KEMA Labs recently participated in Cable-Tech 2024 on 13th and 14th June in Bangalore and presented groundbreaking findings from their pioneering test on a 525 kV direct current (DC) cable system. The test focused on evaluating the system’s resilience to transient overvoltages (TOV) that can occur during faults or switching events in the DC grid. Commissioned by a Transmission Service Operator (TSO), the comprehensive assessment included outdoor terminations, joints, and the DC cable itself.
Conducted in KEMA Labs’ dedicated test hall, the experiment utilized advanced setups capable of generating various TOV waveforms, such as zero-crossing damped TOV, very slow-front TOV, and fast-front TOV, each characterized by different peak levels and timings. Results demonstrated the cable system’s robustness under TOV stresses, showing no signs of failure or degradation. The test setup consistently produced accurate waveforms, validated further by numerical simulations that affirmed the reliability of the methodology.
This achievement underscores KEMA Labs’ leadership in TOV testing for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable systems, an emerging field not yet standardized by existing protocols. Alongside sharing these findings, KEMA Labs proposed recommendations for the future standardization of TOV testing, addressing critical aspects and limitations identified during the study.
The presentation of these innovative TOV testing results at Cable-Tech 2024 highlighted KEMA Labs’ important role in advancing HVDC cable system testing and standardization. Industry experts recognized the test’s significance in ensuring the resilience and reliability of future high-voltage DC transmission networks. Their pioneering approach received acclaim from attendees who expressed strong interest in integrating these insights into upcoming industry standards, signaling a significant stride toward enhancing safety and performance benchmarks for next-generation energy infrastructures globally.
