MG5003 Engineering Communication

Introduction

The first high voltage direct current HVDC link connection was established in the early 1970s to link Haywards and Benmore. The system was developed to produce approximately 600 MW with over 500 kV transmission links supplying New Zealand’s North and South Islands (Inwumoh et al 2020). Benmore-Haywards HVDC Island electricity link was the longest and largest inter-island electricity connectivity in the world until 2009 when the Rio Madeira HVDC link was commissioned by ABB in Brazil. Auckland’s inter-island power connection was based on the submarine transmission line as one of the strategies to power islands and promote a 24-hour economy in all regions of New Zealand (Inwumoh, et al. 2021).  

Figure 1: Submarine HVDC link connection, Auckland (Inwumoh, et al. 2021)

For centuries, the power connectivity between Southern Island and the Northern Island had been a challenge, with the development and installation of the submarine transmission cables linking the South and the North, cheap and reliable electricity generated on Southern Island could easily be exported to the Northern Islands. Besides, lighting up the ever-dark Northern Island, the Benmore-Hayward HVDC project aided the integration of the New Zealand energy generation resources. Though the current country’s energy system utilized more advanced transmission systems and shifting to clean energy systems, the foundation of the rural electrification was founded by Latta Bill, who at the time was the Chief Engineer at State Hydro-Electric Department (Jackson, et al 2017).

Sustainability in Electricity Generation 

Following the world’s shift on the source of energy from fossil sources to renewable (clean) sources, the New Zealand Department of Electricity and Power Supply scheduled an upgrade program to face-lift and equip the submarine transmission cables to accommodate the supply of the geothermal, wind and hydro-power generated the South Island to the North Island (Cole & McCallion, 2018). The execution of the upgrade project has ever been the most efficient and satisfying infrastructural development witnessed in Auckland. The figure below shows sustainability in electricity generation in Australia and New Zealand

Figure 2: Sustainability of electricity generation systems (Inwumoh, et al. 2021)

Figure 3: Expansion of Clean energy of New Zealand since 2001-2019 (Inwumoh, et al. 2021)

Main components of LCC-HVDC Converter Stations 

1. DC and AC side filters
2. Converter transformers
3. AC/DC and DC/AC converters
4. STATCOM Reactive Power compensations system
5. DC connectors
6. Control System

Figure 4: HDVC power conversion station (Cole & McCallion, 2018)

New Zealand’s Electricity Generation System 

New Zealand is generally an isolated island country, thus makes its electricity generation and distribution landscape unique. By its geographical location, exportation or importation of electricity is near impossible, therefore it had to be self-reliant on power and electricity supply. In the early 1960s (Li et al 2020), the government heavily invested in energy infrastructures such as wind power plants, geothermal and hydroelectric dams among other power sources in the South Islands. Then in the 1960s, the North Islands remain kinda isolated with no power distribution and supply network (Cole & McCallion, 2018). High Voltage Direct Current HVDC link project was then launched for the first time to create the connection between two islands of New Zealand. Today, North Island is as bright as the South Island due to the reliable power connection between the two islands.

Figure 5: Typical schematic for electricity generation and distribution system (McCallion et al 2018)

Auckland’s Electricity Network 

Auckland is one of the economically vibrant towns in New Zealand and this is due to the secure and reliable electricity supply within the town. Though Aucklanders rely on the electricity generated in other parts of the country, their supply and connection network has been so effective and efficient, thanks to the government’s HVDC upgrade project. the supply in the Northern Islands is predominantly done by Transpower’s transmission network system. Electricity from South Island is transferred to the local HVDC transmission lines through exit points such as Penrose and Otahuhu substations. Since 2011, the HVDC link project has imparted substantial improvements to the country’s connection and transmission network, therefore this infrastructure investment is sustainable in providing adequate and reliable electricity supply between Benmore Island and Hayward Islands (Li et al 2018).

Securing Power Supply for the Future 

Design for sustainability has been at the center of almost all infrastructural developments initiated in Auckland, New Zealand. For instance, the Department of Electricity thrives to establish generation and supply schemes that positively impact the environment. Initially, the HVDC transmission system was based on hydroelectric power generated on waterfalls. Due to the fluctuation of climate conditions, that could see the region go for months without rainfall affected the power distribution to the two islands (McCallion et al 2018). While on the geotherm plants, the abrupt heavy storms affected the circulation of natural gas thus hindered the power generation from these sources. For instance, in 2017, large storms were experienced on the shores and it disrupted the flow of natural gas thus Taranaki geothermal plant could not generate power for days. When such a phenomenon disrupts natural power generations, coal or fossil fuel-powered generators are used as a contingency mechanism, the combustion of these fuels to generate electricity has adverse effects on climate and the environment (Stanojev et al 2019).

Figure 6: Taranaki geothermal plant (Li et al. 2020)

The supply and distribution of electricity in Auckland is influenced by the prevailing demand, therefore, the national grid must have sufficient demand to meet the country’s demand whenever there’s a need. To provided an uninterrupted power supply, the government has extended the upgrade of the HVDC systems to the North Island since it has the highest population (majority of New Zealanders (77%) reside in the North Island) (Tailor, & Ukil, 2019). The government is in the process of shutting down major production plants that consume high power ratings and are involved in activities that negatively impact the surrounding environment. This implies that the electricity produced through clean sources will be in surplus enough to meet the demand of Aucklanders from both Islands.

Application HVDC

1. Connecting two asynchronous alternating power systems with different frequencies
2. Submarine electricity transmission between two islands or mainland and island
3. Distribution of high voltage (bulk) electricity overextended (long) distance
4. Provision of ancillary power services through interconnectors

Figure 7: Modular multilevel converter 1) half-bridge submodule, 2) full-bridge submodule (Walker et al 2019)

Heritage Recognition of the project 

The completion of the first phase of the HVDC link project opened the inaccessible regions and transformed the quality of life in North Island as well as other islands that never had any form of electrical infrastructural network. It is the contribution to the transformation and betterment of the lives of the natives that gave the project national heritage recognition (Tailor, & Ukil, 2019). By 1990, the Benmore-Hayward Island electricity distribution was recognized as part of IPENZ Engineering's top projects. The high voltage direct current (HVDC) upgrade project is one of the most ambitious heavy infrastructural projects considered in Auckland and the world. The project cost was estimated to be $45million and the cost was a bit high since it incorporated modern aspects of electric power transmission systems (Webbe 2020).

Iwi, Kaitiakitanga and Mana Whenua 

The Māori notion is a common phrase in Auckland with a unique structural organization with main moral value embedded in environmental sustainability. For every infrastructural development project undertaken within the region, the Kaitiakitanga concept has to adhere. In a simple definition, Kaitiakitanga refers to guardianship or resource management. This implies that the natives take development projects seriously and therefore offer guardianship to the projects with the aim of environmental conservation (Webbe 2020).  In other words, Kaitiakitanga is an inclusive ethos used in maintaining a balance between people, surrounding environment, and spiritual as mana whenua uphold this mandate.

As mentioned earlier, Māori and kaitiakatanga concepts are vital in development projects in Auckland as it is the approval consent. As a custom, the initial stage of every infrastructural project in Auckland, Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE) must be undertaken with the involvement of the Iwi. This process is vital in that any aspect of a development plan that contravenes the kaitiakatanga concepts are scrutinized and an appropriate solution is devised for the sake of environmental protection.

Reason to engage Mana Whenua

1. To have a sufficient understanding of the history of the area
2. To fully involve the community in the development project
3. To avoid the possibility of litigations on contravention of communal laws
4. To help in the completion of the Assessment of Environment Effect (AEE) for the upgrade project

Proceed of Engagement 

Involving the kaitiaki in the HVDC upgrade project proved beneficial in the completion of the project. it brought an inept environment where stakeholders exchange ideas for the betterment of the community and environment sustainability. Electricity generation and its distribution have a differing impact on the environment, hence the sessions provided developers with the perfect understanding of the kaitiaki history and connection with the proposals, therefore, enhanced upgrade outcomes.

Conclusion 

Early inhabitants of the developing city of Auckland depended on hydropower as the main source of the electricity supply for domestic and economic operations. However, the Island areas such as Benmore and Hayward were disadvantaged for a long time since there was no established distribution system to connect them with power generated in the South Islands. In the early 1960s Latta Bill, who at the time was the Chief Engineer at State Hydro-Electric Department pioneered the construction of the HVDC submarine link project to connect the isolated islands. Following the advanced technological innovations and campaigns on environmental sustainability, the Department of Energy commissioned the infrastructural upgrade on the HVDC systems linking Benmore and Hayward Islands to improve power reliability and efficiency in these regions. The project was a success since the contractor fully engage and involve the Iwi of the kaitiaki community.  

References 

Cole, A. O., & McCallion, A. (2018). Community-based monitoring and the expression of kaitiakitanga: similarities and differences. Korero Māori report, 13.

Inwumoh, J., Baguley, C., & Gunawardane, K. Intelligent Fault Localization for Meshed HVDC Transmission Systems. In 2020 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference (AUPEC) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Inwumoh, J., Gunawardane, K., & Baguley, C. (2021, May). Impact of Superconducting Resistive-FCL on MMC-HVDC Fault. In 2021 IEEE 12th Energy Conversion Congress & Exposition-Asia (ECCE-Asia) (pp. 1088-1092). IEEE.

Jackson, A. M., Mita, N., & Hakopa, H. (2017). Hui-te-ana-nui: Understanding kaitiakitanga in our marine environment. The University of Otago.

Li, J., Yin, J., Guan, Y., Wang, Z., Niu, T., Zhen, H., ... & Guo, X. (2020). A Review on Topology, Operating and Control Methods of HVDC Transmission System for Offshore Wind Farms. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 165, p. 06012). EDP Sciences.

Li, Z., Zhan, R., Li, Y., He, Y., Hou, J., Zhao, X., & Zhang, X. P. (2018). Recent developments in HVDC transmission systems to support renewable energy integration. Global Energy Interconnection, 1(5), 595-607.

McCallion, A., Cole, A. O., Hardy, D., & Patterson, M. G. (2018). Enhancing the expression of kaitiakitanga with the aid of information technology and systems. Kōrero Māori report, 12.

Stanojev, O., Garrison, J., Hedtke, S., Franck, C. M., & Demiray, T. (2019, June). Benefit analysis of a hybrid HVAC/HVDC transmission line: a Swiss case study. In 2019 IEEE Milan PowerTech (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Tailor, K., & Ukil, A. (2019, December). Fault detection and locating using electromagnetic time reversal (EMTR) technique for HVDC transmission network. In 2019 IEEE PES Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference (APPEEC) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

Walker, E. T., Wehi, P. M., Nelson, N. J., Beggs, J. R., & Whaanga, H. (2019). Kaitiakitanga, place and the urban restoration agenda. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 43(3), 1-8.

Webber-Dreadon, E. (2020). Theoretical research: Kaitiakitanga: A transformation of supervision. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 32(3), 68-79.

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