines; Valves;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exhibition, 2005/2006 IEEE PES

Conference_Location

Dallas, TX

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9194-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/TDC.2006.1668552

Filename

1668552