System Aspects of 1100kV AC Transmission Technologies in Japan:

Solutions for Network Problems Specific to UHV AC Transmission System

and Insulation Coordination



Eiichi Zaima Takatoshi Shindo Masaru Ishii
TEPCO CRIEPI University of Tokyo
(Japan)




SUMMARY
For development of a UHV transmission system, sophisticated system design is indispensable to deal
with increased charging MVA and higher transmission voltage. Furthermore, for realization of
technical and economical optimization throughout the design of the transmission line and the
substation, solutions for network problems specific to UHV AC transmission system and problems
with insulation coordination were sought in Japan. They include secondary arc extinction, fast multi-
phase reclosing systems employing HSGS (High Speed Grounding Switches) and overvoltage control
by the use of surge arresters and circuit breakers with closing/opening resistors. These sophisticated
technologies realize highly reliable and economical 1100kV substations and transmission lines. This
paper describes the system aspects of 1100kV AC transmission technologies as well as experimental
results of air insulation and secondary arc extinction.
KEYWORDS
Ultra high voltage (UHV), 1100kV, System design, Insulation coordination, TOV, Zero offset, Fast
multi-phase reclosing, Secondary arc, HSGS, Switching overvoltage, Closing/opening resistors, Surge
arrester, LIWV, SIWV, Power frequency test



IEC/CIGRE UHV Symposium Beijing 18-21 July 2007

2-1-2
1

1. Introduction
TEPCO has made efforts to expand the 550kV
network since the mid-1970s, but it is very difficult to
secure multiple power transmission routes in Japan.
Furthermore, countermeasures for short circuit
capacity problems were also required by the increase
of 550kV transmission lines. For the abovementioned
reasons, it was decided to construct 1100kV
transmission lines with a capability of 3 to 4 times
greater than that of 550kV transmission lines [1][2].
TEPCO constructed 430km-long 1100kV-designed
transmission lines by 1999 as shown in Fig. 1, which
are now operated at 550kV. For future 1100kV
upgrading, field testing of substation equipment
has been carried out for more than ten years with
no major troubles [3].
2. Solutions for Network Problems Specific to
UHV AC Transmission System and Insulation
Coordination
2.1 System Design and Solutions for Network Problems and Technology on 1100kV
Transmission System
Economical and highly reliable
transmission lines and substations
that include environmental
consideration are essential in the
1100kV system. For realization of a
1100kV transmission system,
sophisticated system design
technology is necessary to deal with
phenomena arising from higher
voltage, larger charging MVA, and
smaller line resistance that is
specific to 1100kV systems,. Fig. 2
shows the basic concept of system
design on a TEPCO 1100kV system
[3][4].
Solutions for network problems and
technology such as temporary overvoltage (TOV), resonance overvoltage, long time constant of the
DC component in the fault current, including zero-offset phenomena, and transient recovery voltage
(TRV) have been sought. In particular, secondary arc extinction and fast multi-phase reclosing
systems employing High Speed Grounding Switches (HSGS) are very important subjects of research.
2.2 Insulation Coordination based on High Performance Surge Arrester
For economical insulation design of transmission lines and substations, overvoltages generated in the
system must be suppressed to a reasonable level. Fig. 3 shows the newly established system of
insulation coordination on a TEPCO 1100kV system [4][5][6][7].
Overvoltage on transmission lines and in substations can be effectively controlled by newly developed
high performance surge arresters. This metal oxide surge arrester (MOA) is a key technology for
1100kV insulation coordination. As shown in Fig. 4, it has excellent protection characteristics with a

Pacific Ocean
Sea of Japan
Tokyo
o
Fig. 1 1100kV transmission routes of TEPCO
Fig. 2 System design on UHV system
High voltage High voltage
Large charging MVA Large charging MVA
Unbalanced phase current Unbalanced phase current
Small line resistance Small line resistance
High reliability High reliability
Economical efficiency Economical efficiency
Environment Environment
Technical issues in UHV system Technical issues in UHV system Requirements Requirements
Corresponding solutions and technologies Corresponding solutions and technologies
Solutions for network problems and technology Solutions for network problems and technology
Insulation coordination Insulation coordination
Transmission line and substation design Transmission line and substation design

2

residual voltage of 1620kV (1.80 p.u.) at 20kA (V
20kA
), flatter V-I characteristics than conventional
arresters, longer life under high-voltage stress, and higher discharging capability.
Switching overvoltages on transmission lines are suppressed as low as possible because the
predominant factor to determine the size of a tower is the switching overvoltage. Closing and opening
overvoltages are suppressed to the level of the ground-fault overvoltage, which can not be effectively
controlled.
2.3 Transmission Line and Substation Design
TEPCO designed the 1100kV transmission line and substation in consideration of solutions for
network problems and insulation coordination for a UHV system as mentioned above.
Reduced right-of-way for large-capacity transmission is realized by a self-supporting double-circuit
tower and rationalized tower design [8]. Moreover, mitigation of environmental impact, such as EMF
and corona noise, was studied.

For substations, highly reliable and compact equipment, such as 1100kV GIS and transformers, were
developed [9][10].
3. Solutions for Network Problems Specific to UHV AC Transmission System
3.1 Problem with Large Charging MVA and Countermeasures
(1) Temporary Overvoltage (TOV)
Since a UHV system is looped with the
existing EHV grid, load rejection of the UHV
is exceedingly rare. However, because it will
generate high TOV with high energy, a
scenario is taken into account, in which a
UHV system with several generators is
isolated from the EHV grid due to double-
circuit faults and successive malfunction of
the special protection scheme for tripping
generators. The maximum value of TOV at
load rejections in this case is about 1.5 p.u.
and its waveform is trapezoid as shown in Fig.
5. The energy absorption by a surge arrester is so high that the energy rating of an arrester is specified
as 55MJ and above.
The overvoltage protection relay system to open a no-load 1100kV transmission line concerned will be
applied to protect surge arresters if necessary, so that their energy absorption does not exceed the
550kVMOA
1100kVMOA
mA 10kA 20kA
Higher Voltage
Stress
Flatter V-I
Characteristics
1620kV
(1.8pu)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
Current
Fig. 4 V-I characteristics of UHV high
performance surge arrester
Fig. 3 UHV insulation coordination system
O
v
e
r
v
o
l
t
a
g
e
Fig. 5 Example of analyzed temporary
overvoltage
(1 p.u.=1100kV2/3)
Practical application of high performance
metal oxide surge arrester
Reliable circuit breaker with
closing/opening resistance
GIS: 2250kV
Transformer: 1950kV
LIWV (Substation)
1.5pu
TOV
1.61.7pu
Switching Overvoltage
(Transmission line)
3

energy limit.
The maximum TOV values for ground faults are about 1.15 p.u. on transmission lines and about 1.1
p.u. at substations.
(2) Resonance overvoltage
When shunt reactors are connected directly to
the lines to compensate the charging MVA of
UHV transmission lines, the capacitance of the
line and shunt reactors will be in a resonant state
to some degree and resonance overvoltage will
be generated in the opening phase. As a result, it
is necessary to calculate the relation of the
compensation rate of reactors and overvoltage.
The compensation rate is selected to avoid
resonance.
Various cases of resonance on a double-circuit
line need to be considered in contrast to the case
of a transposed single-circuit line, where only
one case of the single-phase open (1LO)
condition needs to be analyzed. As for a double-
circuit line, 1LO, 2LO, , and 5LO should be
studied taking account of circuit breaker
malfunction and/or de-enerization of one circuit.
Fig. 6 is a simple example of resonant
overvoltage. The waveform is the sum of the
induction from the sound phases and the L-C
resonance. Because their frequencies are close
to each other, a beat is observed.
On TEPCO UHV lines, this kind of resonant
overvoltage does not occur because line lengths
are relatively short and shunt reactors are not
installed.
(3) Time constant of DC component and Zero offset phenomenon
In TEPCOs UHV system, the time constant of the transient DC component is longer and its
magnitude is larger than in lower voltage systems because of large charging MVA, multi-bundle
conductors with small resistance, and the closeness to power sources.
An eight-conductor phase wire was introduced to
suppress partial discharge on the transmission line
to a low level. Since it lowered line resistance and
with the low-resistance, large-capacity power
source, it increased the time constant of the DC
component in the short-circuit current to longer
than the 45ms, the IEC Standard value. TEPCO
chose 150ms for the specification value.
In a UHV system, the zero-offset phenomenon
more easily occurs than at lower voltage systems
because of the large charging MVA and the small
line resistance. This means that the fault current
may not cross zero within several cycles, and the
occurrence of this phenomenon may cause damage
to circuit breakers and influence the performance of
Fault current interruption domain
Zero offset
C
u
r
r
e
n
t


(
A
)
Time (ms)
Fig. 7 Example of current waveform during
zero offset phenomenon
(file ShR1.pl4; x- var t ) v:END2B
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
[s]
- 1.5
- 1.0
- 0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
[MV]
Circuit is disconnected
1.47pu
(action area of surge arrester)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
Time
Faulted
Phase
Sound
Phase
Sound
Phase
Faulted
Phase
Reactor fixed to the
lines directly
Fig. 6 Generation of UHV resonant overvoltages

1.47pu
4

the power system (Fig. 7).
This phenomenon is most likely to occur at 2LS, whose frequency of occurrence is higher in a double-
circuit line than in a single-circuit line. In the TEPCO UHV system, analysis proved that the zero-
offset phenomenon does not occur. The effective breaking time of a circuit breaker is specified to be
20ms (one-cycle) as the backup. A circuit breaker is also required to clear the fault current even if
lightning multiple-stroke currents invade it.
(4) Transient recovery voltage (TRV)
Generally speaking, TRV for a UHV circuit breaker has the following features, compared with the one
for lower voltages. As X
0
/X
1
ratio is low in UHV system, the first pole to clear factor decrease. In
addition, di/dt at current zeros increases due to the transient and high frequency components in the
fault current.
In TEPCOs system, the peak value of TRV is
suppressed by the application of surge arresters,
and both the initial rising rate and the peak value
are reduced by the application of opening
resistor of the circuit breakers. Therefore, TRV
specifications for an 1100kV circuit breaker in
TEPCO are less severe than the extrapolated
values of the existing standards up to 800kV.
3.2 Reclosing Scheme and Secondary Arc
Extinction [11]
(1) Secondary arc extinction
A fast multi-phase reclosing system should be
employed to avoid loss of a double-circuit line.
However, because of the large charging MVA of
a UHV line, the electrostatic induction from
sound phases may keep the secondary arc for a
long time. As a result, the reclosing one-second
later may not be possible.
Thus, the duration of the secondary arc in
different fault conditions on six phases of a
double-circuit line was evaluated, and a
reclosing system within one-second was
developed. HSGS is adopted by TEPCO.
With the connection of four-legged shunt
reactors, reclosing within one-second is
hard to realize for all the cases of faults of
double-circuit lines.
(2) HSGS
Full size tests were carried out by CRIEPI
to study insulation recovery
characteristics of UHV transmission lines
[12]. Fig. 8 shows that the insulation
strengths of long air gaps recover within
one-second to withstand switching
overvoltages (1.6 p.u.) which can be
generated by the reclosing operation of a
circuit breaker. The time sequence of
HSGS operation of is shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 8 Insulation recovery characteristics against
switching impulse after arc interruption
Transmission fault occurs
Clear the faulted phase
HSGS at each end
close to clear the
secondary arc
HSGS at each end open
Circuit breakers reclose
0.07sec
0.27sec
0.8sec
1sec
HSGS
primary arc
secondary arc
Clear secondary arc
CB
0sec
HSGS
Fig. 9 Fast reclosing using High Speed Grounding
Switches (HSGS)
5

4. Insulation Coordination
4.1 Insulation Design for Transmission Line
(1) Switching overvoltage and its suppression
To reduce the construction cost of an 1100kV system, it is important to design transmission towers to
be more compact. The predominant factors that determine the size of towers are the switching
overvoltages generated in the system that include closing, opening, and ground fault overvoltages. The
level of these switching overvoltages must be suppressed as low as possible.
Among these overvoltages, ground fault overvoltages are generated independently of circuit breaker
switching, and generally, there are no effective means of controlling them, except those near
substations that can be reduced by surge arresters (Fig. 10). In contrast, closing and opening
overvoltages can be controlled effectively by the insertion of closing and opening resistors (Fig. 11).
TEPCO decided to control these overvoltages below the ground fault overvoltage level by employing
the closing/opening resistor (700).
(2) Insulation design level for 1100kV tower
From the results of overvoltage analysis, the insulation design levels for switching overvoltage (basic
for air clearance design) were determined as 1.6 p.u. (2.6 p.u. between phases) for the shorter north-
south route of the UHV system (about 140 km) and 1.7 p.u. (2.8 p.u. between phases) for the longer
east-west route (about 200 km).
Now, the conventional level of overvoltages to ground, 2.0 p.u. in 550kV systems, was reduced to 1.6-
Transmission line
constructed this time
Transmission line
constructed this time
Expecting the application of 550kV
technology
Fig. 13 Size reduction of 1100kV tower
Fig. 12 Air insulation characteristics of UHV
transmission lines for switching impulse [13]
Fig. 11 Gas circuit breaker with opening
and closing resistors
UN Higashi
Gunma
1.0
1.8
1.5
Minami
Iwaki
Nishi
Gunma
Nishi
Gunma
O
v
e
r
v
o
l
t
a
g
e
[
p
u
]
UN Higashi
Gunma
1.0
1.8
1.5
Minami
Iwaki
Nishi
Gunma
Nishi
Gunma
Higashi
Yamanashi
O
v
e
r
v
o
l
t
a
g
e
[
p
u
]
Ground fault overvoltages near substations
can be suppressed by surge arresters
49km 138km 44km 194km
Fig. 10 Calculated ground fault overvoltage
profile
6

1.7 p.u. and insulation characteristics of long air gaps for switching overvoltage were obtained in full-
scale testing by CRIEPI as shown in Fig. 12 [13]. This reduced the distance between the line and the
tower, conventionally 9m or more is necessary, to only about 6m. The gap length of an arc horn,
which is generally installed on TEPCOs transmission lines, was designed to be 6.3m at a suspension
tower and 5.9m at a tension tower.
Employing this insulation design reduces the tower height, which would be 143m by conventional
550kV techniques, to 110m as shown in Fig. 13 [8].
4.2 Substation Insulation Design
(1) Lightning overvoltage and its suppression
For the insulation design of substation equipment,
the predominant overvoltage is lightning
overvoltage. For lightning overvoltages, it was
decided to install high performance surge arresters
at adequate locations to suppress overvoltages
within a rational level. Generally, by installing
more surge arresters, the level of lightning
overvoltage decreases, resulting in the cost
reduction of substation equipment. However, at
the same time, the cost for surge arresters
increases. A review of these costs determined the
arrangement and number of surge arresters and
lightning impulse withstand voltage level.
Fig. 14 shows the overvoltage waveforms
generated in the GIS under the severe analysis
circuit condition of the entrance circuit breaker
opened. It has peaks with such a steep front and
such a damp tail that when evaluating them as the standard waveforms of withstand voltages,
insulation characteristics are taken into consideration. [6]
(2) Disconnector overvoltage and its suppression
The GIS disconnector, when switching a charging current, repeats restriking and generates a very fast
transient overvoltage (VFTO). At a UHV substation, lightning overvoltages are effectively suppressed
by high performance surge arresters. Disconnector overvoltages are likely to exceed the lightning
overvoltage if no measures are taken to control them. Therefore, the resistor insertion (500) is
employed to suppress the VFTO.
(3) Lightning impulse withstand voltage (LIWV)
On the basis of analyzed lightning
overvoltage under severe circuit
conditions, appropriate LIWV levels
were evaluated for different installation
schemes of surge arresters. Table 1
shows that case 6 is economically most
favorable, which has two surge arresters
per circuit at the line entrance, two per
quarter bus, and one per bank of
transformers installed and employs the
following LIWV levels.
- 1950kV for transformers
- 2250kV for GIS
Table 1 Relationship between LIWV and Cost
Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6
Line entrance 1 1 1 2 2 2
Bus 0 1 2 0 1 2
Transformer 1 1 1 1 1 1
Required withstand
voltage (kV)
1950 1943 1895 1943 1938 1896
LIWV(kV) 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950
Required withstand
voltage (kV)
2898 2854 2703 2628 2506 2208
LIWV(kV) 2900 2900 2900 2700 2550 2250
Cost (100 for case 6) 102 105 109 103 103 100
No. of
surge
arresters
Trans-
former
GIS
Fig. 14 Steep overvoltage waveforms
generated in the GIS
7

(4) Switching impulse withstand voltage (SIWV)
From the analysis results and equipment insulation characteristics, SIWV were determined as follows.
- 1425kV for transformers
- 1550kV for GIS
It is estimated that these withstand voltage levels are also economically acceptable, because insulation
component is basically determined by the withstand voltage values for lightning impulse or power
frequency test voltages described later.
(5) Power frequency test voltage for substation equipment
UHV power frequency test voltages were decided based on partial discharge tests (Long-duration
tests) as shown in Fig. 15. This test is not only aimed to confirm dielectric strengths, but also to
verify strengths by inspecting whether or not partial discharges are generated as precursors of
dielectric breakdowns. The test voltages are the combination of a short-duration section for verifying
dielectric strengths to temporary overvoltages at one-line ground faults and load rejections, and a long-
duration section for assuring long-term strengths to operating voltages.
Power frequency test voltages for UHV equipment were determined as follows.
[Transformer] 1.5 p.u. 1h + 3 p.u. 5min + 1.5 p.u. 1h
[GIS] 1.5 p.u. 30min + 3 p.u. 1min + 1.5 p.u. 30min

5. Conclusion
In this paper, the authors introduced the system design and insulation coordination for the UHV AC
transmission system of Japan. The UHV system is the key-technology to realize long-distance and
large-capacity electric power transmission with high reliability and economical efficiency.
1100kV-designed transmission lines have been successfully constructed and operated at 550kV since
1993. For the future upgrade to 1100kV, a field test of substation equipment has been carried out for
more than ten years with no major troubles, as shown in Fig. 16 [9]. From the system aspects, the
specifications of 1100kV system in TEPCO are summarized in Table 2.



V
1
V
3
V
2
t
1
t
2
t
3
Long-
durati on
section
Long-
durati on
section
Short-
durati on
section
Fig. 15 Pattern of 1100kV power frequency
test voltage
1 p.u. = 1100kV/3
Fig. 16 Overview of 1100kV substation
equipment field test site
8

Table 2 Specifications of 1100kV System in TEPCO

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] CIGRE WG38.04, Ultra High Voltage Technology, 1994
[2] CIGRE WG38.04, Electric Power Transmission at Voltages of 1000kV AC or 600kV DC and
above Network problems and solutions peculiar to UHV AC Transmission, 1988
[3] A. Nakamura, et al., 1100kV AC Transmission Project in Japan, International Symposium on
International Standards for Ultra High Voltage, 2007
[4] Y. Ichida, et al., Latest development in the Japanese 1000kV Transmission Technology, CIGRE
Paper 38-04, 1988
[5] E. Zaima, et al., System Design and Insulation Coordination for UHV AC Transmission System
in TEPCO, International Conference of UHV Transmission Technology, 2006
[6] I. Miyachi, et al., Insulation Coordination for UHV SF6-Insulated Installation and Transmission
Lines by Application of High Performance Metal Oxide Surge Arrester, CIGRE Paper 33-03, 1984
[7] T. Watanabe, et al., Insulation Coordination for UHV System, CIGRE paper 33-101, 1998
[8] T. Takebe et al., Insulation Design for UHV Transmission Line in TEPCO, ISH 2005
[9] Y. Yamagata et al., Development and Field Test of 1000kV 3000MVA Transformer, CIGRE
Paper 12-303, 1998
[10] Y. Yamagata et al., Development of 1100kV GIS -Gas Circuit Breaker, Disconnectors, and
High-speed Grounding Switches-, CIGRE Paper 13-304, 1996
[11] Y. Sekine, et al., Asymmetrical Four-legged Reactor Extinguishing Secondary Arc Current for
High-Speed Reclosing on UHV System, CIGRE paper 38-03, 1984
[12] Y. Goda, et al., Insulation Recovery Time after Fault Arc interruption for Rapid Auto-Reclosing
on UHV Transmission Lines, IEEE Transmission on Power Delivery, Vol.10, No.2, 1995
[13] K. Miyake et al., Effects of Parameters on the Phase-to-phase Flashover Characteristics of UHV
Transmission Lines, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.3, No.4, pp.1285-1291, 1987
Item Specification
Highest Voltage 1100kV
Reclosing Scheme Multi-phase Reclosing System by HSGS
Insulation Coordination
Transmission
Line
Switching Insulation
Level
1.6 - 1.7 p.u. (phase to ground)
2.6 - 2.8 p.u. (phase to phase)
LIWV 1950kV (Transformer) 2250kV (GIS)
SIWV 1425kV (Transformer) 1550kV (GIS)
Substation
Equipment
Power Frequency Test
Voltage
1.5 p.u. 1h + 3 p.u. 5min + 1.5 p.u. 1h
(Transformer)
1.5 p.u. 30min + 3 p.u. 1min + 1.5 p.u.
30min (GIS)
Equipment Specification from System Aspect
Residual Voltage V
20kA
=1620kA (1.8 p.u.)
Surge
Arrester
Energy Capability 55MJ and above
Closing/Opening Resistor 700
Gas Circuit
Breaker
Time Constant of DC
Component
150ms
Disconnector
Overvoltage Suppression
Resistor
500