The International Conference on Electrical Engineering 2008

No. O-084

Technical Assessments on 400kV Series Reactors in CLP Power System

WONG, Hon Kong and CHEN, Shihe
Asset Management Department, Power Systems Business Group
CLP Power Hong Kong Limited
215 Fuk Wa Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract
Series reactors are normally used in power systems as a cost effective means of load flow and fault current control. However,
series reactors increase the system impedance which could lead to weak system damping and/or instabilities. As a system
element with larger reactance, series reactors also impose challenges to insulation coordination and circuit breaker breaking
capability. The possibility of resonance with other system elements at power frequency or harmonic frequencies is another
concern that has to be addressed during the planning and design of series reactors. This paper discussed the technical
considerations in the planning and design of CLP Powers new 400kV series reactors.

Keywords: Transmission System Planning, Fault Level Control, Supply Reliability, Insulation Coordination

the benefits of diversified generation as well as the mutual

support under emergencies. However, along with the growth
of generation in the interconnected system, 400kV system
fault current will increase to a level that mitigation measures
have to be taken. Among several measures, adding 400kV
series reactors in the system were considered as a fast
solution to mitigate the fault level problem.

INTRODUCTION

CLP Power is one of the power utilities in the Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region. It supplies electricity to
about 80% of the local population with an installed
generation capacity of 8,888MW and maximum demand of
6,284MW. The transmission and distribution networks of
CLP Power mainly consist of 1,900km of 400kV/132kV
transmission and 11,000 km of 11kV distribution circuits by
end 2007.

This paper introduces the new 400kV series reactors in CLP

Powers system for fault level control and the technical
considerations in planning and design of the series reactors.
These considerations cover system security, stability,
insulation coordination and power quality aspects. It is
hoped that our experience could provide useful references to
power system planning, operation and design engineers.
2 RATINGS OF THE SERIES REACTORS
Two sets of series reactors are planned to be commissioned
in CLP Powers 400kV network in 2008 for fault level
control purpose. The installation location was carefully
selected to minimize the system fault currents at the most
critical locations, i.e. the power stations. The series reactors
are installed at Black Point Power Station connecting to the
existing 400kV OHL circuits between two power stations,
Castle Peak P/S (CPK) and Black Point P/S (BKP), as
shown in Fig 2.

Fig. 1 CLP Powers Transmission Network

Supply reliability is of prominent importance to CLP Power.
To ensure supply reliability, the 400kV grid network is
connected as ring configuration which is interconnected to
the North the large South China Grid facilitating CLP Power
to share the usage of Daya Bay Nuclear generation and
Guangdong Pumped Storage units. Interconnection brings

As the series reactors are connected into the existing circuits,

the capacity rating of the series reactors has to match the
existing OHL rating to ensure that no capacity limitation

July 6-10, 2008, OKINAWA, JAPAN

would be imposed on the existing circuits. The rating of the

series reactors is therefore designed as the same as the OHL
circuit. Natural cooling design is adopted for the series
reactors. By saving the ancillary cooling equipment, the
overall reliability of the series reactors is improved and
energy loss is reduced.
Shenzhen

breaking capacity limit when more generators are connected

to the system to meet demand requirement, opening of the
LBS effectively puts the series reactors into service.
BKP

Nuclear

SR

Series
Reactor

Black
Point

CPK

LBS

OHL

Fig. 4: Connection of Series Reactors

However, the LBS and the disconnector switches at the two
sides of the series reactors are not designed to have fault
making or breaking capabilities. Any fault clearance or
maintenance switching on the series reactor will require
operations of the circuit breakers at BKP and CPK. Interlock
scheme is carefully designed to prevent any inadvertent
operation of the LBS and disconnector switches beyond their
operation capability.

Castle
Peak

Fig. 2 Series Reactors between Two Power Stations

The impedance of series reactors is determined to meet the
system fault level control requirement while to be as small
as possible to minimize the stability impact to system.
Although the series reactors are of air core type, their
magnetic shields may saturate under through fault condition
resulting in lower impedance. Therefore, the impedance of
the series reactors are designed to meet the fault level
control requirements under any system condition.

TRANSIENT STABILITY

A network with higher circuit impedance is usually weak to

withstand large disturbance from stability perspective.
Therefore, the impacts of the series reactor to the transient
stability of the system have to be assessed carefully. The
impedance of the new series reactors is equivalent to that of
about 65km of 400kV OHL, which is not very high from
system point of view. Besides, the series reactors are
installed between two power stations so that the power
exchange through the series reactors is normally low.
Therefore, the impact of the series reactors to transient
stability should be insignificant.
To confirm the above observation, simulation studies are
conducted. The generator swing curves under a severe
3-phase fault disturbance are shown in Fig 5. The angle
difference between the two cases, i.e. with (dash line) and
without (solid line) series reactor in service, is less than 10
degrees which is considered acceptable.

Fig. 3 400kV Series Reactor under Construction

3

OPERATION OF THE SERIES RACTORS

The 400kV series reactors are located at BKP with one

terminal connected to the 400kV GIS at BKP and the other
connected to CPK through the existing 400kV OHL circuits
shown in Fig. 4.
The load break switch (LBS) installed across the series
reactor (SR) provides a means of control for the operators to
put the series reactors in or out of service with only one
switching operation.
Under light load or contingent
conditions when lower network impedance is required, the
LBS could be closed to bypass the series reactors. If the
system fault level is approaching the switchgear fault

Fig. 5: Generator Swing Curves

The International Conference on Electrical Engineering 2008

indicated that the loading margins of CLP Powers 132kV

substations are sufficient. The loading margins of part of the
132kV substations are shown in Table 1 to give an indication
of the actual impacts. The changes of loading margins due to
the series reactors are given in the last column. It can be
seen that the largest reduction of loading margin due to the
adding of the 400kV series reactors is smaller than 2%.
Considering the large loading margin of the existing system,
the impacts of the reduced loading margin is considered
negligible.

SMALL SIGNAL STABILITY

The addition of series reactors would also increase the

impedance of the network between the two power stations.
The system damping to oscillations may therefore be
weakened. The system damping capability can be measured
by the damping ratio of individual oscillation modes. The
damping ratio is usually calculated by eigenvalue analysis.
Our eigenvalue study results are visualized in Fig. 6. Each
dot in the figure represents the damping ratio of an
oscillation mode. The pink squares represent the damping
capability before the commissioning of the series reactors;
and the purple diamonds are the results after the
commissioning of the series reactors. It can be seen that the
pink squares and the purple diamonds appear in pairs and
they are very close to each other, indicating a very small
change of damping ratios after the installation of the series
reactors.

Table 1: Impact of Series Reactors on Loading Margin

Loading Margin
132kV
Changes
(pu on 100MVA base)
S/S Name Without Series With Series
(%)
Reactor
Reactor
SMR
9.54
9.41
-1.37
KCA
10.36
10.23
-1.27
LNK
9.52
9.40
-1.26
NHS
9.72
9.60
-1.19
LME
10.76
10.64
-1.14
SHK
10.84
10.73
-1.11
LCE
11.58
11.46
-1.05
OLR
11.98
11.86
-1.00
TSA
12.35
12.23
-0.97
HKC
11.57
11.46
-0.93

If the damping ratios are larger than zero with certain safety
margin, the system performance is considered acceptable. In
Fig. 6, the damping ratios of all oscillation modes are larger
than 0.06. Therefore, the system damping performance after
the installation of the series reactors is considered
acceptable.
Small Signal Stability

Frequency scans from both CPK and BKP are conducted to

identify any possible parallel and/or series resonance in CLP
Powers 400kV network. The frequency scan results at CPK
S/S for the existing system without series reactor are shown
in Fig 7. The lowest resonance frequency is 864Hz, far away
from the power frequency of 50Hz.

0.15

damping ratio

HARMONIC RESONANCE OVERVOLTAGE

reactor added
no reactor
Reactor with BKP-SHE Open

0.18

0.12
0.09
0.06
Stable

0.03
0.00
Unstable

-0.03

oscillation mode

Fig. 6: Damping Ratio of Oscillation Modes

6 VOLTAGE STABILITY
Similar to transient and small signal stability, voltage
stability margin could also be reduced due to the adding of
the series reactors into the system. Voltage stability of the
system can be measured by loading margin which is defined
as the additional MW the system can supply at a specific
substation without causing voltage collapse. As there is no
customer load directly connected to the 400kV substations,
the loading margins of CLP Powers 132kV bulk substations
are assessed to evaluate the voltage stability of the system.

Fig. 7: Frequency Scan Results at CPK S/S without

Series Reactor
After the installation of the series reactor, the resonance
frequencies seen from CPK are shown in Fig 8. The
differences between Fig 7 and 8 are insignificant. The
impacts of series reactors on harmonic resonance are
therefore considered negligible.

Due to the relative short circuit length and adequate reactive

compensation equipment, our voltage stability study results

July 6-10, 2008, OKINAWA, JAPAN

Studies revealed that with proper design of surge arresters in

the system, the lightning surge over-voltage could be
controlled within the specified lightning over-voltage
withstand capability of 1425kVp for the 400kV equipment.
Similar study models were adopted to assess the switching
over-voltages on the series reactors and other 400kV
equipment. The maximum switching over-voltage was
expected to be well below the withstanding capability of
1050kV for the 400kV equipment.
9 VERY FAST TRANSIENT OVER-VOLTAGE
Very fast transient over-voltage (VFTO) caused during the
operation of GIS disconnector switches in EHV networks is
another factor to be studied. Due to the slow speed of the
moving contact, a number of pre- or re-strikes may occur
during the closing and opening of the disconnector switches.
The pre- and re-strikes would cause very high frequency
over-voltages on GIS.

Fig. 8: Frequency Scan Results at CPK S/S with Series

Reactor
Further more, the two power stations connected to both ends
of the series reactors would damp down any possible
resonances. Therefore, resonance over-voltage is not
expected under normal operating conditions.

Fig. 10 shows an example of VFTO components on 400kV

GIS. The base frequency in the figure is 200kHz. The
highest and the second highest components are 4th and 11th
harmonics of the base frequency. Therefore, the frequencies
of these two components are 0.8MHz and 2.2MHz
respectively.

8 LIGHTNING AND SWITCHING OVER-VOLTAGE

Although CLP Powers 400kV OHL is protected by ground
wires from direct strikes of lightning currents, back
flashover can still occur. As the series reactors are directly
connected to 400kV OHL, lightning over-voltage study is
necessary to ensure the expected lightning over-voltage on
the series reactors and the associated equipment would not
exceed their withstand capabilities.
The assessment on the lightning over-voltages was carried
out by simulating the reflection and refraction of the
lightning surges caused by back-flashover on the connected
system elements such as OHL ground wires, arcing horns,
towers, earth grids, phase conductors, GIS, series reactors,
transformer bushings, surge arresters, etc. Credible outage
conditions are also taken into consideration in the studies.
Fig. 9 shows the surge voltage of one simulated lightning
scenario at BKP 400kV Substation.

Fig. 10: High Frequency Components of VFTO

1.2

The magnitude of the VFTO may be lower than the specified

insulation level of the series reactors but the high frequency
components would distribute unevenly on the reactor
windings. The uneven distribution may cause damage to the
insulation of the first few turns of windings of the series
reactor.

[MV]
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

To avoid any possible risk of insulation break down due to

switching operation of the disconnector switches, the
simulated VFTO caused by the disconnector switches were
reviewed by the series reactor manufacturer and confirmed
to be within the withstand capability of the series reactors.
Nevertheless, precaution is taken in normal operation to
avoid energizing a section of GIS by a disconnector switch
as far as possible to minimize the potential damage by
VFTO.

0.0
-0.2
-0.4
0.00

0.04

0.08

0.12

0.16

[ms] 0.20

(file BKPL.pl4; x-var t) v:6H3

Fig. 9: Simulated Lightning Surge

The International Conference on Electrical Engineering 2008

was critically reviewed by the manufacturers. The expected

RRRV is finally contained within the withstanding level of
the circuit breakers with a satisfactory safety margin.

10 RATE OF RISE OF RECOVERY VOLTAGE

A high rate of rise of recovery voltage (RRRV) may be
developed across the circuit breakers (CB) at BKP and CPK
following the interruption of fault currents, in particular if
the fault is on the series reactor windings.

11

The planned new 400kV series reactors play an important

role in CLP Powers transmission networks to ensure supply
reliability. It is essential to ensure that the commissioning of
the 400kV series reactors serve their planned purpose of
limiting fault currents without causing any other negative
impact to the safety, security and quality of power supply.

In case the magnitude of the RRRV is higher than the CB

capability, it may cause failure of the CB. IEC specified a
RRRV value of 2.0kV/Ps for normal 400kV CB. But IEC
also stipulated that the RRRV value shall be subject to
agreement between manufacturer and user for the cases that
the CB is adjacent to generator circuits, connected directly to
transformers without appreciable additional capacitance in
between, or adjacent to series reactors.

A wide range of prudent technical assessments on system

stability, supply quality and equipment insulation
coordination indicated that the design can meet all CLP
Power planning criteria and the negative impact to the
system, if any, is well within acceptable levels.

The actual RRRV imposed on the CBs at the two sides of the
400kV series reactors, i.e., CPK and BKP, is dependent on
the fault locations and the detailed design of the series
reactors and connection arrangement. The smaller the stray
capacitance between the CB and the fault point, or the larger
the fault current, the higher the RRRV would be.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Management of CLP
Power for the encouragement and endorsement for the
publication of this paper.

Analysis shows that the RRRV at CPK is lower than that at

BKP due to the shunt capacitance of the CPK-BKP OHL.
Based on our simulation study, the commissioning of the
series reactors would not increase the RRRV on the CBs at
CPK. Therefore, no additional precaution measure is
required for the CB at CPK to cater for the RRRV.

References
[1] Prabha Kundur, Power System Stability and Control, The
EPRI Power System Engineering Series, McGraw-Hill, Inc.,
1994.
[2] Carson W. Taylor, Power System Voltage Stability, The
EPRI Power System Engineering Series, McGraw-Hill, Inc.,
1994.

100
[kV]
75
50

[3] Task Force on Very Fast Transients in IEEE Working

Group on Modelling and Analysis of System Transients
Using Digital Programs, Modelling and Analysis
Guidelines for Very Fast Transients, IEEE Trans. 1996
PD-11(4), pp. 2028-2035

25
0
-25
-50
-75
-100
9.87

CONCLUSION

9.88

9.89

9.90

9.91

[ms] 9.92

(file BKPTRV.pl4; x-var t) v:SERIA

Fig. 11: Simulated Transient Recovery Voltage

However, the RRRV imposed on the CB at BKP is high
when the fault is inside the series reactor windings. Fig. 11
shows the transient recovery voltage (TRV) on the series
reactor side of the CB contactor upon a fault inside the series
reactor winding. The RRRV in this case, as indicated by the
slope of the straight line in the figure, is about 10kV/Ps
which exceeds the normal value of 2.0 kV/Ps.
To cater for the expected high RRRV, the GIS and series
reactor design were fine tuned to increase the stray
capacitances and the RRRV capability of the concerned CBs