Received: 27 February 2020 Revised: 15 January 2021 Accepted: 30 March 2021

DOI: 10.1002/we.2643

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Switching transients caused by vacuum circuit breakers in

collection grids of offshore wind farms

Jiayuan Tao1 | Qing Yang2 | Xuena Zheng3 | Yanxiao He4 |

Ruixue Wang3 | Hefei Lv5 | Jie Zhang6

1
Chongqing College of Electronic Engineering,
Chongqing, China Abstract
2
State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission In this study, transients that can occur in the collection grids of offshore wind farms
Equipment & System Security and New
were investigated. On the basis of the multiple prestrike and reignition model that
Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing,
China can reflect the actual operation of a vacuum circuit breaker (VCB), a switching tran-
3
Chongqing Metropolitan College of Science sient simulation model of a typical offshore wind farm was built. The developed
and Technology, Chongqing, China
4
model included a VCB, a transformer, a cable, and an arrester. Issues concerning the
Liangjiang International College, Chongqing
University of Technology, Chongqing, China closing time, length of the feeder, and topology of the collection grid were discussed.
5
NR Electric Co., Ltd, Nanjing, China Results showed that the relationship between overvoltage amplitude and closing
6
State Grid Chongqing Electric Power time was approximately sinusoidal and the maximum value was obtained when the
Company, Chongqing, China
closing time was near the peak of the power source. In addition, the overvoltage at
Correspondence the end of a feeder terminal was the largest among all of the transformer overvolt-
Qing Yang, State Key Laboratory of Power
Transmission Equipment & System Security ages of the same feeder. The overvoltage of the main transformer and that of the
and New Technology, Chongqing University, transformer located at the end of a feeder decreased slowly with the increase in
Chongqing, China.
Email: yangqing@cqu.edu.cn feeder length during the closing of VCB. However, these overvoltages were posi-
tively related to feeder length during the opening of VCB. The star topology was
Jiayuan Tao, Chongqing College of Electronic
Engineering, Chongqing, China. superior to the other topologies in terms of coping with the overvoltage caused by
Email: taojiayuan@cqcet.edu.cn switching transients. The effectiveness of a suppression measure, namely, installation
of a resistance-capacitor filter, was also verified.

KEYWORDS
multiple prestrike and reignition, offshore wind farms, overvoltage, suppression measure,
switching transients, vacuum circuit breaker

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N

Wind energy, which is clean and renewable, helps reduce environmental pollution, improve the energy structure, and increase the power source.
This energy has been developed rapidly in recent years. The Global Wind Energy Council reported that the total installed capacity of wind
turbines worldwide had accumulated to 591 GW in 2018, and 210 GW (36%) of this value was installed in China,1,2 which ranks first worldwide
in terms of wind turbine capacity. The secure operation of wind farms has become a concern due to the increase in scale.
In the configuration of electrical equipment, the collection grids in offshore wind farms consist of a widespread network of cables, trans-
formers, and vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) unlike in conventional power plants.3The surge impedance of cables is larger than that of overhead
lines, and the same switch surge may lead to an increased voltage transient. VCBs are preferred over radial circuit breakers in offshore wind farms

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
© 2021 The Authors. Wind Energy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Wind Energy. 2021;24:1501–1516. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/we 1501

1502 TAO ET AL.

due to the former's low maintenance and long operation life.4 Moreover, VCBs switch wind turbines randomly and frequently because of intermit-
tent wind. One of the most severe stresses in the lifetime of the collection grids of offshore wind farms is switching transient overvoltage.5–9
Frequent switching operations in a system can cause transient overvoltage or inrush current, which in turn causes stress on the insulation material
of equipment, protection malfunction, load shedding, and even equipment damage; these adverse conditions result in system instability.10 The
equipment and maintenance of offshore wind farms cost more than those of onshore wind farms. Thus, the impact of switching transient in off-
shore wind farms must be investigated.
Modeling and simulation are essential steps in the research on switching transients in collection grids of offshore wind farms, and rele-
vant studies have been conducted using these tools. Research has focused on the modeling methodology of primary components for elec-
tromagnetic transient investigation and examined switching overvoltage in several typical switching operations of VCBs through software
simulations.6,11–13 These studies, which considered the prestrike phenomenon, dealt with the evaluation of voltage transients during the
closing of a VCB. Switching operations may cause overvoltage due to the multiple prestrike and reignition events that occur between
breaks of a VCB, and the transient process often comes with high-frequency and high-amplitude overvoltage surges, which seriously
threaten the safety of equipment in offshore wind farms.14 Therefore, an accurate VCB model is crucial to the overvoltage analysis of off-
shore wind farms.
Suppression measures, namely, surge arresters, preinserted resistors, shunt reactors, and point-on-wave switching, have been used to
decrease the switching transient overvoltage in wind farms.15,16 However, these measures have little effect on reducing the oscillation frequency
of overvoltage. The frequency of switching transient overvoltage is as high as 1 MHz, which may lead to insulation failure of components. There-
fore, other measures should be studied to suppress high-frequency overvoltage. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of the resistance-capacitor
(RC) filter used to reduce overvoltage has been verified by scholars through tests on switching transient overvoltage.17,18
In this study, a user-defined model that considers prestrike and reignition phenomena, which can reflect the actual operation of VCBs, is pres-
ented using the Electromagnetic Transient Program/Alternative Transient Program (EMTP/ATP) software. A switching transient simulation model
of a typical offshore wind farm was built. The model includes a VCB, a transformer, a cable, and an arrester. Issues concerning the closing time,
length of the feeder, and topology of the collection grid were discussed. The effectiveness of a suppression measure, namely, installation of an RC
filter, was also verified.

2 | P A R A M E T E R S O F T H E M O D E L A N D SY S T E M M O D E L I N G

The layout of an offshore wind farm in Guangdong Province, China, is shown in Figure 1. The configuration of the arresters and surge protective
devices (SPDs) is not shown due to the length of the figure. The investigated offshore wind farm consists of 64 wind turbines with a rated power
of 3 MW and a collection grid with eight main feeders. The terminal voltage of the wind turbines is 690 V. The power of the entire offshore wind
farm is connected to the power grid through a 23-km-long cable after the offshore substation increased to 110 kV. In this study, only one bus
was used, and the simulation model is shown in Figure 2. The distance between adjacent wind turbines of the same feeder is 700 m, and the cable
length from the generator at the top to the step-up transformer at the bottom is about 90 m.

2.1 | Modeling of VCBs

A user-defined model that considers prestrike and reignition phenomena, which can reflect the actual operation of VCBs, was established based
on the dynamic strength recovery curve of the dielectric between breaks and the arc-extinguishing characteristics of the current under high
frequency.
According to field measurements, the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric and the closing time of a 35-kV VCB in the transient pro-
cess during closing can be approximately fitted by a cubic polynomial curve as follows:

udh = −1:208 × 104 th 3 + 4:039 × 103 th 2 −4:809 × 102 th + 111:6 ð1Þ

where th is the closing time (the first interruption/breakdown time in the closing process is taken as 0 s), ms and udh is the dynamic insulation
strength of the dielectric, kV.
On the basis of the Helmer model19 in EMTP/ATP, a reignition model of VCBs during opening was established. This model considers the cut-
off value, dynamic strength recovery curve of the dielectric between breaks, and arc-extinguishing characteristics of the current under high fre-
quency. The dynamic insulation strength curve of the dielectric during opening can be calculated using
TAO ET AL. 1503

FIGURE 1 Layout of a typical offshore wind farm

FIGURE 2 Layout of the offshore wind farm for simulation

(
24:2t0:832
f , 0 < tf ≤ 0:44 ms
udf = ð2Þ
55:1t0:54
f , 0:44 ms < tf ≤ 5 ms

where tf is the opening time, ms and udf is the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric, kV.
The simulation model in the MODELS module of a VCB is shown in Figure 3, which includes three inputs and one output. Ik is the current
flowing through the break of the VCB. Us and UL are the voltages at the power and load sides of the VCB, respectively. Output SW is the TACS
control signal, and the opening–closing state is determined by the MODELS module of the VCB. At each time step, the simulation module of the
VCB calculates the output SW based on the current inputs and certain calculation and judgment rules and controls the state of the VCB in
real time.
In order to reproduce the prestrike and reignition phenomena in the operation process of VCBs, so as to reflect the high-frequency transient
overvoltage caused by the operation of VCBs in wind farms, some simulations and experiments which can reflect the actual operation of VCBs have
been carried out. According to the model parameters proposed by Wong et al20 and Kam et al21 and our experimental results, a branch composed of
1-nF capacitance and a 50-Ω resistor was placed parallel to switch SW to simulate the switching arc characteristics of the VCB accurately.
1504 TAO ET AL.

FIGURE 3 Simulation model in the MODELS module of the VCB

FIGURE 4 Calculation flow chart of the simulation model of the VCB (A) during closing and (B) during opening

The calculation flow chart of the simulation model of the VCB is shown in Figure 4. tc, tm, and ts are the closing, simulation, and one step times
of the simulation, respectively. Output SW is the TACS control signal (1 represents closing, and 0 represents opening). udh is the dynamic insula-
tion strength of the dielectric during closing. As shown in Figure 4A, when the VCB receives the closing signal (the moment at tc), the distance
between breaks of the VCB decreases with the passage of time, and the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric decreases until it becomes
lower than the voltage between breaks, thereby exceeding the insulation strength of the air gap and leading to the breakdown of the gap between
breaks. At this time, a closing signal is generated, and the switch is closed quickly, thus simulating a prestrike phenomenon. Henceforth, a
high-frequency current appears under the action of inductances and capacitances, and the superposition of high-frequency current and power
current occurs. When the current exceeds zero and the change rate of the high-frequency current is less than a certain value (320 A/μs in this
work), an opening signal is generated. This process continues until the simulation time or the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric is less
than zero.
TAO ET AL. 1505

The calculation flow chart of the simulation model of the VCB during opening is shown in Figure 4B. When the VCB whose original state is closed
receives the opening signal (the moment at to), the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric increases with the passage of time until the current
exceeds zero, the change rate of the high-frequency current is less than 320 A/μs, and an opening signal is generated. Thus, the transient recovery volt-
age is established between breaks. When its value exceeds the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric, the air gap is broken down, and a closing
signal is generated at this time. Then, the reignition phenomenon is simulated, and the process continues until the simulation time is less than zero.
A simple three-phase circuit model was established to verify the effectiveness of the user-defined model that considers prestrike and
reignition phenomena, which can reflect the actual operation of VCBs. The single-phase circuit model is shown in Figure 5. Un is the 35-kV power
source, and C1 and L1 are the sums of the capacitances and inductances of the cable and bus at the power side, respectively. R2 and L2 are the
resistance and inductance of the cable at the load side, respectively. L3 and R3 are the inductance and resistance of the load, respectively. C3 is
the sum of the capacitances of the load and the cable at the load side.
During the closing operation of the user-defined VCB, phases A and B are closed at 21.0 ms, and phase C is closed 0.27 ms later (according
to the actual investigation of the 35-kV VCB). As shown in Figure 6, the amplitude of the high-frequency voltage of phases A and B between 21.0
and 21.3 ms is approximately 35 kV. Under the coupling between cables and the action of the neutral point, the voltage with a low frequency and
amplitude appears in phase C. The first prestrike occurs in phase C at approximately 21.3 ms, and many prestrikes occur in the next 0.3 ms until
physical contact is established between the moving and stationary contacts, that is, the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric is zero.
When the ideal VCB is used, the contacts of the VCB respond quickly and then close once the closing command is issued. When the recovery
voltage decreases rapidly to zero, no prestrike phenomenon occurs in the entire process, as shown in Figure 6.
When the opening command is sent out at 20.0 ms, the moving contact of the VCB starts to act. The dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric
increases with the distance between the moving and stationary contacts. As shown in Figure 7, no reignition occurs in phase C of the user-defined

FIGURE 5 Verification circuit of the VCB simulation model

FIGURE 6 Transient recovery voltage waveforms of a VCB during closing

1506 TAO ET AL.

VCB, whereas multiple reignition events occur in phases A and B from 21.0 to 21.4 ms. Furthermore, the recovery voltage of phase C is always
between the envelopes of those of phases A and B. The recovery rate of the dynamic insulation strength of the dielectric is greater than the increase
rate of the voltage of the break in phase C. Thus, the break is not broken down during the opening process and does not cause reignition.
Figure 7 shows the obtained transient recovery voltage waveforms during opening when the ideal VCB is used. When the opening command is
sent out at 20.0 ms, the contacts of the VCB are separated rapidly, and the recovery voltage rises rapidly. No reignition occurs in the entire process.
Due to the complex parasitic parameters like inductances and capacitances in the system, it is difficult to calculate accurately and the simula-
tion cannot be realized completely.
Figures 8 and 9 are transient recovery voltage waveforms derived from VCB closing and opening experiments, respectively. Compared with
Figures 6 and 7, it can be concluded that the prestrike and reignition phenomena in the actual operation of a VCB can be obviously indicated by
the user-defined VCB and the effectiveness verification of the model is thus completed.

2.2 | Modeling of transformers

The main and step-up transformers used for the wind turbines in this study are three-phase transformers with two windings, which were simu-
lated under the BCTRAN module with the EMTP/ATP software. The main parameters of the transformers are shown in Table 1.

FIGURE 7 Transient recovery voltage waveforms of a VCB during opening

FIGURE 8 Transient recovery voltage waveforms derived from VCB closing experiment
TAO ET AL. 1507

FIGURE 9 Transient recovery voltage waveforms derived from VCB opening experiment

T A B L E 1 Main parameters of
Main transformer Step-up transformer for the wind turbines
transformers
Connection group label Ynd 11 Dyn 11
Rated capacity (MVA) 110 3.15
Rated voltage (kV) 110/35 35/0.69
No-load current (%) 0.4 0.6
No-load loss (kW) 14.9 2.9
Load loss (kW) 74.0 24.6
Short circuit impedance (%) 10.5 6.0

FIGURE 10 High-frequency model of a transformer

Under a low-frequency condition, the main reactance of a transformer is leakage reactance. Thus, the transformer can be simulated using an
ideal transformer and leakage reactance. However, the electrical characteristics of a transformer change under high frequency, and stray capaci-
tance exerts a considerable influence. In the analysis of transients in offshore wind farms, the high-frequency characteristics of the transient pro-
cess are evident. Therefore, a transformer model that considers high-frequency characteristics needs to be established.
In this study, a high-frequency model of a transformer was established by using the improved method22 of the standard transformer model,
as shown in Figure 10. Cgd is the capacitance between the primary and secondary sides, Cg is the stray capacitance at the primary side, and Cd is
the stray capacitance at the secondary side. The typical values of stray capacitances23 are shown in Table 2.

2.3 | Modeling of cables

Single-core submarine cables are the most distinctive electric components of offshore wind farms. They are modeled using the frequency-
dependent LCC model, which represents the frequency dependence of single-core submarine cable parameters. This model is highly rec-
ommended for electromagnetic transient studies. The calculated parameters of the cables are given in Table 3.
1508 TAO ET AL.

T A B L E 2 Typical values of the stray

Rated capacity (MVA) Cgd (nF) Cg (nF) Cd (nF)
capacitances of a transformer
1 1.2–1.7 1.2–14 3.1–16
2 1–18 1.2–16 3–16
5 1.1–20 1.2–14 5.5–17
10 4–11 4–7 8–18
25 2.5–18 2.8–4.2 5.2–20
50 3.4–11 4–6.8 3–24
75 5.5–13 3.5–7 2.8–13

TABLE 3 Parameters of cables

Voltage (kV) 35 110
Cross section of conductor (mm2) 400 500
Diameter of conductor (mm) 23.5 26.6
Insulation thickness (mm) 9.3 17.0
Thickness of outer sheath (mm) 2.6 4.0
Outer diameter of cable (mm) 52.3 80.5

Current (A) 0.0001 1000 5000 10,000 20,000 T A B L E 4 Voltage–current

characteristics of the 110-kV arrester
Voltage (kV) 147 210 235 249 271

Current (A) 0.0001 1000 5000 10,000 20,000 T A B L E 5 Voltage–current

characteristics of the 35-kV arrester
Voltage (kV) 73 113 128 136 149

Current (A) 0.001 5000 10,000 15,000 T A B L E 6 Voltage–current

characteristics of the surge protective
Voltage (kV) 1.2 2.4 2.8 3.0
device (SPD)

2.4 | Modeling of arresters

It is well known that a nonlinear resistance is the main component of a ZnO arrester. Under the rated voltage, the current passing through the
nonlinear resistance of a ZnO arrester is small, which is equivalent to that of the insulator. When the voltage exceeds the operating voltage, the
nonlinear resistance is small, and the large current is discharged down to the earth. When the voltage drops below the operating voltage, the
resistance value will automatically return to the original large one, and the insulation state will be restored. Further, the nonlinear characteristics
of the nonlinear resistance are expressed by voltage–current characteristics. Thus, the operating voltage and voltage–current characteristics of an
arrester are both crucial parameters. According to the parameters provided by the manufacturer, the operating voltages of ZnO arresters for
110 and 35 kV are 140 and 68 kV, respectively, and their voltage–current characteristics are listed in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.
The voltage–current characteristics of the SPD at the low-voltage side of the transformer for a wind turbine are shown in Table 6.

3 | SIMULATION AND DISCUSSION

Adverse effects on system equipment would appear if transient overvoltage caused by the operation of a VCB appears in a power system. Equip-
ment insulation would be mainly threatened then, and accidents would increase due to insulation problems. After decades of investigation and
research on thousands of transformers, it is found that the fault of the transformer is mainly caused by high frequency transient overvoltage.24
The transformer insulation accident of Middlegrunden wind farm also confirms the harm of overvoltage caused by the operation of a VCB to the
equipment.25
The overvoltage at the main transformer and the step-up transformer of the wind turbine of a feeder is analyzed in this section; three steps
are listed. First, find out the most unfavorable closing time. As the overvoltage will change with the closing time, the time with the maximum
TAO ET AL. 1509

overvoltage is the most unfavorable closing time. Second, confirm the relationship between the feeder length and the overvoltage. Based on the
most unfavorable closing time confirmed in the first step, analyze the relationship between the location of transformers and the overvoltage at
different spots of the same feeder and obtain the most vulnerable transformer with the maximum overvoltage. Finally, analyze the influence of
the topology on the overvoltage under the most unfavorable closing time, and then, the influence of different feeder lengths and different topol-
ogy structures have on the main transformer and the most vulnerable transformer, thus the most reliable topology structure can be obtained in
this step.

3.1 | Influence of closing time

The model of different closing times in one cycle of the power source was simulated under two scenarios (i.e., with an ideal VCB model and a
user-defined VCB model) to investigate the influence of different closing times on the transient overvoltage of offshore wind farms.
It is illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 that the typical waveforms at the low-voltage side of the main transformer and the high-voltage side of
transformer T8 when the closing times is 0.02 s under an ideal VCB model and a user-defined VCB model, respectively. The maximum values in
the figures are the voltage amplitudes shown in contents below.
Figure 13 shows the voltage amplitudes at the main transformer and transformer T8 with different closing times under an ideal VCB model.
The relationship between overvoltage amplitude and closing time is approximately sinusoidal, and the maximum value appeared when the closing
time is near the peak of the power source.
Figure 14 shows the voltage amplitudes at the main transformer and transformer T8 with different closing times under a user-defined VCB
model. Although the curve shown in Figure 14 is not a standard sinusoidal curve compared with that shown in Figure 13, the change trend of volt-
age amplitude with closing time is basically similar to that in Figure 13. The curve in Figure 14 merely reflects the instability of the arc in the VCBs.
Therefore, the relationship cannot be a standard sinusoidal curve.

3.2 | Influence of feeder length

When a VCB is closed on a no-load line, such as a feeder cable, transient system oscillation occurs because of the electrical effect of the induc-
tance and capacitance between the line and transformer, leading to the generation of switching overvoltage in the transition process. Assuming
that the three-phase operation of the VCB is synchronous, a single-phase circuit was used to analyze the system. The resistance of the power

FIGURE 11 Typical waveforms when the closing time is 0.02 s under an ideal VCB model
1510 TAO ET AL.

FIGURE 12 Typical waveforms when the closing time is 0.02 s under a user-defined VCB model

FIGURE 13 Voltage amplitudes with different closing times under an ideal VCB model

FIGURE 14 Voltage amplitudes with different closing times under a user-defined VCB model

source and line was ignored in the qualitative analysis, and the equivalent circuit of the collection grid was simplified to the model shown in
Figure 15.
LS and CS are the equivalent inductance and capacitance of the single-phase circuit at the power source side, respectively. LP and CP are the
parasitic inductance and capacitance of the breaks of a VCB, respectively. L and C are the equivalent inductance and capacitance of the single-
TAO ET AL. 1511

FIGURE 15 Simplified equivalent circuit of the collection grid

FIGURE 16 Voltage amplitudes at different transformers during the closing of VCB

phase circuit at the feeder side, respectively. When the closing operation is conducted near the peak of the power source, the overvoltage is cal-
culated as follows:

1
UCm = Um ð3Þ
1 −ω2 =ω20

1
ω0 = pffiffiffiffiffiffi ð4Þ
LC

where UCm is the overvoltage amplitude during switching, ω is the angular frequency of the power source, ω0 is the natural frequency of the line,
and Um is the voltage amplitude of the power source.
The equations above indicate that when the closing time is near 0.02 s, the overvoltage amplitude is at the maximum, which is deemed the
most unfavorable closing time. The most unfavorable closing time is taken in this section, and the length of the feeder is 1 km. Combining
Equations 3 and 4 indicates that overvoltage amplitude UCm increases with the increase in capacitance C at the feeder side. Capacitance C at the
feeder side increases with the increase in the length of the feeder. Thus, the overvoltage at transformer T8 is theoretically the largest, and T8 is
the most vulnerable transformer of the same feeder. The simulation data are shown in Figure 16.
In the typical simulation model of an offshore wind farm shown in Figure 2, the length of the feeder is the distance between transformer T1
and the 35-kV bus. The length of the feeder differs due to the different scales, environments, and geographical locations of wind farms.
Figure 17 shows the voltage amplitudes at the main transformer and transformer T8 with different lengths of the feeder during the closing
and opening of the VCB. The average voltages at the main transformer and transformer T8 are approximately 81.9 and 72.9 kV, respectively, dur-
ing closing; the values slowly decrease with the increase in feeder length. However, the voltage amplitude has a positive correlation with feeder
length during opening. The opening operation results in a higher overvoltage than that in the closing operation, and the average values at the main
transformer and transformer T8 are 31.9 and 27.2 kV higher than those during closing, respectively.

3.3 | Influence of the topology of collection grids

In accordance with the scale, reliability demand level, and installed capacity of offshore wind farms, collection grids can be designed with different
topologies. At present, three topological structures are commonly applied: chain (radial), ring (double-sided ring, composite ring, and multilateral
ring), and star (tree).
Figure 18 shows the chain, double-sided ring, and star structures of collection grids. The double-sided ring structure, which is more secure
than the chain structure, connects two adjacent feeders at the end wind turbine. However, the maximum rated capacity of its cable is twice that
1512 TAO ET AL.

FIGURE 17 Voltage amplitudes at the main transformer and transformer T8 with different lengths of the feeder

FIGURE 18 Three topological structures of collection grids: (A) chain structure, (B) double-sided ring structure, and (C) star structure

of the cable in the chain structure. The star structure is advantageous in reducing the rated capacity of the cable and promoting the safety of wind
farms. When the cable connected to a certain wind turbine fails, only the turbine itself is affected, and the scope of failure does not expand.
Although collection grids under the star structure have good characteristics, the investment cost is relatively high, and the point in the star center
needs a highly complex switch.
The voltage amplitudes at the main transformer and transformer T8 during the closing operation in the three topological structures are
shown in Figure 19. The voltage at the main transformer has a negative correlation with the length of the feeder under the three topolo-
gies. However, the voltage at transformer T8 increases slightly with the increase in the length of the feeder in the double-sided ring and
star structures.
TAO ET AL. 1513

The voltage amplitudes under the different topologies during the opening the VCB are shown in Figure 20. The overall trend of the voltage
increases with the increase in the length of the feeder at the main transformer and transformer T8. The overvoltage in the opening operation is
higher than that in the closing operation under the same topological structure, especially in the chain structure, which is the most commonly used
topology in wind farms (reaching approximately 30 kV). When the VCB is operated in the same manner, the overvoltage in the collection grid
under the star structure is the lowest and does not change much with the increase in feeder length. Thus, the star structure is more reliable than
the other structures.

FIGURE 19 Voltage amplitudes under different topologies during the closing of VCB

FIGURE 20 Voltage amplitudes under different topologies during the opening of VCB
1514 TAO ET AL.

4 | SU PPRES SION MEASU RE

The per unit value of the 35 kV system can be calculated as

pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
1:0 p:u: = 2 × 35= 3 ≈ 28:58 ðkVÞ ð5Þ

The simulation result shows that voltages of 2.9 and 2.6 p.u. are generated at the main transformer and transformer T8, respectively, during
the closing of the VCB; the voltage is higher during the opening of the VCB, and it reaches 3.8 and 3.1 p.u., respectively. The voltage of 3.0 p.u.

FIGURE 21 Voltage at the main transformer with the RC filter

FIGURE 22 Voltage at the main transformer without the RC filter

TAO ET AL. 1515

specified in the NB/T 31057-2014 technical code for overvoltage protection of collection grids in wind farms of China is exceeded. Thus, appro-
priate suppression measures should be undertaken to reduce the overvoltage.
With the improvement of resistance–capacitance protection theory in middle-voltage systems, the RC filter has been increasingly used in
power systems. This filter can not only reduce the overvoltage of the system but also suppress resonance and eliminate harmonics. The RC filter
is composed of a series-connected resistor and capacitor, which are used to prevent wave reflections and dampen the high-frequency transient
oscillation caused by a steep-front voltage.26 Generally, the resistance of its resistor should be equal to the surge impedance of the cable, and the
capacitance of the capacitor must be accurately obtained through many tests. In this study, the optimal parameter of the RC filter was selected as
the series combination of resistance of 20.0 Ω and capacitance of 0.1 μF after many simulations. With the common chain structure of collection
grids as an example, the RC filter was installed at the low-voltage side of the main transformer.
Figure 21 shows that the maximum overvoltage at the main transformer with the RC filter decreases to 1.6 and 1.5 p.u. during the closing
and opening of the VCB, respectively. The overvoltage at transformer T8 also decreases markedly, reaching 2.2 p.u. in two cases. Compared with
the waveform obtained without the RC filter in Figure 22, the overvoltage of the system and the harmonic are suppressed after installing the RC
filter because of the prestrike and reignition of the VCB. Therefore, the installation of the RC filter at the main transformer can restrain the over-
voltage caused by the operation of the VCB, thereby reducing the insulation impact on the equipment and ensuring the safe, stable, and reliable
operation of the offshore wind farm.

5 | C O N CL U S I O N S

A user-defined model that considers prestrike and reignition phenomena, which can reflect the actual operation of VCBs, was developed with the
software EMTP/ATP. Then, switching transients that can occur in the collection grids of offshore wind farms were demonstrated through simula-
tions of a typical offshore wind farm that included a VCB, a transformer, a cable, and an arrester. Issues concerning the closing time, length of the
feeder, and topology of the collection grid were discussed. The results showed that prestrike and reignition during the switching process were the
main reasons for overvoltage. The maximum overvoltage appeared when the closing time was near the peak of the power source, and the over-
voltage at the end of a feeder terminal was the largest among all overvoltages of the transformers of the same feeder. In addition, the length of
the feeder influenced the overvoltage in the collection grid. The star topology was determined to be superior to the other structures in terms of
coping with the overvoltage caused by switching transients. The installation of an RC filter can effectively suppress the overvoltage caused by the
operation of the VCB in the collection grids of offshore wind farms.
The proposed model of switching transients was only analyzed theoretically. Therefore, a complete experiment platform must be set up in
future studies to verify the accuracy of the modeling methods and the effectiveness of the suppression measure.

DATA AVAI LAB ILITY S TATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to
privacy or ethical restrictions.

P EE R R EV I E W
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/we.2643.

ORCID
Jiayuan Tao https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6596-5733
Qing Yang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8545-6335

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How to cite this article: Tao J, Yang Q, Zheng X, et al. Switching transients caused by vacuum circuit breakers in collection grids of
offshore wind farms. Wind Energy. 2021;24(12):1501-1516. https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2643