Fast single‐end line protection method for the meshed multi‐terminal HVDC grid

Abstract

In view of the short-circuit fault characteristics, the protection technique of the dc lines limits the development of the modular multi-level converter (MMC)-based HVDC grid in a large extent. This study derives the calculation formulas of the transient voltages of internal and external faults and proposes a single-end protection scheme based on the transition period (TP) from the abrupt changing point to the first extreme point of the fault voltage. Due to the current-limiting reactors, the TP of the internal fault is much shorter than that of the external fault, which is used to discriminate internal fault from external fault. A four-terminal symmetrical bipolar HVDC grid based on MMC is modelled using PSCAD/EMTDC, and simulation results demonstrate the validity of the new proposed dc transmission line protection method.