IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 9, No.

2, April 1994 1063

APPLICATION OF MULTI-VARIABLE CONTROL FOR AUTOMATIC

FREQUENCY CONTROLLER OF HVDC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
Masatoshi Sanpei, Atsuyuki Kakehi, Hideo Takeda
(Electric Power Development Co.) (Toshiba Corporation)
Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, Japan

Abstract - In an HVDC transmission system that links two ac (2) The conventional AFC performs a proportional control by tak-
power systems, the automatic frequency controller (AFC) cal- ing in frequency difference between the two systems. Being able
culates power to be interchanged between the two ac systems to perform only the proportional control, the conventional AFC
according to their frequencies thereby improving the frequency cannot provide sufficient damping for the ac system disturbance
characteristics of the two power systems. This paper introduces a that would occur after emergency power interchange is made. The
newly developed dc AFC system, which applies a multi-variable proportional gain is therefore limited, resulting in the dc link be-
control to the dc system-based frequency control. It is capable of ing unable to make full use of its capacity. For this reason, there
controlling the frequencies of the two ac systems optimumly while has been a call for an AFC which can perform frequency control
maintaining their stability. in such a way as to make full use of the quick emergency power
This system was developed for one of Japan’s HVDC trans- interchange capability of the dc link while maintaining the stabil-
mission facilities and produced good results in a combined test ity of both systems.
using a power system simulator. The field installation will be (3) There are demands for eliminating frequency offsets to the
completed in March 1993, when the AFC system will enter ser- disturbance that cannot be avoided with the proportional control.
vice.
Under these circumstances, the authors have conducted re-
search aimed at applying a multi-variable control based on the
1. INTRODUCTION modern control theory to the Hokkaido-Honshu HVDC transmis-
With remarkable advances in digital technologies in recent sion system. They have now completed the development and sys-
years, equipment incorporating microprocessors are becoming the tem simulation evaluation of an automatic frequency controller
mainstream in the control systems for power transmission net- (AFC) that meets the above requirements. The outline of the
works, making it possible to apply sophisticated control logic to research and development is introduced in the following.
control equipment. Many control theories currently in wide use
are classic ones that are intended for one-input-one-output sys-
2. HVDC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
tems. In the field of power system control, the classic one-input-
one-output-system control is still the mainstream. Some new con-
The outline of the Hokkaido-Honshu HVDC transmission sys-
trol methods are emerging, however, which employ the modern
tem is shown in Figure 2.1.
control theory in coping with such control objects as complex
multi-variable systems that cannot be solved or are difficult to
OC LINE
solve with the conventional control methods. With the develop-
ment of such equipment and logic, it has now become possible
to apply an optimum multi-variable control system, which has
two or more variables to power system controls that have so far
performed only the classic one-input-one-output system control. DC POWER DEMAND PDP
The Hokkaido--HonshuHVDC Link equipped with the auto-
matic frequency controller (AFC) is planned to be increased in FREQUENCY fr
capacity from 300 MW to 600 MW. This upgrade has made the
following improvements of the AFC necessary. Figure 2.1 HVDC transmission system
(1) Hokkaido and Honshu are linked together by this dc system
alone with no ac links. The Hokkaido power network is much The dc AFC takes in the system frequencies from both ac sys-
smaller than the Honshu counterpart. In increasing the capac- tems, computes the amount of power to be interchanged between
ity of the dc link, it is desired that the dc system have a greater the two systems, and outputs the calculated value as the HVDC
capability for improving frequency characteristics in the event of interchange demand value to the converter control at both ends
frequency fluctuations in the Hokkaido power system due to large to improve the frequency characteristics of the two ac systems.
disturbances. The conventional AFC multiplies the frequency difference be-
tween the two ac systems with the proportional gain to produce an
93 SM 443-2 PWRD A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Transmission and Distribution Committee interchange demand. The proportional gain is switched between
of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presenta- two values according to whether the frequency variation is very
tion at the IEEE/PES 1993 Summer Meeting, Vancouver, large or normal. When the frequency fluctuates in large amounts,
B.C., Canada, J u l y 18-22, 1993. Manuscript sub- an emergency AFC mode is activated which uses a proportional
mitted December 29, 1992; made available for printing
April 15, 1993. gain for emergency power interchange. During the normal fre-
quency variations, a normal AFC mode is activated which lowers
PRINTED IN USA the proportional gain to restrict the range of power interchange
(Figure 2.2).

0885-8977/94/$04.00 0 1993 IEEE

1064

:(S)=(: - BTH O
0R - T R
KGH .tp
0

_+_M&
O ')(%)
HOKKAIDO
F DEVIATION + ( )1: PDP
H :Hokkaido System
T :Honsyu System

DEMAND

(2 = AX+BU)
F DEVIATION HOKKAIOO Emergency

Figure 2.2 Conventional AFC

The Hokkaido power network (about 3000 MW) is much smallet (Y = C X )

in capacity than Honshu's (more than 60000 MW) and normally
supplies a predetermined amount of power via the HVDC trans- Figure 3.2 State equation
mission system to the Honshu network which has large power
demands. In the event a large-capacity generating unit is dis- As is seen from the reduced model and the state equation,
connected from the Hokkaido network, reducing the system fre- one power system is described in the state equation with two
quency, the emergency AFC is activated to transfer energy back variables and the combined systems has four state variables, a
to Hokkaido. At this time, the control for improving the Hokkaido Hokkaido system frequency fH,a Honshu system frequency ff,
system's frequency must be made in a way that will prevent the a governor torque PmH for a simplified one-unit system as the
frequency of the Honshu system from fluctuating largely, thereby Hokkaido network, and a governor torque PmT for a simplified
maintaining the stability of both ac systems. one-unit system as the Honshu network. The variables PmH,
PmT represent ac system characteristics in this model.

3. MULTI-VARIABLE CONTROL AFC 3.2 Configuration of Control Systems

As a dc AFC system that meets the requirements mentioned An optimal regulator is adopted in order to execute an optimal
above, a control system based on multi-variable control was de- multi-variable control according to the state equation of Figure
veloped. The design of the multi-variable control AFC involved 3.2 with multiple variables. It is also adopted that the optimal
the following procedures. regulator takes the formof Davison's servo to cancel the frequency
(1) Preparation of a model representing the Hokkaido and Honshu offset caused by disturbances. While the system frequencies fH,fT
power networks : a model with reduced number of dimensions for are variables that can be directly detected and input, the governor
design of control system torques PmH, PmT of the simplified singleunit systems cannot
(2) Determination of the configuration of the multivariable con- be detected directly and therefore are estimated by an observer.
trol system The concept of emergency and normal AFC modes employed in
(3) Design and tuning of control constants (gains) the conventional AFC is necessary for the operation of the HVDC
(4) Simulation evaluation of the design facilities. Hence, this concept is carried over to the new control
system by providing a limiter to the AFC output and changing the
3.1 Control Model limit value according to the AFC mode determined by frequency
variation. The configuration of this multi-variable control system
To design a control system requires recognition of an object is shown in Figure 3.3.
to be controlled. In optimumly controlling a system with two or
more variables such as a multi-variable system, a state equation
that represents the control object must be derived by considering
the modeling of the controlled object.
In determining the model, a large-scale multiple generating
unit system simulating the generators and transmission lines in
the Hokkaido and Honshu networks was simplified in dimension
into a model in which each network has a single generating unit
State
Feedback
&+ PmH
PmT
OBSERVER
i=EZ+FY+GU
X=LlZ+LZY+L3U t
(Figure 3.1). From this reduced model, a state equation repre-
senting the two systems was derived as shown in Figure 3.2.
Hokkaido Frequency f H ;
D C LINK GAIN Honshu
.___._..
.. ___. Frequenry
...____..__ fr 3
___.. ..;
DC Power Pno

Figure 3.3 Multi-variable Control System

Turbo-Generator
3.3 Design
" of Control Svstems

L,.-m Governorze I Observer

The observer to estimate PmH and PmT is formed as ?minima!
order observer, which has the following conditions. ( X : esti-
Figure 3.1 Simplified system model (for one power system) mated values of X )
 1065

(1) Frequency overshoots that may be caused by the emergency

2 = EZ+EY+GU power interchange during a large disturbance must be suppressed
ri = L ' Z + L Z Y + L B U as much as possible.
(2) The control is executed in a manner that will cancel frequency
By determining the matrix L so that the matrix (A11- L A m )
offsets after a large disturbance. The frequency of a system that
is set to be stable, it is possible to obtain the following matrices
is feeding power to the other must not become worse than that of
of coefficients.
the receiving system.
E = All - L A,, (3) With priority given to the above (1) and (2), the suppression
of first frequency change (drop or rise) during a large disturbance
F = AI2 - L A22 + E L
should be set better than is possible with the conventional AFC.
G = 51-LB2
L1 = ( '"im),L2= ( L ) , L 3 = 0 , T = (:) nmm 4. SYSTEMCONFIGURATION
The new AFC system for the Hokkaido-Honshu HVDC trans-
n-m m r
mission system consists of a Power System Control Panel installed
at the converter station in Hokkaido and a Frequency Transmis-
sion Panel installed at the converter station in Honshu. The func-
tions and features of each panel are described below.
where A, B and C are coefficient matrices of the state equation
shown in Figure 3.2 and have n xn, n x r and m x n orders, respec-
4.1 Frequency Transmission Panel
tively. 1, and I,,-mare unit matrices of m-th order and (n-m)th
(1) This panel detects the frequency of the Honshu system and
order, respectively. CO represents the complimentary space of C.
The matrix L was designed so that the poles of the observer has
sends it tb the Power System Control Panel.
(2) It accommodates a triplicated, gate-arrayed high-precision fre-
a responsiveness almost similar to that of the poles of the system
quency detector.
represented by the state equation.
(3) The detected frequency of the Honshu system is transmitted
via optical cable and microwave.
Optimal Regulator
The control gains F l , FZ of the multi variable control system of
4.2 Power System Control Panel
Figure 3.3 are a state feedback gain and a servo gain, respectively. .
( 1 ) It performs a multi-variable control AFC calculation and out-
But puts a dc power transmission demand (Pdp) to the converter con-
trols.
(2) It detects the Hokkaido system frequency by a gate-arrayed
R AH BH frequency detector and takes in the Honshu system frequency from
Figure 3.4 Expanded system for Davison's Servo the Frequency Transmission Panel.
(3) A digital controller that perform the AFC calculation is called
The F1 and F2 are given as follows as the control rule that a master controller, which is triplicated.
minimizes an-cost fynctipn (4) To prevent winding up of an integrator incorporated in the
+
J = J(XTQ X UT R U)dt of the expanded system for AFC calculation, the control system was realized in the differen-
Davison's servo (Figure 3.4) from the previously determined state tial form.
equation (Figure 3.2). (Superscript T represents a transposed ma- ( 5 ) A duplicated digital system controller is provided separate
trix.) from the master controller and exchanges information with the
master controller via optical fiber and performs man-machine in-
U = -R-' BHT P 3 = -(Fl,F2) X where P is a steady- terface and alarm computation.
state solution for the next Riccati equation and is a positive and (6) The Power System Control Panel has a flat panel display using
symmetric matrix. Electro-Luminescence display to provide such services as display-
AH^ P + P A H + & - P B H R-' B H P~ = o ing a trend graph of system frequency and HVDC power transfer
demand and a control system block diagram.
And U = -F1 X + F2 ( r - Y ) , because 3 = (k,e). From Figure 4.1 shows the system configuration of the multi-variable
this control rule, the con figuration of the multi-variable control
control AFC system for the Hokkaido-Honshu HVDC transmis-
shown in Figure 3.3 is derived.
sion system.
('.' U = - F 1 X + F 2 J ( r - Y ) d t )
Figure 4.2 shows t h e external view of the Power System Con-
trol Panel and the Frequency Transmission Panel and Figure 4.3
The gain tuning for the multi-variable control can be done by
shows an example display on the flat panel display mounted on
changing the weighting matrices Q , R of the cost function to de-
the Power System Control Panel.
ter mine the state feedback gain F1 and the servo gain F2. The
weighting matrices Q and R were changed to determine the gains
F1, F2, and the multi-variable control AFC using the computed
gains was incorporated into the large-scale multiple generator sys-
tem model which represents the Hokkaido and Honshu networks.
And the computer simulation was conducted on this model to ver-
ify and evaluate the effect of the multi-variable control AFC. The
final gains F1 and F2 were determined based on the following
criteria.
1066

5. POWER SYSTEM SIMULATION

p q p q rkq piz-pzq
Controller Controller Controller Controller Controller A simulation test was conducted, in which the developed multi-
variable control AFC system was combined with a power system
simulator that simulates the Hokkaido and Honshu power sys-
tems and the HVDC transmission facility, in order to verify the
controllability and soundness of the new AFC system.

5.1 Simulated Svstem

In the large-scale power system simulator, the two ac systems

Iidp Ouiput
for Recorder to be controlled were simulated by an analog model and a a m -
puter system. The analog model simulates elements making up
. . . .Annanciator
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .POWER
. . . . . .SYSTEM
. . . . . CONTROL
. . . . . . . PANEL
...
Hanshu
FREQUENCY TRANSMISSION PANEL
the power systems, such as generating units, transformers, circuit
Frequency
(Via Optical Cable1 Microwave) breakers, transmission lines and loads, while the computer system
controls the behaviors of these elements. The HVDC transmis-
<HONSHU Side> sion facility was simulated by an HVDC transmission line model,
a converter model which simulates a thyristor valve, and a con-
verter controller. The system frequencies, the control inputs to
the AFC, were detected from the bus voltages measured at the
converter stations in the two ac systems as will be done in the
actual plant.

Figure 4.1 Configuration of new AFC system 5.2 Result of Simulation

The developed multi-variable control AFC was incorporated

into the simulated system and a combined simulation evaluation
was conducted.

(1) Comparison with Conventional AFC

The conventional AFC and the new AFC were combined with
the simulator to simulate a disconnection of a generator (600MW)
in the Hokkaido system. The results are shown in Figure 5.A
(Energy transfer before a disturbance is 240 MW from Hokkaido
to Honshu.)

(2) Emergency Power Transfer While HVDC System Is in

Floating Mode

When the HVDC system is in floating mode, in which this sys-

Figure 4.2 External view of the Power System Control Panel and tem is at rest and on standby, it will take a certain time to start up
the Frequency Transmission Panel the HVDC system by the AFC. So, while the HVDC system was
floating, a generator disconnection (600MW) was made to occur
as a disturbance in the Hokkaido system, followed by the startup
of the HVDC system, to confirm the emergency power transfer by
the AFC and improvement of frequencies. The simulation result
is shown in Figure 5.B

(3)Emergency Power Transfer in the Event of Ac System Bulk

Transmission Line Failure

When two of four circuits in a bulk transmission line run-

ning from the converter station in the Hokkaido system to the
area of large electricity consumption were failed, a generating unit
(SOOMW) was forcibly removed from service in the Hokkaido sys-
Figure 4.3 Example indication on the flat panel display tem to confirm the emergency power transfer as carried out by
the AFC under the different ac systems from designed systems.
The result of this simulation is shown in Figure 5.C
 1067

(Conventional AFC)
.E
HZ- 1 . 2 1 1 6
SEC . 0

H2 L 1 6 0
Hokkaido Frequency fH
-I 2
Hokkaido Frequency fH
. 0
I ,I I
HZ 0 '" ' 4.0
e.0 I2 0 16 P
SEC
-1.2
O s l- 1 2
HZ ; SEC

Honshu Frequency fT
600 0 I .E
.E B. 0 I2 0 16. 0
SEC
.E -600.
nw 0 4.0 8. 0 It.0 16. 0
SEC

-600.4
AFC's DC Power Demand Pdp
IB0.0

30 0
DEG

.E 180.0
-
Control Angles o f 1st Pole Converter
le0 0
DEG
30.0
:0 e
*:
+..~
4 0 8.0
SEC
12.0 16.0

90. 0
DEG 0
! 4.0 8.0 12 0 16.0 0 .
a,
I_____._.__.
_-A
,

; ---- ~
SEC

0 I

Control Angles of 2nd Pole Converter

Figure 5.B Emergency power transfer while HVDC system is
floating
(New AFC)

O G l -I
HZ In22 ; SEC
HZ. B
I
I16. 0
.0
SEC
Hokkaido Frequency fH -1.2 . Hokkaido Frequency fH
I Z I
hZ
.E
0 - 4 0 8.0 12.0 16.0
I
SEC .0
HZ 0 '. i.
0 8 0 I 2 0 16. 0
-1 2 . SEC

-1.2 .

. -
20 0
DEG
0 1
",:;, ___
4 0 8 0
SEC
I2 0 16 0
90. 0 / . - . 8.0
I2 0 16. 0

.0 . ',
SEC

Control Angles of 2nd Pole Converter .E .

Control Angles of 2nd Pole Converter

Figure 5.A Comparison between the conventional AFC and the Figure 5.C Emergency power transfer when two of four circuits
new AFC fail
1068

5.3 Evaluation REFERENCES

1. A.H.M.A. Reim, "Stabilization of High Voltage ACDC Power
As is seen from the results of the simulations of 5.2(1)-(3), System 1. Evaluation of Control Strategies," IEEE, Transactions
which simulated as large a disturbance as removing a generating on Power Apparatus and System,Vol.l04, No.11, 1985
unit from service in the Hokkaido system, which is smaller in scale 2. Sanpei, "Operating Experience on Load Frequency Control
than the Honshu system, the developed AFC system has produced of HokkaideHonshu HVDC Link," IEE No.4 AC and DC Power
good results. Transmission
5.2( 1) makes comparison between the conventional AFC and 3. Arimoto, "Linear System Theory," Sangyo Tosho, 1974
the new AFC in terms of effectiveness of their control. The de- 4. Furuta, Hara, "Servo Technology and Modern Control T h e
veloped AFC system produced a satisfactory result that meets ory," Measurement and Control, 19-10, 1980
the gain tuning criteria mentioned in Section 3.3. 5.2(2) indicates 5. Furuta, Sano, "Fundamental System Theory," Corona, 1978
that performing the emergency power transfer in the event of an 6. Sanpei, Hatano, Kakehi, Furukawa, Takeda, "System Simu-
external disturbance when the HVDC system is floating allows an lation Evaluation Applying Modern Control Theory," National
appropriate system control to be carried out. As shown in 5.2(3), Convention of IEE of Japan, 1182, 1991
in a special case where a large disturbance was made t o occur a t
the same time that a bulk transmission line fault on the ac sys-
tem side changed system conditions, it was possible to perform
the frequency control while maintaining the stability of the power
systems. In this worst case, the conventional AFC cannot keep
the power systems in service. But the new AFC, which employs a
multi-variable control system taking not only frequencies but also
variables of the ac systems, is able to cope with variations in the
control target and thus can be said to be a robust control system.

6. CONCLUSION
A concept of multi-variable control is introduced to the fre
quency control for the HVDC transmission facility, which so far Masatoshi Sanpei was born in Fukushima, Japan, on January 2,
has employed only a classic proportional control, in order to de- 1951. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tokyo Science
velop a new multi-variable control AFC that can improve f r e University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1975 and 1977, respectively. Since
quency characteristics of both ac systems while maintaining their he joined the Electric Power Development Co. Ltd. in 1977, he
stability. A verification test was conducted by using a large-scale has been engaged in design and R&D work on HVDC systems.
power system simulator that simulates a real power system and He is presently a manager of the Electric Engineering and Design
good simulation results were obtained. Following are the signifi- Office. He is a member of IEE of Japan.
cant improvements over the conventional AFC control.
(1) Since the variables representing the two ac power systems Atsuyuki Kakehi was born in Matsue, Japan, on June 9, 1957.
as well as their frequencies are taken in to perform control on He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering
the whole power system as a multi-variable system, it is possible from Kyoto University, Japan, in 1980 and 1982 respectively. In
to increase an equivalent gain according to frequency variations 1982 he joined Toshiba Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. He has been
without losing the stability of the power system. This in turn has developing and designing Control Systems in Power plants and
made possible an emergency transfer of electricity that makes full Power systems. He is a member of the Institute and Electronics,
use of the capacity of the HVDC transmission system. Information and Communication Engineers of Japan, and IEE of
(2) A servo type optimal regulator is adopted to minimize fre- Japan.
quency variations and cancel frequency offsets.
(3) Frequency controls for both emergency and normal AFC mode Bide0 Takeda was born in Tokyo, Japan, on April 16, 1952. He
can be achieved by a single control system simply by changing an received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Keio University, Tokyo,
output limit value instead of switching between two preset gains as Japan, in 1977 and 1979, respectively. He joined Toshiba Corpo-
is required by the conventional AFC control. It is therefore possi- ration in 1979 and since then he has been in the Power Transmis-
ble to assure smooth transition from the normal to the emergency sion & Substation Engineering Department, engaged in HVDC
condition control, improving the controllability. and SVC system engineering. He is a member of IEE of Japan.
(4) Since a plurality of variables are taken in and. control is exe-
cuted to stabilize these variables, the new AFC is robust enough
to allow stable control even when there are some changes in the
power system grid, the control object. This control system was
installed in the Japan's Hokkaido-Honshu HVDC transmission
system and, after the installation test at site, will be placed into
commercial service in March 1993. The controllability of this con-
trol system will be confirmed in the field test.