Designing HVDC grids for optimal reliability and availability performance

VSC technology has opened up the possibility of building a HVDC grid, where multiple AC /DC converter stations are interconnected via a DC transmission network.

WG B4.60 is one of the five WGs set up to work on different aspects of the feasibility of such a grid and it addresses the question of how to design a DC grid to achieve optimal reliability and availability performance. It discusses the technologies used at the AC to DC converter stations and at DC switching stations, the protection issues and the mode of operation of the individual stations.

Analytical techniques are required to assess the performance of the grid design and an example of a study applied to a model grid is given.