MMC – Siemens 
InnoDC’s latest publications look at ways to improve conversion, control and blackstart, as well as explain InnoDC as a whole.
| Optimal current reference calculation for MMCs considering converter limitations, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. Authors: Daniel Westerman Spier, Eduardo Prieto-Araujo, Joaquim Lopez-Mestre and Oriol Gomis-Bellmunt. |
| Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) can be used to convert high voltage alternating current (AC) into high voltage direct current (DC), or vice-versa. Some European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) require the MMC to provide voltage support during AC network faults, but this risks the converter exceeding its limits. Daniel Westerman Spier, from Cinergia and UPC, advances an optimisation algorithm for the converters to support the voltage network. |
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Grid-forming control strategies for black start by offshore wind power plants, Wind Energy Science 2020. |
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One major plan for a low carbon economy is to boost renewable energy use. However, as traditional generators shut down, the grid becomes more complex to operate. This increases the risk of wide-area power outage (blackout) and the need for alternative energy sources to restore service (blackstart). Offshore wind is one leading candidate for this, but conventional grid-following control hinders its effectiveness, so it is essential to change the control philosophy. Anubhav Jain has developed a turbine grid-forming control that allows it to operate independent of the grid voltage – like a battery – while stably dealing with the transient energy demand. He presented preliminary results at the Wind Energy Science Conference (Cork, June 2019) and published the work in more detail in EAWE’s Wind Energy Science (2020) journal. He further analysed the offshore network and HVDC link start-up process, demonstrating that wind turbines can safely provide blackstart service in the future. See the video recording of his results presented in PROMOTiON Final Conference (online, Aug-Sept 2020), with more details accepted for publishing in IET’s Renewable Power Generation journal (2020) journal. |
| Want to know what all the InnoDC researchers are doing? Read their feature in the European Energy Innovation Autumn 2020 edition. |
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Stephen Hardy, Motaz Ayiad, Jovana Dakic, Davide Pinzan and Gayan Abeynayake provide an overview of the InnoDC project, illustrated by Anubhav Jain‘s graphic above right. |
We’ll be summarising more of the researchers’ publications in the next few weeks. In the meantime, you can find the full list on the website’s journals page.