Incorporating Complex Inter-Inverter Interactions Into Strength Assessment for Emerging Hierarchical-Infeed LCC-UHVDC Systems

The strength concept is an important tool for voltage stability evaluation of emerging hierarchical-infeed LCC-UHVDC (HIDC) systems. However, the complex inter-inverter interactions in such systems have caused significant difficulties for the strength assessment. This makes the accuracy of earlier strength assessment indices limited due to empirical analysis rather than rigorous theoretical reasoning. Thus in this paper, the hierarchical-infeed voltage interaction factor (HVIF) index is firstly utilized to quantitatively depict the complex inter-inverter interactions in HIDC systems. The use of the HVIF enables these interactions to be effectively incorporated into the subsequent strength assessment by proposing the hierarchical-infeed interactive effective short-circuit ratio (HIESCR) strength index. The critical HIESCR (CHIESCR) defined to delineate the voltage stability limit also evaluates to consistently 1.0 such that the distance between the HIESCR and CHIESCR is naturally an accurate stability margin. Since the HIESCR is developed based on the rigorous theoretical reasoning, it is more accurate than earlier indices for voltage stability evaluation. Moreover, the parametric dependence analysis of the HIESCR versus various system parameters and rated operation variables is conducted. This offers a comprehensive perspective for better understanding of the strength variation characteristics. Finally, case study in the modified IEEE 118-bus system validates the HIESCR.