1
Voltage Unbalance Vulnerability Areas in Power
Systems Supplying High Speed Railway
N. Golovanov, G. C. Lazaroiu, Student Member, IEEE, M. Roscia, D. Zaninelli, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract - High speed railway loads fed by the three phase
power system represent an important source of unbalance
perturbation in the grid. The degree of voltage and current
unbalances depends on the train motion, load condition and
power system supply configuration. The present paper deals with
the identification procedure of a vulnerability area in which the
voltage unbalance presents values that exceed the standard limits.
A case study referred to the 63 buses CIGRE network analyzed in
the paper gives rise to interesting comments and discussion.
Index Terms - voltage unbalance, power quality, traction
systems.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE ac single phase electrical traction systems represent
one of the most important sources of voltage and current
unbalance at the point of common coupling (PCC) and at
other points of power system. The traction loads are supplied
by two phases of the three phase power system through
dedicated substations operating at industrial frequency. The
degree of voltage and current unbalances depends of the train
motion, load condition and power system supply
configuration [1].
The analysis of the problems regarding unbalance covers
two aspects [2]:
- the influence upon the operation characteristics of the
plants supplied by unbalanced voltages;
- the influence on the economical and technical indicators
of the transmission and distribution network, as well as on
the generator systems.
In the first case, the utility must ensure to the customer the
agreement of the voltage unbalance indices within the
standardized limits. The customer is interested to monitor the
supplying voltage for obtaining the information regarding
unbalance and the agreement with the stipulated limits.
In the second case, the customer must ensure the
N. Golovanov is with Department of Electrical Engineering, University
Polytechnic of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 313, Bucharest, Romania (e-
mail: ngolo@eeee.unesco.pub.ro).
G. C. Lazaroiu is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Politecnico
di Milano, piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano 20133, Italy (e-mail:
cristian.lazaroiu@polimi.it).
M. Roscia is with the Electrical Engineering Department of the Università di
Napoli “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy (e-mail: epetm@unina.it).
D. Zaninelli is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Politecnico di
Milano, piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano 20133, Italy (e-mail:
dario.zaninelli@polimi.it).
correspondence of the produced disturbances within the
allocated limits, established by the utility, as condition for
power quality assessment to others customers in the electrical
network. The utility is interested to survey the electrical
currents of the customer and to verify the correspondence of
the unbalance within the allocated limits.
The unbalances affect the operation of the supply system
and of various equipments connected to it. The induction
motors, fed by an unbalanced system of voltages, present
lower efficiency, overheats and increase the real power losses
[3], so a significant loss of the life duration. The voltage
unbalance produces also high frequency pulsation torques and
consequently vibrations and noises during operation.
Moreover, the influence of the voltage unbalance upon the
operation conditions of the generators present in the power
system is very important for limiting the overheating of the
rotor windings [2]. Voltage unbalance may also cause the
undesired tripping of relays, influences converters and PWM
drives operation due to the amplitude or phase angle
unbalance. The capacitor banks, connected to a power system
with unbalanced voltages contribute itself to the aggravation
of the unbalance. In fact, on the phase with the smallest phase
voltage amplitude, the smallest reactive power is associated
and so the smallest improvement of the power factor.
The electric traction substations are connected to high
voltage levels of the transmission network, with great values
of the short circuit power at the PCC in order to minimize the
voltage unbalance distortion. The traction substation
configurations mostly used are: single phase, V, Scott and Le
Blanc connection. Due to economical reasons, but also from
the point of view of the voltage unbalance reduction, in
practice the used configuration is the V connection.
In this paper, a study of the voltage unbalance propagation,
due to the presence of the traction supply substations is
conducted with reference to the 63 buses CIGRE network that
has been implemented in the ATP-EMTP environment.
II. ELECTRICAL TRACTION SUPPLY SYSTEM
The European High Speed Train network is powered by a
single phase 25 kV line, at 50 Hz. The technological
developments but also the economical issues regarding the
scheme of the power system supplying the high speed trains
are reported in detail in [1]. The substations supply a certain
length of line and have the typical connections reported in Fig.
1.
 2

The traction substations have various configurations: single parameters, to the method of symmetric components.
phase, V connection, Scott or Le Blanc transformers. They The unbalanced regime can be [2]:
have different characteristics, different effects on the power - temporary, if the perturbation is determined by faults or
system but also different investment, operation and operation regimes of short duration (unbalanced faults,
maintenance costs. The configurations are shown in Fig. 2, single phase interruptions, faults at the customer side);
where SL, SL1 and SL2 are the traction loads. - sustained, if the grid presents different phase circuits
parameters in steady state regime.
3-phase 3-phase
power power The sustained unbalanced regime can be produced by:
system system - single phase customers, unequally allocated on the three
A B C A B C phases (public lighting, domestic customers);
- line-to-line customers (welding devices, induction arc
Traction substation Traction substation furnaces at 50 Hz, traction loads);
Single phase transformer V transformer
- three phase unbalanced customers (arc furnaces);
- different impedances of the three phase overhead lines.
N Due to the unbalanced regime, perturbations appear at the
B A B
electrical installations (machines, transformers, capacitor
banks, static converters) at PCC and in the grid, too.
N
C B C In order to determine the unbalance impact of the loads on
the utility grid, the unbalance voltage factor is used, defined
as [4]:
Fig. 1. Traction supply scheme, with substations with single phase transformers
or with V connected transformers (N – sections with neutral connection) V
uu [%] = 2 ⋅ 100 (1)
A V1
N1 N2 SL1
A B where uu is the unbalance factor, |V2| is the magnitude of the
B negative-sequence voltage and |V1| is the magnitude of the
N1 N2 SL N1 N2 SL2 positive-sequence voltage.
C C The voltage unbalance factor can also be determined, after
a) b)
measuring the rms values of the line voltages, from:
A
B 
 1 − 3 − 6 ⋅ β 
C uu [%] =  
⋅100 (2)
1 + 3 − 6 ⋅ β 


A N1 N1 N1  

3 ⋅ N1 N2 SL1 SL1
2 N2/ 3 N / 3
2 with

B
N1 N2 SL2
N2/3
C 2N2 N2
3 3
c) d)
Fig. 2. Traction connection schemes: a) single-phase connection; b) V-
connection; c) Scott connection; d) Le Blanc connection
The connection scheme of the substation transformer will
significantly influence the voltage unbalance at the PCC.
Solutions a) and b) of Fig. 2 are the most commonly used
ones in the high speed train supply systems.
III. UNBALANCE FACTORS AND DISTURBANCE PROPAGATION
The solution of the specific problems regarding energy
transfer on the power systems (steady state regimes,
transients, overvoltages etc.), with different phase parameters,
when the currents are symmetric or unbalanced, leads to the
elaboration of the modal components method, or in the
particular case of the three-phase systems with equal phase
(VAB4 + VBC
4 +V 4 )
SL2
β= CA
(V AB + VBC + VCA )2
(3)
2 2 2
where VAB, VBC and VCA are the rms line-to-line voltages.
The values of the voltage unbalance index depend on the
voltage level to which the load is connected. In many
countries of the European Union the following compatibility
level on LV and the planning limits on MV and HV are
adopted: for LV uu ≤ 2%, for MV uu ≤ 2% and for HV uu ≤
1%. In standard adopted in other Country, like United
Kingdom, the above values are: for LV uu ≤ 2%, for MV uu ≤
2% and for HV uu ≤ 2% [3, 5].
In France, for the case of high speed trains new values have
been proposed: respectively uu ≤ 1% for periods higher or
equal to 15 min and uu ≤ 1.5% for periods less than 15 min.
In some countries, voltage unbalance level is defined as the
maximum phase voltage deviation from the average value of
the three phase voltages, reported to this average value. In this
 3

case, for the three phase voltages it is computed an average Scc(A) A B

value Vavg and the deviations δA, δB and δC [6]: Xl
V +V +V
Vavg = A B C SL
3
V A − Vavg
δA =
Vavg
VB − Vavg (4)
δB =
Vavg
Fig. 3. Single line-to-line load in a radial system
VC − Vavg
δC =
Vavg The voltage unbalance in A can be computed basing on the
voltage unbalance in B with:
The voltage unbalance is established by:
 X 
δu = max δ  , k = A, B, C (5) uu (A) = uu (B) ⋅ 1 − l ⋅ Scc(B)  (10)
 k  V 2
 
This method introduces an error with respect to the voltage
unbalance factor computed with (2). where Xl is the reactance of the line and V is the line-to-line
The prediction of the voltage unbalance due to single-phase voltage.
loads or to any loads connected between two of the three- The above expression is valid only for radial systems,
phase lines (train loads), at PCC, is [3]: allowing to determine the voltage unbalance index at a bus B
SL considering the known value uu at the bus A of the radial
uu [%] = ⋅100 (6) power system and the characteristics of the network, i.e.
Scc
voltage level and line reactance.
where SL is the traction load power in MVA and Scc is the In the case of looped systems the voltage unbalance
three-phase short circuit level at PCC in MVA. propagation can not be estimated with the same algorithm due
to the influence of the voltage level, length of the transmission
Considering the traction connection schemes and the lines, generators reactance, balanced loads present in the
railway loads SL, SL1 and SL2 in MVA, shown in Fig. 2, (6) can network etc. In this case, power flow studies can lead to the
be applied for the calculation of the voltage unbalance for estimation of the voltage unbalance propagation in all the
every substation configuration. The expressions of uu[%] are buses of the power system.
[7]:
SL IV. CASE STUDIED
uu [%] = ⋅100 single phase transforme r
S cc The impact of voltage unbalance, due to single phase high
S L 2 + a 2 ⋅ S L1
speed railway loads, on the power system becomes very
uu [%] = ⋅100 V transforme r (7) important during the peak demands of the traction loads or
S cc
when the short circuit power at the bus of the power system
S L 2 − S L1 decreases. The voltage unbalance propagation in the power
uu [%] = ⋅100 Scott/Le Blanc trasformer system has to be evaluated for determining the areas of
S cc
vulnerability in which the negative effects are produced to
rotation machines (induction motors, generators) and on
where a = exp(2 ⋅ π ⋅ j / 3) = −0,5 + j ⋅ 3 2 . equipments including power electronic devices.
In order to study the voltage unbalance propagation in a
The propagation of the unbalance due to a single line-to-
power system, the test network CIGRE with 63 buses is
line load in a radial system (see Fig. 3) is calculated with (8)
considered [8]. This is a test network also used for many
and (9) depending on the location of the observation points A
investigation purposes and for the present study it was
and B [3]:
implemented on ATP-EMTP environment [9]. The layout of
SL the studied network is shown in Fig. 4.
uu (B) = (8)
Scc(B) The test network presents two high voltage levels, 220 kV
and 150 kV respectively, where the high speed railway
S
uu (A) = L (9) substations can be connected. The transmission lines are
Scc(A)
considered transposed, having symmetric-sequence
parameters.
where SL is the load power and Scc(A) and Scc(B) are the short
The high speed railways are time varying loads, but for the
circuit powers at the observation points A and B.
studied cases the peak demands are considered, for the
purpose of establishing the critical cases.
 4

11
35B
111
881 882 8 33 35
85B 1 3 335B

88 335
56 55
885B 25B 2 555
21 5
85
885 555B
225 55B
25 22
995
225B 441 442 4
7
44 95B 995B
43
445 77 41
45 95
445B 75
10 9
45B 66
75B 92
101 6
61
65

775 765 665

775B 765B 665B

Fig. 4. Layout of the studied power system

The traction substations and its loads have been standards), is calculated.
transformed in equivalent line-to-line loads, with single phase
A1) Concentrated traction load connected between phases B
connection or V connection, that are the most used practical
and C at bus 33
solutions due to economic reasons.
The presence of multiple traction substations in the power In the first case a 48 MVA concentrated load, connected
system determines interactions between the bus voltages and between phases B and C, is fed by bus 33, at the 220 kV level.
generates the propagation of the voltage unbalance. The results of the simulation conducted are reported in
The propagation’s study of the voltage unbalance on the Table I, where the voltage unbalance index is computed with
analyzed network is conducted in the following cases: (1).
A1) a 48 MVA traction concentrated load, connected line-
TABLE I
to-line between phases B and C, at the bus 33 (220 kV VOLTAGE UNBALANCE PROPAGATION CASE A1
voltage level);
A2) a 48 MVA traction concentrated load, connected line- Bus number Voltage unbalance factor [%]
to-line between phases B and C, at the bus 555 (150 bus 33 1.28
kV voltage level); bus 35 1.27
bus 3 1.2
B1) substations with single phase connection of the loads bus 335 1.14
(24 MVA), connected at bus 335, bus 555, bus 995 and bus 555 0.84
bus 95; bus 56 0.58
B2) substations with V connection loads (24 MVA), bus 5 0.57
connected at bus 335 (between phases A–B and B–C), bus 1 0.42
bus 4 0.16
bus 555 (between phases B–C and C–A), bus 995
(between phases C–A and A–B) and bus 95 (between
phases A–B and B–C). The values of the voltage unbalance factor, listed in Table
I, shows that the disturbance is propagating over the bus 335
V. SIMULATIONS AND UNBALANCE ANALYSIS (the length of the line between bus 3 and bus 335 is 30 km),
and also at the bus 555 has a great value.
For each one of the above reported cases, a vulnerability
In Fig. 5 the vulnerability area is reported on the network
area, in which the unbalance voltage index (1) reaches values
schematic diagram and the region interested by an unbalance
greater than 1% (threshold established by the current
 5

index greater than 1% in bordered by the blue line on the very weak in this point. Also, the values of the voltage
network of Fig. 5. unbalance at the buses where the traction loads are connected
A special consideration has to be given to the values of the are very high, exceeding even the 1.5% limit accepted by the
voltage unbalance factor at the buses 1 and 4, because are standards for the case of high speed trains, for a period less
generator buses, and there is the possibility that negative than 15 min [11].
currents flow into the generator machines [10]. The vulnerability area in this case is bounded by the red
line on the network of Fig. 5.
A2) Concentrated traction load connected between phases B
and C at bus 555 B2) V connected loads (24 MVA) connected at bus 335
In the second case, the 48 MVA concentrated load, (between phases A – B and B – C), bus 555 (between phases B
connected between phases B and C, is fed by bus 555, at the – C and C – A), bus 995 (between phases C – A and A – B)
150 kV level. and bus 95 (between phases A – B and B – C)
The results of the simulation conducted are reported in Loads of 12 MVA each are fed with V connection at bus
Table II, where the voltage unbalance index is computed with 335, 555, 995 and 95. The loads are connected with the
(1). following phase sequence: A–B, B–C at bus 335; than B–C,
C–A at bus 555; than C–A and A–B at bus 995 and A–B and
TABLE II B–C at bus 95.
VOLTAGE UNBALANCE PROPAGATION CASE A2 The results of the simulation are reported in Table IV,
Bus number Voltage unbalance factor [%] where the voltage unbalance index is computed with (1).
bus 555 1.55
bus 335 1.18 TABLE IV
bus 995 1.05 VOLTAGE UNBALANCE PROPAGATION CASE B2
bus 5 1.02
bus 35 0.83 Bus number Voltage unbalance factor [%]
bus 3 0.78 bus 995 1.38
bus 95 0.41 bus 335 0.3
bus 66 0.28 bus 95 0.26
bus 9 0.24
bus 555 0.23
The values listed in Table II show that the voltage bus 35 0.21
unbalance is propagating up to bus 335 (for a length of 30 km bus 3 0.19
between bus 555 and 335) and up to bus 995 (for a length of bus 5 0.17
50 km). bus 1 0.07
bus 66 0.05
The vulnerability area is defined in this case by the green bus 4 0.03
line on the network of Fig. 5.
B1) Single phase connected loads (24 MVA) connected at bus With reference to the previous case, the V connection
335, bus 555, bus 995 and bus 95 limits the propagation of voltage unbalance and the standard
Loads of 24 MVA each are considered in single phase limits are respected.
connection, fed by bus 335, 555, 995 and 95, all of them at
150 kV level. VI. CONCLUSIONS
The results of the simulation are reported in Table III, High speed railway loads fed by the three phase power
where the voltage unbalance index is computed with (1). system represents an important source of unbalance
perturbation in the grid. The negative impact depends on the
TABLE III peak demands of the traction loads and on the short circuit
VOLTAGE UNBALANCE PROPAGATION CASE B1
power of the grid, or in some cases on both.
Bus number Voltage unbalance factor [%] The connection of the traction loads to the power system
bus 995 4.25 has to be done in such a way that the perturbations that may
bus 555 2.05 appear do not damage the adjacent installations or such.
bus 335 1.8 In this paper the study of voltage unbalance propagation for
bus 5 1.42
bus 35 1.26 various configuration and sizes of high speed railway loads is
bus 95 1.23 performed. A vulnerability area, in which the voltage
bus 9 1.22 unbalance propagation overpasses the required standard limits
bus 3 1.18 is also determined. This is very useful in planning and
bus 1 0.43
bus 66 0.4
operation activity of the network.
bus 4 0.22 The application of the vulnerability area studies to a test
case, represented by the CIGRE 63 busses standard network
In this case, at bus 995 a very high value of the voltage [8], brings to the following conclusions:
unbalance is observed. This is because the power system is - traction substations connected to a highest value of the
 6

11
35B
111
881 882 8 33 35
85B 1 3 335B

88 335
56 55
885B 25B 2 555
21 5
85
885 555B
225 55B
25 22
995
225B 441 442 4
7
44 95B 995B
43
445 77 41
45 95
445B 75
10 9
45B 66
75B 92
101 6

61
65

775 765 665

775B 765B 665B

Fig. 5. Vulnerability areas in the test network (case A1 – blue line; case A2 – green line; case B1 – red line)

supply voltage give rise to smallest vulnerability regions
(see cases A1 and A2 in section V);
- traction substations connected with C scheme (case B2)
present at each bus lowest values of voltage unbalance
factors, and then reduced propagation area, with respect to
the single phase parallel connection solution (case B1).
The conclusion is that the V connection of the traction
substations and its loads should be applied. Also in this case
buses where voltage unbalance exceeds the limits. This is due
to the possible weakness of the power system.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] F. Perticaroli, Electrical systems for transportation (in Italian: Sistemi
elettrici per i trasporti), Milan, CEA, 2001
[2] C. Golovanov, M. Albu, Modern measuring problems in
electroenergetics (in Romanian: Probleme moderne de măsurare în
electroenergetică), Bucharest, Ed. Tehnică, 2001, pp. 467 - 508
[3] Working Group WG2, “Guide to quality of electrical supply for industrial
installations, Part 4: Voltage unbalance”, UIE, 1998
[4] Power quality measurement methods, IEC Standard 61000-4-30, 2003
[5] EMC Guide for public power supply networks compatibility levels and
permissible emission, VDEW, 1992
[6] Working Group on system and equipment consideration for traction: utility
interconnection issues, IEEE, 1999
[7] B. K. Chen, B. S. Guo, “Three phase models of specially connected
transformers,” IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 11, pp. 323–330, Jan.
1996
[8] CIGRE, “Application of optimization techniques to study power system
network performance”, CIGRE Task Force 39.04.02, Tech. Broch. 122,
October 1997
[9] EMTP Theory Book. Hannover, Germany: European EMTP-ATP Users
Group, Bonneville Power Administration
[10] Machines électriques tournantes. Caractéristiques assignées et
caractéristiques de fonctionnement, IEC Standard 32(1), 1983
[11] Rotating electrical machines: rating and performance, IEC Standard
60034 (1), 1994
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
Nicolae Golovanov received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering
from the University Polytechnic of Bucharest in 1975, and he is now Full
Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, University Polytechnic of
Bucharest. His areas of research include electrical end-use technologies and
power quality. Prof. Golovanov is member of Energy Commission of The
Romanian Academy, president of Romanian Committee for Electrical End-use
Technologies and member of Romanian Energy Policy Association.
George Cristian Lazaroiu received B.Sc and M.Sc. from the Department
of Electrical Engineering, University Polytechnic of Bucharest, in 2002 and
2003 respectively. Now he is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. His areas of research include distributed
generation and power quality.
Mariacristina Roscia, received M.S. degree (1999) and she obtained the
degree PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Naples “Federico II”.
Her areas of research include Energy and Environment, Sustainable
Development and renewable resources.
Dario Zaninelli, (SM ’97) received the Ph.D degree in Electrical
Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, in 1989, and he is now Full
Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department of the Politecnico di Milano.
His areas of research include power system harmonics and power system
analysis. Dr. Zaninelli is a senior member of IEEE, a member of AEI and a
member of the Italian National Research Council (C.N.R.) group of Electrical
Power Systems.