Introduction
This third edition comprises 23 chapters covering high-voltage engineering and testing themes – with many valuable references describing CIGRE work. Table 1 is set out at the end of this introduction to assist in understanding the range and scope of individual CIGRE Study Committees (SCs) and associated terminology, while Table 2 provides an abridged summary of recent strategic work in the transformer sector by CIGRE (SC A2), which we will return to later.
Chapter 1 provides an authoritative coverage of ‘Electric power transmission and distribution systems’ by Dr Arslan Erinmez. In this, ‘The progressive devel�opment from 1880s to date is described mainly with reference to the UK system, as most systems around the world have gone through the same stages of development at and around the same time following technological, political and organisational developments which reflected the trends current at the time’. Global developments are also reviewed together with several key factors, for example technical, orga�nisational structures that heavily influence the development and operation of thesenetworks. Design, security and operational and planning aspects are also con�sidered.
Future developments and challenges: organisational, security, technical and technological are discussed, including a large detailed list of conventional and non conventional power electronic thyristor-controlled voltage regulators and other devices (also touched on in Chapters 4, 5 and briefly in Chapter 23 – relating to use with offshore-wind farms). The author also points out that ‘although three phase overhead lines is still the usual method of interconnection, in cases where long transmission distances and/or sea crossings are involved, HVDC transmission is economic despite the relatively higher costs of converter and terminal equipment’.
Erinmez comments on HVDC transmission that is also used for inter�connecting utilities with different supply frequencies (e.g. 50/60 Hz) and in cases where an asynchronous link between systems is required. ‘Back-to-back’ HVDC interconnections have also been used with both ‘converter stations’ situated in the same site. Erinmez (Chapter 1) also reports that the rapid development of com�puting and communication systems has accelerated development strategies often referred to as the so-called ‘smart-grid initiatives’.1
