Overview
IEC TR 63065:2017 - "Guidelines for operation and maintenance of line commutated converter (LCC) HVDC converter station" - is a technical report from the IEC that gives practical, experience‑based guidance for the safe and economical operation and maintenance of LCC HVDC converter stations (including back‑to‑back systems). It focuses on equipment and procedures inside the converter station (not on HVDC overhead lines, cables or VSC technology) and is intended as a reference for new and existing HVDC users to optimize O&M policy.
Key Topics and Requirements
The report compiles decades of field practice and covers these core technical areas:
- Operation policy and objectives
- Target reliability and availability, operation cost trade‑offs, and considerations for manned vs unmanned operation.
- Operation conditions and system limits
- Typical HVDC operation configurations, control modes and operation procedures.
- Equipment‑level operation
- Converter valves, converter transformers and oil‑immersed smoothing reactors, AC/DC breakers and switchgear, AC/DC filters, control and protection systems, DC measurement instruments, valve cooling and auxiliary power.
- Maintenance strategies
- Corrective maintenance, time‑based maintenance (TBM), condition‑based maintenance (CBM), reliability‑centred maintenance (RCM) and preparation of maintenance programmes.
- Outage and in‑service maintenance
- Routine checks during operation and detailed maintenance actions under outage for valves, transformers, breakers, filters, DC measurements, cooling systems and arresters.
- Fault analysis, troubleshooting and training
- System disturbance analysis, station fault diagnosis, event interpretation, supplier engagement, and operator/maintenance training programs.
- Spare parts, tools and documentation
- Recommended spare parts policy, required tools and documentation responsibilities (supplier vs operator) and statistical analysis of station performance.
Note: IEC TR 63065 is a guidance document; specific contractual or supplier requirements may supersede its recommendations.
Practical Applications and Who Should Use It
This technical report is useful for:
- HVDC asset owners and transmission operators planning O&M policies or preparing operational procedures.
- Station operators and maintenance engineers needing structured checklists, maintenance philosophies (TBM/CBM/RCM) and troubleshooting guidance.
- Project managers and procurers drafting technical requirements for LCC converter stations and preparing handover documentation.
- Training coordinators designing operator and maintenance training curricula based on field‑proven practices.
- HVDC equipment suppliers as a reference for aligning documentation and service offers with industry practice.
Related Standards
- IEC 60633 - Terminology for high‑voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission.
- IEC 60919 - Performance of HVDC systems with line‑commutated converters.
Keywords: IEC TR 63065, LCC HVDC, operation and maintenance, HVDC converter station, line commutated converter, O&M guidelines, HVDC operation, maintenance strategies.