Towards Enhanced HVDC Cable Systems

Completed

Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Dr G Chen
Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton

Standard

EPSRC

15 October 2014

14 October 2018

48 months

£1,113,804

Energy

South East

Energy : Energy

Dr G Chen, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton

Dr P Lewin, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton
Dr SM Rowland, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester
Professor S Swingler, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton

For the UK to meet legally binding renewable targets by year 2020 and beyond, a series of wind farms are under construction, and more new projects are being developed. The offshore grids and their connection to the existing transmission systems can only be realised using the HVDC links. Using high voltage will make power transmission more efficient and the only feasible solution is to use extreme upgrades to existing plant. Cables, the key part of the HVDC links, will be forced to operate well beyond their existing limits (currently about +/-500 kV and 1000 MW). This means that both cable insulation and operating conditions have to be pushed far beyond the limits currently considered acceptable. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of the performance of the insulation and the development of novel operating methodologies are urgently required to meet the challenges. This project will investigate the impact of inherent defects, space charge dynamics, partial discharges, electrical tree and power quality on electrical performance of highly stressed lapped cable insulation and develop novel operating methodologies that take account of the influence of the above factors to achieve reliable and safe operation for the HVDC links

11/12/14