The Effect of VSC-HVDC Control on AC System Electromechanical Oscillations and DC System Dynamics

In order to strengthen the onshore transmission network in many parts of the world, voltage-source current-high-voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) will increasingly be utilized. The effect of the operating point of a VSC-HVDC link and the control strategies employed can substantially affect the electromechanical oscillatory behavior of the ac network as well as the dc-side dynamics. In order for the full, flexible capability of VSC-HVDC to be exploited, further study of the effects of these controllers and their interactions with ac system responses is necessary. This paper addresses this gap. Both modal analysis and transient stability analysis are used to highlight tradeoffs between candidate VSC-HVDC power controllers and to study the electromechanical performance of the integrated ac/dc model. Tests are carried out on both a generic two-area model and a large-scale realistic network with detailed ac generator and HVDC models.