Electric Power Systems Research 80 (2010) 115–120

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Electric Power Systems Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/epsr

Comparative analysis of techniques for control of switching overvoltages during

transmission lines energization夽
P. Mestas 1 , M.C. Tavares ∗
School of Electrical and Computing Engineering, University of Campinas, PO Box: 6101, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The energization of long transmission lines can cause high overvoltage stresses not only along the trans-
Received 27 March 2008 mission line, but also in the rest of the network. The traditional method of limiting switching overvoltages
Received in revised form 1 June 2009 to acceptable levels is the use of circuit breakers equipped with pre-insertion resistors. The present
Accepted 21 August 2009
paper describes a study comparing this traditional method with two other alternatives for the limitation
Available online 1 October 2009
of switching overvoltages during line energization in an actual 500 kV transmission system: the use of
metal oxide surge arresters at both line closing of circuit breaker poles. Digital simulations were made
Keywords:
with PSCAD/EMTDC software and the degree of shunt compensation is considered as an independent
Synchronized switching
Metal oxide surge arrester
parameter.
Pre-insertion resistor © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PSCAD

1. Introduction trolled switching operations, with the closing commands of circuit

Energization of a long transmission line can cause undesirable
overvoltages in transmission networks. As a consequence, special
overvoltage protection measures are required for the adequate
planning of the insulation coordination.
The traditional method involves the installation of pre-insertion
resistors in the line circuit breakers. Although it is an effective
method, its implementation and maintenance costs are very high
[1–3].
One alternative for the substitution of such circuit breaker resis-
tors is the installation of metal oxide surge arresters (MOSA) at
the two line terminals. The effective protection characteristics, the
high reliability and the high discharge energy capabilities of these
arresters are often adequate for the limitation of overvoltages. Fur-
ther reduction of switching overvoltage can be achieved by the use
of an additional arrester in the middle of the line or by the appli-
cation of special arresters with lower protection level and higher
energy discharge capability [1,2,4].
Another method which can be used to reduce transient switch-
ing overvoltages is synchronous switching of circuit breaker poles.
This method reduces transient overvoltages through time con-
夽 Paper presented at the International Conference on Power Systems Transients
(IPST’07) in Lyon, France on 4–7 June 2007 – Paper No. IPST07-116.
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +55 19 35213866.
E-mail addresses: pmestasv@dsce.fee.unicamp.br (P. Mestas),
cristina@dsce.fee.unicamp.br (M.C. Tavares).
1
Fax: +55 19 35213866.
breakers delayed, so they will occur at the optimum instant in
relation to the voltage of the phase. Field experiences using syn-
chronized control in banks of capacitors and shunt reactors have
proved quite successful [5–7].
The objective of the present paper is the analysis of the effec-
tiveness of the three methods for the overvoltages control during
transmission line energization for a given 500 kV system. The com-
parison between these methods should enable the adoption of the
most adequate method. Two levels of shunt compensation (75% and
91% of the total reactive power) are considered.
2. System modeling
The study was performed using a real 500 kV power system
with the configuration shown in Fig. 1. The digital simulations were
made using PSCAD/EMTDC software [8].
The line parameters were calculated for the fundamental fre-
quency (60 Hz) using the PSCAD/EMTDC routine LINE CONSTANT
and are presented in Table 1. The line was considered to be ide-
ally transposed and the frequency dependence of the longitudinal
parameters was modeled using the PHASE MODEL.
The line energization procedure involved each of the line seg-
ments being sequentially energized from one extremity (B1 or B5)
to the other, assuming that the previous bus bar voltage has already
stabilized at an adequate level of voltage, prior to the energization
of the following segment. The pre-switching voltage at the sending
end was established to be 1.00 p.u. and 0.95 p.u. for 75% and 91%
shunt compensation, respectively.

0378-7796/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2009.08.011
116 P. Mestas, M.C. Tavares / Electric Power Systems Research 80 (2010) 115–120
Fig. 1. 500 kV transmission line details.
Table 1
Line parameters – 60 Hz.
Components Longitudinal (/km) Transversal (␮S/km)
Non-homopolar 0.0161 + j 0.2734 j 6.0458
Homopolar 0.4352 + j 1.4423 j 3.5237
The cases presented in this paper correspond to the energization
of the final line section in the direction B4 to B5 (91% compensation
case) and of line section in the direction B3 to B4 (71% compensation
case). Transient overvoltages were registered at seven points along
each line section, including the two terminals.
3. Methods analyzed
3.1. Surge arresters
Surge arresters are used to protect the transmission line and
connected equipment against overvoltages caused by switching
and lightning. In this work, however, only switching overvoltage
protection was considered.
The switching overvoltages can be reduced by the provision of
surge arresters with special characteristics at the end of the line.
Additional limitation of these overvoltages along the lines by surge
arresters has been possible with the availability of surge arresters
with high discharge energy capability that permit easy installation
without the need of extra substations, since they can be installed
directly in the towers at selected points to obtain the required
control of the overvoltage profile [2,4].
3.2. Controlled switching of circuit breakers
The controlled switching involves the individual closing of each
phase in the circuit breaker at the optimal point-of-wave to reduce
switching overvoltage. This can be achieved by using special con-
trol circuits that are based on the information of the system and
the characteristics of the circuit breakers. Closing or opening com-
mands to the circuit breaker are delayed in such a way that making
or contact separation will occur at the optimum time instant related
to the phase angle [9,10].
3.3. Pre-insertion resistor
The use of pre-insertion resistors in circuit breaker for the con-
trol of overvoltage has long been a common practice in extra high
voltage (EHV) systems during closing and re-closing operations.
The practice is still common in Brazil, and all existing transmission
lines, even new ones specify this type of control mechanism. How-
ever, decades of operational experience around the world, have
shown that the reliability of breakers with closing resistors tends to
be somewhat lower than that of standard breakers, because of their
mechanical complexity. Moreover, the purchase and maintenance
of the pre-insertion resistor is expensive.
4. Simulation results
4.1. Surge arrester
For the simulations, all surge arresters are modeled according
to the characteristic V–I curve. The following arresters were simu-
lated:
• Class 5 – 420 kV rated arrester with a protection level of 830 kV
at 2 kA, normally specified for 500 kV Brazilian transmission lines
[7].
• Class 5 – 396 kV rated arrester with a protection level of 783 kV
at 2 kA.
• Class 3 – 360 kV rated arrester with a protection level of 742 kV
at 2 kA.
The overvoltage profiles along the lines are given for all three
kinds of arresters, for both 75% and 91% shunt compensation in the
following situations:
• Without any surge arrester;
• Surge arrester at line ends only;
• Surge arresters at line ends and midpoint;
• Surge arresters at line ends and two intermediate points.
The circuit breaker poles were closed when the voltage of each
phase was at its maximum, simulating the worst overvoltage con-
dition possible. The results are presented below.
4.1.1. Class 5 – 420 kV rated arrester
The use of a 420 kV rated arrester on a line with 91% shunt com-
pensation during line energization did not reduce the overvoltages
along the line, and at the remote terminal it decreased only 1.1%
(Fig. 2).
The line energization with 75% shunt compensation resulted in
a larger overvoltage, as expected. Using 420 kV rated arresters, the
reduction of the overvoltages along the line was more intense, and
at the remote terminal, this reduction was up to 5% (Fig. 3).
4.1.2. Class 5 – 396 kV rated arrester
The use of 396 kV rated arrester resulted in overvoltage values of
1.68 p.u. and 1.72 p.u. which was a reduction at the remote termi-
nal by 6.15% and 13.56%, for the transmission line of 91% and 75%
 P. Mestas, M.C. Tavares / Electric Power Systems Research 80 (2010) 115–120 117

Fig. 2. Overvoltage profile along the line with 91% shunt compensation using a Class Fig. 5. Overvoltage profile along the line with 70% shunt compensation using a Class
5 – 420 kV arresters. 5 – 396 kV arresters.

Fig. 6. Overvoltage profile along the line with 91% shunt compensation using a Class
Fig. 3. Overvoltage profile along the line with 70% shunt compensation using a Class 3 – 360 kV arresters.
5 – 420 kV arresters.

Fig. 4. Overvoltage profile along the line with 91% shunt compensation using a Class Fig. 7. Overvoltage profile along the line with 70% shunt compensation using a Class
5 – 396 kV arresters. 3 – 360 kV arresters.
118 P. Mestas, M.C. Tavares / Electric Power Systems Research 80 (2010) 115–120
Fig. 8. Voltage waveform differences during synchronous closing of circuit breaker poles.
Fig. 9. Overvoltage profile of the line for different instants of breaker closing.
shunt compensation, respectively. This arrester provided a more
effective performance and a greater reduction in overvoltage when
compared to the 420 kV arrester (Figs. 4 and 5).
4.1.3. Class 3 – 360 kV rated arrester
The use of a 360 kV rated arrester leads to an even greater
reduction in the overvoltages along the line and particularly at
the terminals. With such an arrester, it was possible to reduce
overvoltages to approximately 1.5 p.u. for the 91% and 75% shunt
compensation transmission lines (Figs. 6 and 7). This case was sim-
Fig. 10. Receiving end. Line energization without overvoltage control.
ulated with an illustrative and comparative purpose because the
appropriate selection of the surge arrester is determined not only
by the protective level, but also by the operational characteristics
of the system as a whole. Temporary overvoltage and maximum
operational voltage are also relevant.
Table 2 shows the energy capacity of the arresters. The energy
absorption of the arresters did not exceed the maximum capacity
of the arresters in any of the simulations.
4.2. Controlled switching of circuit breakers
In this work, synchronized circuit breaker control was simu-
lated with the use of components of the SEQUENCERS routine in
the PSCAD/EMTDC software. Two variants were simulated:
• Closing of each phase when the voltage wave consecutively
crossed by zero.
• Closing the first phase when the voltage wave crossed by zero
and the other phases closed after a 60◦ delay (Phases A, C and B
successively).
Theoretically, these two conditions are not the same during the
switching of the second and third phases as the bus voltage is
not in a steady state. However, in the specific case of the system
under study, the difference was minimal at the receiving termi-
nal, as shown in Fig. 8, i.e. in B5. The voltage profile for the two
variants for a line with 91% shunt compensation is presented in
Fig. 9.
In Figs. 10 and 11, the voltage waveform at the receiving end
is shown for line energization without any mitigation method as
 P. Mestas, M.C. Tavares / Electric Power Systems Research 80 (2010) 115–120 119

Table 2
Energy consumption of surge arrester.

Rated arrester (kV) Energy (MJ) 95% shunt compensation energy (MJ) 70% shunt compensation energy (MJ)

420 6.5 0.006 0.120

396 6.1 0.061 0.391
360 2.8 0.266 0.815

Fig. 11. Receiving end. Line energization with synchronized controlled switching.

well as with synchronized switching. Not only is the overvoltage

reduced with the use of synchronized switching, but the waveform
also has a lower harmonic content.
The benefits brought about by the use of controlled switching
are presented in Figs. 12 and 13. There was a large reduction in
overvoltages at the remote terminal. They decreased by 21% and
16%, to values of 1.41 p.u. and 1.66 p.u. for the line with shunt com-
pensation of 91% and 75%, respectively.
In the system studied here, this method provided the best
performance for the line with 91% shunt compensation. One conse-
quence of the application of controlled switching is that arresters
generally suffer less stress and the energy dissipation capability is
reduced accordingly.

4.3. Pre-insertion resistor

The closing resistors are inserted in series with the load circuit,
acting as a voltage divider, normally being by-passed after 8–10 ms,
Fig. 13. Overvoltage profile along a line with 70% shunt compensation with con-
when the main contacts of the breaker are closed – thereby damp- trolled switching.
ing the switching transient overvoltages. In this study, an existing

Fig. 12. Overvoltage profile along a line with 91% shunt compensation with con- Fig. 14. Overvoltage profile along a line with 91% shunt compensation with the use
trolled switching. of a pre-insertion resistor.
120 P. Mestas, M.C. Tavares / Electric Power Systems Research 80 (2010) 115–120
Fig. 15. Overvoltage profile along a line with 70% shunt compensation with use of
a pre-insertion resistor.
400  resistor was simulated, with an insertion time of 8 ms. All
three switch breaker poles were closed at the same time, at the
instant of maximum voltage value of the first phase, as this repre-
sents the most critical situation.
The use of a pre-insertion resistor was able to reduce overvolt-
age at the remote terminal 25% and 15%, reaching values of 1.34 p.u.
and 1.69 p.u. for the line with shunt compensation of 91% and 75%,
respectively (Figs. 14 and 15).
5. Conclusions
Switching overvoltage can be limited during line energization
through the use of different methods, including the pre-insertion
resistor, line surge arresters and the controlled switching of circuit
breaker. Although the use of pre-insertion resistors in line circuit
breakers is an effective method it represents high costs for imple-
mentation and maintenance.
The results obtained from the computer simulations of line ener-
gization have shown that the use of metal oxide surge arresters
(396 kV MOSA) with low levels of protection, high reliability and
dissipation capability meets the needs of transmission lines switch-
ing. We also observed that the energy absorption capacity of the
arresters was not exceeded in any simulation.
The use of controlled switching of circuit breakers and the use
of pre-insertion resistors are equally viable and effective to con-
trol switching transient overvoltages on long EHV lines with shunt
compensation. The advantages of controlled switching are the costs
reduction and the increase in reliability of the circuit breakers.
The results cannot be generalized. A reliable prediction of line
switching overvoltages demands digital simulations in which the
specific line and network under consideration must be carefully
modeled.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the financial support received from FAPESP
- The State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation, from CNPq - The
National Council for Scientifc and Technological Development and
from CAPES - Coordination of Improvement of Higher Level Educa-
tion Personnel.
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Patricia Mestas was born in Peru; received degree in electrical engineering in 1998
from San Agustín de Arequipa University (UNSA) in Perú, and M.Sc. in 2007 from
the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. She works in the planning,
assembly and maintenance of transmission lines. At present she is working towards
a Ph.D. degree from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of UNICAMP.
Her areas of research include the study of electromagnetic transients, transmission
lines and digital simulations.
Maria C. Tavares received degree in electrical engineering in 1984 from the Fed-
eral University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil, and M.Sc. (1991) from the same
university, and Ph.D. (1998) from UNICAMP. She has provided consultation for engi-
neering firms; works with power system analysis, HVDC, model development at
EMTP and electrical transmission planning. She is currently an Associated Profes-
sor at UNICAMP where she works with power system analysis and long distance
transmission.