Practical Fault Current Level Evaluation and Limiting Method of Bipolar HVdc Grid Based on Topology Optimization

This article investigates the relationships between the pole-to-pole fault current and the topology in the bipolar voltage sourced converter (VSC)–high-voltage dc (HVdc) grid. Based on the improved high-frequency equivalent model, it is found that the pole-to-pole fault current value is significantly influenced by the grid topologies, which is different from the situation in symmetrical monopole dc grid. It is also found that only the adjacent converters and the subadjacent converters of the fault lines will impact the fault currents, while the other converters with longer electrical distances basically have negligible contribution to the fault current. According to above mechanism, the simplified index is also proposed in this article to evaluate the fault current level of dc grid efficiently when its topology varies. The proposed index can make evaluations by simple calculations between different topologies and avoid solving complex differential equations one by one when pole-to-pole fault occurs at different lines. Based on the practical evaluation index, the genetic algorithm is used to optimize the dc grid topology to limit the fault current level. Finally, the simulation verification is performed based on the six-terminal bipolar VSC–HVdc grids, and some suggestions on topology design are given.