518 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 29, NO.

2, APRIL 2014

The Loadability of Overhead Transmission

Lines—Part II: Analysis of Double-Circuits
and Overall Comparison
Davide Lauria, Giovanni Mazzanti, Member, IEEE, and Stefano Quaia

Abstract—This is the second part of an investigation aimed at

providing a thorough technical comparison between traditional
and alternative overhead power transmission lines based on
the loadability characteristics. The previous Part I outlined and
applied the fundamentals of the loadability analysis to three com-
parable single-circuit lines. In Part II, the analysis is broadened
to three comparable double-circuit lines: traditional three-phase
ac double-circuit lines (assumed as the reference system for the
comparison) and bipolar HVDC lines and nonconventional com-
bined ac–dc lines. As in Part I, the loadability analysis takes into
account thermal limits, voltage drop, power losses, and—when
feasible—steady state and transient stability. Part II also performs
an overall comparison among the different systems in single-cir-
cuit and double-circuit configuration to draw final conclusions.
Index Terms—HVDC transmission, power transmission, trans-
mission lines. Fig. 1. 3PL versus 4PL versus DCL loadability characteristics in the base case
. The loadability curves of the 3PL with 10%, and of the
DCL with 10% are also reported for 250 km.
I. INTRODUCTION
to line lengths of 500 km are derived for three double-circuit

T HIS PAPER is the second part of an investigation aimed

at providing a methodology for a thorough technical com-
parison between traditional and alternative—in some cases in-
OHLs:
1) 3P double-circuit 400 kV ac (2 3PLs), that are the refer-
ence system for the comparison;
novative—overhead transmission lines (OHLs). The method- 2) bipolar 500-kV HVDC (2 DCLs);
ology for the loadability analysis was been illustrated and ap- 3) combined ac–dc (AC–DCLs).
plied to three comparable single-circuit OHLs in the previous A technical comparison among these double-circuit systems
Part I. Here, Section II completes the loadability analysis car- is carried out in Section VI. The conclusions drawn from both
ried out in Part I by performing an overall comparison among Parts I and II close this investigation.
the three single-circuit OHLs: 3P 400-kV ac (3PLs), 4P 325-kV
ac (4PLs), and monopolar 500-kV HVDC (DCLs). II. COMPARISON AMONG SINGLE-CIRCUIT SYSTEMS
Afterwards, the analysis is broadened to double-circuit lines,
In order to enable an effective and straightforward compar-
that are more costly than single circuits but enable the trans-
ison among the three aforementioned single-circuit OHLs, their
mission of larger power at higher reliability and lower losses.
loadability curves—calculated in the previous Part I—are su-
Economic reasons rule out of this analysis double-circuit 4PLs,
perimposed in Fig. 1.
whose large costs are not balanced by their main advantages
Fig. 1 shows the loadability curves of the 3PL and 4PL rel-
compared to 3PLs—higher reliability and lower losses—as
evant to the base-case 1, 5% between the
shown in [1]. Hence, in Sections III–V, loadability curves up
two 3P ends of both lines, total system angular displacement
, as well as the loadability curve of the DCL calcu-
Manuscript received January 01, 2013; accepted January 05, 2013. Date of
lated with 5%.
publication March 14, 2014; date of current version March 20, 2014. Paper no.
TPWRD-00536-2012. To consider greater voltage drop and power losses which
D. Lauria is with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information could be accepted in case of relatively long lines, Fig. 1
Technology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples 80125, Italy (e-mail:
also reports, for 250 km, the loadability curves of 3PLs
davide.lauria@unina.it).
G. Mazzanti is with the Department of Electrical Energy Engineering and calculated with 10% and DCLs calculated with
Information, University of Bologna, Bologna 40136, Italy (e-mail: giovanni. 10%. A corresponding increase of the
mazzanti@unibo.it).
maximum voltage drop is not considered for the 4P system
S. Quaia is with the Department of Engineering and Architecture, University
of Trieste, Trieste 34127, Italy (e-mail: quaias@units.it). since it would cause an excessive voltage drop between the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2013.2280963 4PL ends, as discussed in Part I.

0885-8977 © 2014 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
LAURIA et al.: LOADABILITY OF OVERHEAD TRANSMISSION LINES—PART II 519

TABLE I
2 3PL LOADABILITY AT THETHERMAL AND VOLTAGE DROP LIMITS
WITH 5%, 1

TABLE II
2 3PL LOADABILITY AT THETHERMAL AND VOLTAGE DROP LIMITS
WITH 5%, 0.95

Fig. 2. 3PL versus 4PL versus DCL loadability characteristics including the
transient stability limits against SPGF.

These loadability curves show that 4PLs and DCLs can pro-
vide a significant advantage over the 3PLs. In particular, 4PLs
under a technical standpoint and where they could be also eco-
allow the largest power transmission for line lengths up to more
nomically competitive with traditional 3PLs and DCLs. In this
than 200 km. For longer lines, the largest power is carried by
range of lengths, compared with 3PLs, the additional cost re-
DCLs or 4PLs, depending on the limit set to the DCLs power
quired by the two 3P/4P transformers is mitigated by a sufficient
losses . In the case 10%, the advantage
line length, whereas DCLs costs are still too high. Of course,
of the DCLs over the other considered solutions increases with
any possible scope of convenience for nonconventional solu-
the line length and becomes significant for 300 km. How-
tions, such as 4PLs, must be investigated with reference to an
ever, as pointed out in Part I, the curves of 3PLs and 4PLs have
exhaustive and updated technical-economic comparison. For in-
a sharp decrease with the load power factor (PF) and, therefore,
stance, at present, HVDC lines are economically convenient for
if , the range of convenience of the DCLs broadens.
connections longer than 500 km, although this limit is steadily
In other words, the comparison illustrated in Fig. 1—based on
decreasing because of the progressive decrease of the cost—and
unity PF for the ac lines—penalizes DCLs, since in actual power
increase of the performances—of ac/dc conversion stations.
transmission, is usually less than one.
Comparing 3PLs with 4PLs, Fig. 1 shows that 4PLs have a
large advantage in terms of loadability over the entire range of III. DOUBLE-CIRCUIT THREE-PHASE LINES (2 3PLS)
length (and this advantage does not change significantly with the
load PF, as can be checked in Part I). In particular, 4PLs allow A. Thermal Limit
about a 40% power increase for 200 km and a little less
Let us treat a 400 kV 2 3PL with the same standard triple-
(36%–39%) for 300 km. Considering that, for longer links,
core bundle ACSR conductor of 3 585 cross section
a voltage drop limit higher than 5% could be accepted for 3PLs
already considered for the 3PLs and 4PLs. We follow here the
and that, on the contrary, this would not be advisable for 4PLs,
same procedure used for the 3PL in Part I.
we can conclude that in terms of transmissible power, 4PLs have
The line parameter values are: 0.021 km,
a definite advantage over 3PLs especially for short and medium-
0.261 km, S/km,
length lines, up to roughly 300 km, which is evidently a range
4.35 S/km. Line surge impedance:
of great practical interest.
245 , SIL: 1306 MW. The thermal
If the transient stability limit against single-phase-to-ground
limit is 4076 A (see Part I); the
faults (SPGF) is considered as well, the comparison changes by
corresponding power is 2812 MVA and the
much. According to Fig. 2, the 3PL curve drastically decreases,
maximum (steady-state) power capability of the line is
such that this limit cannot be satisfied in most practical cases
.
without harshly penalizing the 3PL. On the contrary, the 4PL
curve has only a slight reduction for 200 km and the DCL
B. Voltage Drop Limit
curve remains unchanged. Thus, in terms of loadability, the dis-
advantage of 3PLs with respect to 4PLs and DCLs dramatically The voltage drop is computed, as made in Part I for the 3PL,
increases. through the line constants and relevant to the two equal
It is interesting to note that the results of the present technical circuits in parallel. With and being the constants of each
comparison match fairly well with those provided by the eco- single circuit, we obtain and .
nomic comparisons performed in [1]. Comparing these results, The results obtained by setting a maximum voltage drop
we find out a range of length, that extends from about 100–150 5% are shown in Tables I and II, which refer to
km to about 300–400 km, where 4PLs appear really interesting 1 (base-case) and , respectively.
520
TABLE III
2 3PL LOADABILITY [MW] AT THE STEADY-STATE STABILITY LIMIT
TABLE IV
2 3PL LOADABILITY AT THE TRANSIENT STABILITY LIMIT
Fig. 3. 2 3PL loadability characteristics with 5%.
C. Power Losses Limit
For power losses along the line , we assume the same
percent limit of the voltage drop, that is, ,
as made in Part I. Accordingly, in the cases reported in Tables I
and II, power losses must not exceed 5% of the maximum trans-
missible power.
D. Stability Limit
1) Steady-state stability: using the same procedure as for the
3PL we obtain the results reported in Table III. They show
that stability affects the 2 3PL loadability curves only for
500 km and the system strength still has a moderate
effect—although higher than for the 3PL because of the
lower reactance of the 2 3PL.
2) Transient stability: for a 2 3PL connecting a power plant
and the bulk power system, the generator transient stability
in the case of an SPGF on one circuit close to the power
plant, evaluated using the same data reported in Part I but
with double power 2000 MVA), entails the limits
reported in Table IV.
E. 2 3PL Loadability Characteristics
The resulting 2 3PL loadability curves are reported in
Fig. 3. The relevant comments are similar to those made in Part
I for the 3PL; thus, we report them in short.
As for the 3PL, the results show the strong sensitivity of the
2 3PL loadability to the PF; the loadability quickly decreases
with in the range of lengths where the voltage drop limit
prevails.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 29, NO. 2, APRIL 2014
Fig. 4. 2 3PL loadability characteristics with 10%.
The voltage drop limit prevails over the thermal limit starting
from 119 km if 1, 51 km if 0.95 and
41 km if 0.90. Note that these crossover lengths
decrease if a higher thermal limit is considered.
Since percent power losses are always less than percentage
voltage drop, according to the assumption made, power losses
have no effect on the 2 3PL loadability.
Similarly, for 500 km, the steady-state stability has no
effect on the 2 3PL loadability.
If the transient stability against SPGFs is considered, the rel-
evant limit affects the 2 3PL loadability starting from 325
km (Fig. 3). Obviously, due to the power that is still transmitted
through the healthy circuit, transient stability affects the load-
ability of the 2 3PL much less than the loadability of the 3PL.
In case of long transmission lines for which a higher voltage
drop can be accepted, Fig. 4 reports the results relevant to
10% (and 10%). As already noticed for
the 3PL, in this case, the voltage drop becomes the limiting
factor starting from a bigger length ( 184 km for
1) and hereafter the line loadability increases significantly (e.g.,
for 200 km and 1, rises from 1.47 to
2.03) still remaining very sensitive to . The steady-state
stability limit affects the loadability curve of the line starting
from 490–500 km, depending on the short-circuit power value.
IV. 500-kV BIPOLAR HVDC LINES
We follow here the same procedure used in Part I for the
monopolar HVDC OHL.
A. Thermal Limit
Making reference to the same conductor assumed in the Part
I for the DCL, we obtain 2400 A and
2400 MW. The line parameters are the same as the DCL:
16.9 m km, S/km.
B. Voltage Drop and Power Losses Limits
Since voltage and power are doubled with respect to the
monopolar line, the percent voltage drop and power losses are
still equal .
C. Bipolar HVDC Loadability Characteristic
Table V and Fig. 5 report the results obtained under the same
hypotheses made in Part I (i.e., by setting 1 p.u.,
LAURIA et al.: LOADABILITY OF OVERHEAD TRANSMISSION LINES—PART II 521

TABLE V In [2], the authors state that these lines can be operated close
BIPOLAR HVDC LINE LOADABILITY WITH 5% to their thermal limit because the dc component can be
quickly modified through the converters control, thereby in-
creasing power transmission while matching the stability limits.
We assume here that the combined ac–dc line is obtained
starting from the 2 3PL studied in Section III; thus, the con-
ductors are those already considered for the 2 3PL and the
line parameters can be considered to be the same already used
for the 2 3PL.
The superimposed ac and dc voltages should match the fol-
lowing constraints:
1) in order to keep voltage and current zero-crossings, the
following relationship must hold:

(2)

2) in order to keep the same insulators as the original 400 kV 2

3PL, the peak value of the maximum-allowed phase-to-
ground voltage cannot be exceeded

(3)
Fig. 5. Bipolar HVDC line loadability characteristic.
where is the line-to-ground insulation level at the
power frequency, that in practice is usually rounded to 245
kV for 400-kV lines.
As for the voltages, letting , from (3) we obtain
122.5 kV and 173.2 kV.

A. Thermal Limit
The total rms current per phase thermally equivalent to the ac
dc components is

(4)

Fig. 6. Scheme of the combined ac–dc transmission line.

which has to satisfy the constraint .

5% and assuming power losses in the conversion B. Voltage Drop, Power Losses, and Stability Limits
stations equal to 0.85% of the transported power). We calculate the ac voltage drop as made in Part I and
The results show that with the assumptions made, 2 DCLs the dc voltage drop as .
can be operated at their thermal limit over the entire range of Similar to the case of 4PLs treated in Part I, to avoid ex-
line lengths. Unlike DCLs, power losses affect the 2 DCL cessive voltage drop due to the transformers, we assume that
loadability starting from 500 km 512 km). the delta/zig-zag transformers are equipped with under-load tap
changers (ULTCs). Using the symbols reported in Fig. 6 and
with being the transformers short-circuit impedance,
V. COMBINED AC–DC LINES
the transformers ratios and are defined as follows:
As pointed out before, combined ac–dc lines have been pro-
posed recently as an innovative alternative to traditional three- (5a)
phase ac lines [2]. In this paper, we treat combined ac–dc lines
referring to the “double circuit - bipolar dc scheme” illustrated (5b)
in Fig. 6 that can be obtained through restructuring of a 2 3PL.
(5c)
The power transported by this nonconventional ac–dc line is
the sum of a dc and an ac component (5d)

and are assumed as continuously variable in the ULTC control

(1) range (as in Part I when analyzing the 4PL).
522 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 29, NO. 2, APRIL 2014

Total power losses are the sum of line losses and ac–dc TABLE VI
conversion losses. The latter are assumed equal to 0.85% of the COMBINED AC–DC LINE LOADABILITY
dc power, as made in Section IV.
As for the stability limits, following the methodology adopted
in [3], the maximum power [corresponding to (2) of Part I] can
now be expressed as

(6)

where, similar to what was made in Part I for the 3PL and 4PL,
and are the phase-to-ground ac voltages at either end
of the total reactance of the system X that includes the net equiv-
alent reactance , and the overall reactance of the double cir-
cuit with the relevant transformers.
A properly high angle can be assumed in (6), because
of the fast control of the dc power component . According
to [2], we assume 80 .
As for the 4PL in Part I, calculations are performed by means
of a specific optimization program, which maximizes the real
power measured at the 3P receiving end. As illustrated in Fig. 6,
the model implemented in the program includes a 3P equiva-
lent generator representative of the voltage and the short-circuit
power at the 3P sending end, the 2 3PL, the two delta/zig-zag Fig. 7. AC–DCL loadability characteristics.
transformers, and the two ac–dc converter stations. The program
operates under the following constraints:
• thermal limit: 2038 A;
• 3P voltage at the receiving end: 1;
• 3P voltage at the sending end: 1.05 (consistently
with the calculation performed for the previous systems,
the overall voltage drop between the two 3P ends must not
exceed 5%);
• ULTC control range 5%;
• (2) holds along the line, so that the resulting voltage and
current waves maintain their zero crossings;
• according to (3), the voltage-to-ground peak value is kept
equal to that of the original 400-kV 2 3PL;
• power losses limit: 5%;
• total system angular displacement: 80 .
The transformers rating is variable: for each length value, the Fig. 8. Angle for the AC–DCL operating at maximum power.
program sets the transformer power (MVA) equal to the load-
ability limit (MW) calculated. The transformer reactance is set
to 0.1 p.u. Having assumed 80 , the resulting power limits are
significantly higher than those relevant to the other limits in-
C. Combined AC–DC Line Loadability Characteristics volved and do not affect the combined ac-line loadability. (See
the angle curve reported in Fig. 8.)
Table VI and Fig. 7 report the results for the base case Since the fast control of the dc component also dramatically
1. The calculations for the case 0.95 are improves transient stability, we can conclude that the loadability
omitted, since PF can be straightforwardly increased in ac/dc curves of the combined ac–dc lines are those reported in Fig. 7.
systems through ac/dc converters. In fact, voltage–source These curves are determined by the maximum voltage drop for
converters feature a four-quadrant operation in the real 212 km and they are not affected by power losses and
versus reactive power diagram. As for line-commutated con- stability.
verters—which are more commonly adopted and more mature The calculations performed show that in the conditions of
from a technological viewpoint—they also demand reactive maximum power transported, the dc component, , is always
power from the ac grid and require capacitor banks and filters much greater than the ac power ; the ratio changes
on the ac side. Thus, if properly designed and operated, capac- between a maximum value of about 6.4 and a minimum value of
itor banks and filters can contribute to an effective PF increase. 3.7 depending on the specific line length. The sharp supremacy
As far as loadability is concerned, this can give the combined of the dc power component confirms, on the one hand, the com-
ac–dc lines an advantage over the 2 3PLs. bined ac–dc line fast power control capability and, thus, the ac-
LAURIA et al.: LOADABILITY OF OVERHEAD TRANSMISSION LINES—PART II
tual lack of stability-related problems. On the other hand, the
small size of the ac power component makes it difficult to jus-
tify the complexity of the examined arrangement.
Other reasons lead to the latter conclusion. Fig. 7 clearly
shows that for relatively long lines, AC-DCLs cannot be loaded
close to their thermal limit since the power transported must
be progressively reduced to limit the voltage drop. This result
cannot be mitigated by setting a higher voltage drop limit. Actu-
ally, it is not advisable to operate these lines with a 10% voltage
drop limit between the 3P voltages and , since this would
cause excessive voltage drop on the combined line itself (similar
to what happens for the 4PL, see Part I). The conclusion is that
the presumed advantage of the AC-DCLs (that is, the possibility
to operate them close to their thermal limit) cannot be achieved,
except for relatively short lines for which the arrangement de-
picted in Fig. 6 could very hardly be economically competitive
with traditional lines. It can be noted here that a more effective
solution to provide power upgrading could be the HVDC con-
version of 2 3PLs proposed in [4].
Some final remarks that involve technical considerations rel-
evant to the components of AC-DCLs can be added. Indeed, the
components of such lines could be tested with difficulty. Inter-
national standards recommend proper tests for conductors, ter-
minations, fittings, accessories, and insulators that are different
for HVAC and HVDC lines. Both HVAC and HVDC line tests
have been progressively refined over the last decades—and over
the last years this holds, in particular, for HVDC lines—based
on a multiyear service experience. This experience is lacking
for AC-DCLs, that are expected to work under a combination
of ac and dc stresses, whose combined effects have not been in-
vestigated at all.
This is particularly true for the electrical insulation of com-
bined ac–dc transmission systems. Indeed, it is well known that
the endurance of HV insulation to applied voltage (both rated
and impulsive voltage) depends strongly on the waveform of
the applied voltage and requires ad hoc R&D tests. Such R&D
tests have to merge with preliminary service experience to re-
sult in thorough testing procedures. All of these considerations
pose a serious question mark to the problem of how to perform
the testing of electrical insulation systems for AC-DCLs.
These issues, that hold especially for electrical insulations,
also have more general validity: for instance, the height, ar-
rangement, and cross section of the OHL conductors in HV
lines are primarily determined by the constraint of having ac-
ceptable electromagnetic (EM)-field levels at the ground and in
the neighborhoods as well as acceptable levels of corona dis-
charges. However, such acceptable levels differ a lot from ac to
dc, and the health effects of combined dc and ac voltages and
currents and of the relevant electromagnetic fields have never
been studied.
Moreover, HVDC OHLs are known to be affected by the
problem of steady charge accumulation on shield wires, which,
for this reason, must be properly designed and insulated with re-
spect to tower structures, thereby suffering further costs. These
additional costs, however, are counterbalanced by the overall
lower per-unit length cost of HVDC lines with respect to ac
lines. AC-DCLs would suffer the same problem, but the rele-
vant additional cost would be a burden on the presumably very
523
Fig. 9. 2 3PL versus 2 DCL versus AC-DCL loadability characteristics.
high costs of such lines, caused by their inherent complexity. All
of these questions require that they be properly taken into con-
sideration in order to assess the real feasibility of AC-DCLs.
VI. COMPARISON AMONG DOUBLE-CIRCUIT SYSTEMS
The loadability curves calculated in Sections III–V are super-
imposed in Fig. 9 in order to facilitate a technical comparison
among the three investigated double-circuit OHLs. In Fig. 9,
they are plotted as:
• the 2 3PL loadability curve relevant to the base-case
and , already reported in Fig. 3;
• for 250 km, the 2 3PL loadability curve relevant to
1 and 10%, already reported in Fig. 4;
• the 2 DCL loadability curve relevant to 5%
and 5%, already reported in Fig. 5;
• the AC-DCL loadability curve relevant to the base case
1 and 5%, already reported in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 shows that the 2 DCL allows the largest power trans-
mission for line lengths of more than 140 km (or even less,
considering the already discussed dependence of the 2 3PL
loadability on the PF). For shorter lines, for which the thermal
limit of the 2 3PL applies, the largest power is carried by the
2 3PL. The combined ac–dc line can never carry the largest
power.
The loadability curves of the AC-DCLs and 2 DCLs are
fairly similar for lengths up to 200 km; however, present eco-
nomics make these lengths neither convenient for 2 DCLs nor
presumably for AC-DCLs. Compared with the 2 3PLs, the
AC-DCLs can transport more power for line lengths between
150 km and 315 km, and this range broadens at lower PFs.
Indeed, an advantage of the combined ac–dc lines over the 2
3PLs is the very low impact of PF on line loadability. The
reason for this behavior is twofold: first, the ac power compo-
nent is much lower than the dc; second, the ac and dc voltage
control determines less stringent voltage drop limits.
Overall, also considering the complex and presumably costly
arrangement of AC-DCLs, the loadability curves plotted in
Fig. 9 do not show any solid convenience of these innovative
lines over the other systems. It must be highlighted that this
result is mainly due to the voltage drop limit, and would not be
evident without the loadability analysis. In fact, for line lengths
exceeding 200 km, the voltage drop limit prevents AC-DCLs
524
from operating close to their thermal limit, thus frustrating
what should be—according to [2]—their main advantage.
We conclude that the AC-DCLs, despite reduced ac and dc
voltages, could be hardly competitive with the other solutions.
When comparing 2 3PLs with 2 DCLs, the latter have
a clear advantage in terms of loadability starting from less
than 200 km (but, as known, economics dictate much higher
crossover lengths, usually 500 km).
The considered power losses and steady-state stability limits
have no effect (for 500 km) on the loadability characteristics
of all the investigated double circuits.
Finally, by taking the transient stability limit against SPGF
into account, there would be a moderate effect on the compar-
ison among the considered double-circuit systems. In fact, as
Fig. 3 shows, the transient stability limit could reduce the 2
3PL loadability curve only for quite long lines and very high PF
values.
VII. CONCLUSION
The analysis performed in Parts I and II provides interesting
comparisons among the technical performances of the two non-
conventional solutions considered, that is, 4PLs and combined
ac–dc lines, and those of the reference 3PLs and HVDC lines.
First, regarding single circuits, 4PLs have a significant advan-
tage in terms of loadability with respect to the traditional 3PLs
over most of the length range analyzed. This advantage sharply
increases if also the transient stability limit against SPGF is con-
sidered (of course, this holds also for DCLs). A comparison be-
tween 4PLs and DCLs is less straightforward, but when con-
sidering the actual range of lengths for HVDC applications and
considering the results provided by previous—and completely
different—economic investigations performed by the authors,
we conclude that 4PLs do not appear as an unrealistic solution
for medium-length links. In this segment, and especially in the
range between 150 and 300 km, 4PLs could become com-
petitive also under the economic standpoint, featuring very good
performances compared with the 3PLs and DCLs.
As for double circuits, the present investigation demonstrates
that on the contrary, the combined ac–dc lines do not appear as a
competitive solution under a technical perspective. In fact, their
best loadability performances are obtained through a high dc
power/ac power ratio, so that they can be considered more sim-
ilar to 2 DCLs than to 2 3PLs. Nevertheless, AC-DCLs
can be operated close to their thermal limit only for relatively
short links—no longer than 200 km or a little more—that appear
unfeasible for economic reasons because of their complex ar-
rangement. In this regard, it should be pointed out that the tech-
nical comparisons among different OHLs, which have been per-
formed here in terms of loadability, have to be integrated with an
economic comparison among the various systems. This is par-
ticularly true for the 4PLs—an innovative and not yet realized
solution, whose economic feasibility is essential for postulating
a possible scope of convenience.
The present study also highlights a complement to the eco-
nomic comparison already performed by the authors in previous
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 29, NO. 2, APRIL 2014
papers, that was based on the hypothesis of equal power trans-
ported for all of the systems analyzed. Thus, the present inves-
tigation provides important feedback that the economical com-
parison must take into account. A merge between the present
loadability analysis and the previous economic investigations
performed by the authors will be the subject of a future and pos-
sibly conclusive work concerning the comparison between tra-
ditional and innovative power transmission systems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank M. Quaia for her valuable
contribution in reviewing the English language throughout the
two manuscripts.
REFERENCES
[1] G. Mazzanti and S. Quaia, “4-phase AC connections: An alternative
possibility for the expansion of transmission grids,” IEEE Trans.
Power Del., vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 1010–1018, Apr. 2010.
[2] H. Rahman and B. H. Khan, “Power upgrading of transmission line by
combining AC-DC transmission,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 22,
no. 1, pp. 459–466, Feb. 2007.
[3] R. D. Dunlop, R. Gutman, and P. P. Marchenko, “Analytical devel-
opment of loadability characteristics for EHV and UHV transmission
lines,” IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-98, no. 2, pp. 606–613,
Mar./Apr. 1979.
[4] A. Clerici, L. Paris, and P. Danfors, “HVDC conversion of HVAC line
to provide substantial power upgrading,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol.
6, no. 1, pp. 324–333, Jan. 1991.
Davide Lauria is a Professor in the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology,
University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy. His
main scientific interests include power system sta-
bility and control, electric transportation systems, and
power system reliability.
Giovanni Mazzanti (M’04) is Associate Professor of
HV Engineering and Power Quality with the Depart-
ment of Electrical Energy Engineering and Informa-
tion, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. His sci-
entific interests are the reliability of high-voltage in-
sulation, HVDC cable systems, magnetic fields from
power systems, and renewables.
Prof. Mazzanti is Chairman of the IEEE DEIS
Technical Committee “HVDC cable systems.”
Stefano Quaia joined the University of Trieste,
Trieste, Italy, in 1990, where he is Associate Pro-
fessor of Power Systems in the Department of
Engineering and Architecture. His main scientific
interests include power transmission, power system
restoration, power quality, dispersed generation,
renewable energy sources, electrical ship propulsion,
and cathodic protection.