Steady-State Analysis and Performance of Low Frequency AC Transmission Lines

The steady-state performance of low frequency AC (LFAC) systems for bulk power transmission is proposed and investigated in this paper. It is demonstrated that the LFAC is superior to the conventional 60 Hz AC system in terms of power transfer capability and voltage stability. An existing power system can increase its power transfer capability by up to more than eleven times if it operates at 5 Hz. In low operating frequency conditions, the transmission overhead line reactance is significantly lowered and thus results in less voltage drop along the line. If the system operating frequency is in the range of 1 to 10 Hz, the voltage profile along a transmission line is comparable to the surge impedance loading at the no-load condition or approaches that of the HVDC system at the full-load condition. More importantly, the V-P and Q-V characteristic curves show that the dependency of voltage on the real and reactive power flow is greatly reduced. In other words, the sensitivity of voltage on reactive power variations is diminished and results in a more stable voltage and a higher stability margin for the LFAC system compared to the conventional 60 Hz system.