Enhancement of Transmission Efficiency and Voltage Profile in the Bauchi Axis of Nigerian Power Grid Using a VSC-HVDC System

Felix Kalunta^1, and Obiageli Ngwu²

¹Fabrication Technology Division, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Lagos, Nigeria

²Department of Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, USA

Cite this paper

Felix Kalunta and Obiageli Ngwu. Enhancement of Transmission Efficiency and Voltage Profile in the Bauchi Axis of Nigerian Power Grid Using a VSC-HVDC System. American Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. 2021; 9(1):12-20. doi: 10.12691/AJEEE-9-1-3

Abstract

Increasing electricity demand occasioned by increased population and advancement in economic activities makes it mandatory to upgrade the Nigerian power grid. The ongoing construction of a new hydropower plant at Mambila Plateau in Taraba State of Nigerian is a response to this call. Performance evaluation of the Nigerian power grid expanded to include the new power plant has revealed the occurrence of poor voltage profile accompanied by colossal power losses mostly in the Bauchi region. This paper explores the techniques for addressing this challenge by the integration of voltage source controlled high voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) transmission system into the expanded Nigerian 41- bus 330kV transmission grid network at the weakest areas. The HVDC converter is introduced into the power grid as an extra bus, and all impedance elements in the HVDC system transformed to the grid side. This action merges the two converter stations into a single bus to produce an entirely high voltage alternating current (HVAC) system, thereby making it possible to apply conventional power flow techniques. This model was verified by the simulation of the modified network in Matlab Simulink environment. Performance evaluation of the expanded network prior to the connection of HVDC system identified the transmission line between the Jalingo bus and the Mambila power plant as the weakest area, which was consequently selected as the optimal location for the proposed VSC-HVDC system. Power flow analysis of the modified network with the inclusion of HVDC system revealed a remarkable improvement in voltage magnitude at the weak buses, and minimized power losses in the system. This implies that such a project is worth undertaking. Therefore, the enhancement of voltage profile using the VSC-HVDC transmission system is a panacea for curbing the expected line losses that may arise while evacuating power from the proposed Mambila plant.

Keywords

HVDC transmission, voltage source converter, voltage enhancement, line losses, Nigerian grid, power flow analysis

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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