Publications
408 results found
Sheehan C, Green T, 2023, Kenya Charging Forward: A brief assessment of Kenya’s e-mobility policy landscape and proposed changes, Publisher: Energy Futures Lab
Zhu Y, Yifan Z, Green T, 2023, Injection Amplitude Guidance for Impedance Measurement in Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, ISSN: 0885-8993
Zhu Y, Zhang Y, Green T, 2023, Injection Amplitude Guidance for Impedance Measurement in Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, ISSN: 0885-8993
Collins C, Clemow P, Green T, 2022, Experimental study on the influence of MMC control design on the propagation of AC grid-unbalance to a DC network, IET International Conference on AC and DC Power Transmission, Publisher: IET
The Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) has become the leading technology for delivering High Voltage DC (HVDC) power transmission, due to its scalability, harmonic quality and ability to ride through AC network faults. However, unbalanced AC-Grid conditions create harmonics at twice the fundamental AC-Grid frequency that can propagate to the DC-side as a result of the unbalance in the arm energy. These harmonics may risk excitation of network resonances as well as the maloperation of connected assets, and thus control action is needed to suppress such harmonics. Several different control solutions have been proposed in the literature and the aim of this paper is to provide a comparison of the performance of a sample of these techniques on a 1.2 kV/12 kVA lab-scale MMC demonstrator and cable emulator under unbalanced AC-Grid conditions. The sample of control methods chosen showcases a range of design complexity from basic direct modulation techniques with no DC current control to advanced energy based controllers. Experimental testing of these controllers under the same test condition not only validates the operation of each individual controller but also allows like-for-like comparison of their relative performance. It was found that the controllers tested were capable of significantly suppressing double line-frequency components on the DC -bus compared to the base case, however the more complex controllers had the additional benefit of being able to tune the transient response.
Ducoin E, Gu Y, Chaudhuri B, et al., 2022, Swing equation modelling of GFL inverter and comparison of its damping and inertia with GFM inverter, The 19th International Conference on AC and DC Power Transmission, Publisher: IET
The increasing integration of inverter-based renewable generation into the network as Grid-Following inverters (GFL), combined with the reduction in traditional Synchronous Generation (SG) leads to a reduction in inertia and to instabilities. To alleviate this, researchers have proposed using a mix of GFL and Grid-Forming controllers (GFM). However, there is a lack of simple system-wide analytical models. This paper proposes a swing equation to describe the transient frequency response of GFL that has droop regulation of real and reactive power. The swing equation for GFL with droop has an inertia and a damping term as do SG and GFM swing equations. Simulations show that the use of swing equations for GFM and GFL is accurate to study the transient frequency stability following a loss of infeed. GFM and GFL damping are equivalent, and their sum allows prediction of frequency deviation. However, although SG and GFM inertia terms limit the initial Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF), the GFL inertia term is found not to contribute towards limitation of the initial RoCoF. Instead, the GFL RoCoF isseen to follow adjacent GFM RoCoF and worsens slightly when the GFL Phase Locked Loop (PLL) bandwidth is reduced.
Fan S, Xiang X, Li C, et al., 2022, Coprime polynomial based dual-circulant modulation for inherent submodule voltage balancing in MMDC, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, ISSN: 0278-0046
The modular multilevel dc-dc converters (MMDCs) have attracted much interest in medium voltage dc applications, but have to face the main issue of balancing submodule (SM) capacitor voltages. This paper proposes a dual-circulant modulation and proves it possessing the inherent balancing capability for arbitrary operation cases. High-speed communication for real-time sensor data transfer could be avoided, which reduces implementation costs and also enhances the system reliability. Two sets of circular switching patterns are preset and combined to complete the full constrains on SM voltages. The associated polynomial of circulant matrix is introduced and the coprime of polynomials demonstrates the full-rank feature of the extended switching matrix that promises the inherent balancing for any operation cases. Then the switching patterns are reallocated and optimized to keep the SM uniformity and reduce the capacitor voltage ripple at the same time. Full-scale simulations on MMDC models and down-scaled experiments on prototypes are both presented, which validates the inherent voltage balancing capability and the optimization of SM capacitor voltage ripple with the proposed dual-circulant modulation.
Bravo P, Pereda J, Merlin M, et al., 2022, Modular multilevel matrix converter as solid state transformer for medium and high voltage substations, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol: 37, Pages: 5033-5043, ISSN: 0885-8977
The use of power converters as solid state transformer is an attractive solution to modernize the power network, but this solution has not been fully addressed for MV and HV substations. This paper presents a customized and simple control for the Modular Multilevel Matrix Converter (M3C), specially conceived for its operation on synchronous ports, which is the case of AC substations. The control allows to transfer bidirectional active power, generate/absorb reactive power and provide ancillary services. The converter is compared to the back-to-back Modular Multilevel Converter (B2B-MMC) where the key performance indicators to carry out the comparison are power efficiency, number of semiconductor devices, passive components required, footprint, voltage cell balance, fault blocking capability and stress of components. The simulation results show the features, performance and attractiveness of the M3C topology in a 33/11 kV, 16 MW substation under different operating conditions, including grid faults and dynamic operation. The M3C presents similar efficiency and performance than the B2B-MMC, but it uses less semiconductor devices, passive components and total cell capacitor energy than the B2B-MMC, reducing cost and footprint. The experimental results show the performance of the M3C under less ideal conditions including a substation transformer saturation and power step response.
Li Y, Gu Y, Green T, 2022, Revisiting grid-forming and grid-following inverters: a duality theory, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol: 37, Pages: 4541-4554, ISSN: 0885-8950
Power electronic converters for integrating renewable energy resources into power systems can be divided into grid-forming and grid-following inverters. They possess certain similarities, but several important differences, which means that the relationship between them is quite subtle and sometimes obscure. In this article, a new perspective based on duality is proposed to create new insights. It successfully unifies the grid interfacing and synchronization characteristics of the two inverter types in a symmetric, elegant, and technology-neutral form. Analysis shows that the grid-forming and grid-following inverters are duals of each other in several ways including a) synchronization controllers: frequency droop control and phase-locked loop (PLL); b) grid-interfacing characteristics: current-following voltage-forming and voltage-following current-forming; c) swing characteristics: current-angle swing and voltage-angle swing; d) inner-loop controllers: output impedance shaping and output admittance shaping; and e) grid strength compatibility: strong-grid instability and weak-grid instability. The swing equations are also derived in dual form, which reveal the dynamic interaction between the grid strength, the synchronization controllers, and the inner-loop controllers. Insights are generated into cases of poor stability in both small-signal and transient/large-signal. The theoretical analysis and simulation results are used to illustrate cases for single-inverter systems, two-inverter systems, and multi-inverter networks.
Li Y, Gu Y, Green T, 2022, Mapping of dynamics between mechanical and electrical ports in SG-IBR composite grids, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol: 37, Pages: 3423-3433, ISSN: 0885-8950
Power grids are traditionally dominated by synchronous generators (SGs) but are currently undergoing a major transformation due to the increasing integration of inverter-based resources (IBRs). The state space method with transparent apparatus models can be readily used. However, models of IBRs are usually not disclosed by manufacturers. Alternatively, the port-based approach represents dynamics by input-output transfer functions without exposing internal states. These transfer functions at various ports are normally configured with a particular focus: an SG-dominated grid is traditionally analyzed in a mechanical-centric view which ignores fast electrical dynamics and focuses on the torque-speed dynamics, whereas the emergent IBR-dominated grid usually takes an electrical-centric view which focuses on the voltage-current interaction. In this article, a new perspective called the port-mapping method is proposed to combine these two views. Specifically, the mechanical dynamics are mapped to the electrical impedance seen at the electrical port; and the electrical dynamics are also mapped to the torque coefficient seen at the mechanical port. The bidirectional mapping gives additional flexibility and insights to analyze the sub-system interactions in whole-system dynamics and guide the tuning of parameters. Application of the proposed method is illustrated in three cases with increasing scales.
Li Y, Hadjileonidas A, Green TC, 2022, Comparative analysis of transient stability of grid-forming and grid-following inverters, The 3rd IEEE International Power Electronics and Application Conference
The increasing dominance of renewable energy sources in the modern power grids, leads to the installation of powerelectronic inverters as they are required to interface these DC and variable frequency sources to the grid. These inverters can provideadditional flexibility to the control of the power grid and are distinguished into grid-forming (GFM) and grid-following (GFL) types.However, their complex control structures give rise to new threats to system’s stability. This article investigates the transient stabilityof these two inverter types. They are studied when connected to an infinite bus and subject to large disturbances, such as three-phasefaults or line disconnections. This investigation begins with an analysis of the various inverter configurations and proceeds to derivethe systems’ swing equations. The analysis is validated using time-domain simulations and stability is studied for a range of operatingconditions and control settings. It is revealed that GFM inverters suffer greater impacts from faults in strong grid conditions whichcontrasts to GFL which suffer large impacts from faults in weak grid conditions. Furthermore, it is shown that the inverters’ virtualinertia and damping coefficients play an important role to their transient stability and ability to ride-through faults.Keywords — GFM, GFL, synchronization, transient stability
Singh N, Collins C, Green T, 2022, Fast fault current VIA statcom with electronic tap-changer, IET Developments in Power System Protection (DPSP 2022), Publisher: Institution of Engineering aand Technology, Pages: 1-6
Reducing levels of fault current infeed as inverter-based resources (IBR) displace synchronous machines are a concern forsystem operators. The reduction undermines the ability of a conventional protection system to identify and locate faults in aneffective manner. A possible route to avoid elevated ratings is to recognise that the increased current is generally needed at timesof decreased voltage such that a tap-change transformer could be used to change how the voltage-current rating of an IBR ispresented to the network. This paper proposes a thyristor-based electronic tap-changer (eTC) fitted to the coupling transformerof a STATCOM. The thyristors of the tap-changer can be commutated rapidly by using the STATCOM to drive phase currentsto zero briefly. The case-study circuit demonstrates delivery of substantial fault current contribution (FCC) of up to 4 pu at thepoint of common coupling (PCC) in less than half a cycle (10 ms) after detection of three- and single-phase faults.
Collins CT, Green TC, 2022, DC power filter design for a neutral-point clamped hybrid multilevel converter, 2022 International Power Electronics Conference (IPEC-Himeji 2022- ECCE Asia), Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 2679-2686
The neutral point clamped AC-side cascaded H-bridge (NPC-AC-CHB) converter has been proposed as a low volume alternative to the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) for medium voltage DC networks. It is known that due to the slow switching of the main bridge large current distortion is observed on the DC-side and thus require a DC-side filter, usually given as a passive LC filter in the literature. However, design and dimensioning of the required DC filters has not been addressed in the literature. This paper considers the design of a passive LC filter topology and shows that such a solution would requires a very high DC capacitance to achieve a suitably low harmonic current on the DC-side. This large DC filter undermines the stated low volume benefits of the NPC-AC-CHB and therefore the DC filter topology must be reconsidered. Thus this paper investigates the use of both tuned passive filters and active filters to reduce the DC filter passive component size. It is shown that both designs provide significant improvements over the LC filter case, but the active filter provides the greatest reduction. Finally, simulation results are presented for verification of the design analysis.
Gu Y, Green T, 2022, Power system stability with a high penetration of inverter based resources, Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), ISSN: 0018-9219
Inverter-based resources (IBRs) possess dynamics that are significantly different from those of synchronous-generator-based sources and as IBR penetrations grow the dynamics of power systems are changing. This article discusses the characteristics of the new dynamics and examines how they can be accommodated into the long-standing categorizations of power system stability in terms of angle, frequency, and voltage stability. It is argued that inverters are causing the frequency range over which angle, frequency, and voltage dynamics act to extend such that the previously partitioned categories are now coupled and further coupled to new electromagnetic modes. While grid-forming (GFM) inverters share many characteristics with generators, grid-following (GFL) inverters are different. This is explored in terms of similarities and differences in synchronization, inertia, and voltage control. The concept of duality is used to unify the synchronization principles of GFM and GFL inverters and, thus, established the generalized angle dynamics. This enables the analytical study of GFM-GFL interaction, which is particularly important to guide the placement of GFM apparatuses and is even more important if GFM inverters are allowed to fall back to the GFL mode during faults to avoid oversizing to support short-term overload. Both GFL and GFM inverters contribute to voltage strength but with marked differences, which implies new features of voltage stability. Several directions for further research are identified, including: 1) extensions of nonlinear stability analysis to accommodate new inverter behaviors with cross-coupled time frames; 2) establishment of spatial–temporal indices of system strength and stability margin to guide the provision of new stability services; and 3) data-driven approaches to combat increased system complexity and confidentiality of inverter models.
Jansen M, Duffy C, Green T, et al., 2022, Island in the Sea: The prospects and impacts of an offshore wind power hub in the North Sea, Advances in Applied Energy, Vol: 6, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 2666-7924
Europe's offshore wind capacity is increasing rapidly, with larger turbines installed further from shore. TenneT proposed an innovative concept, the North Sea Wind Power Hub, in which several farms are connected to an artificial island which has interconnection to surrounding countries. This aims to reduce overall costs, but studies have so far evaluated hypothetical designs rather than the specific system operators’ proposal, and focused primarily on construction costs rather than ongoing system-wide impacts. Here we develop a bottom-up capital cost estimate to compare the Power Hub with conventional point-to-point connection for offshore wind farms. We quantify its consequential impacts on regional electricity prices, the value of wind generation, fossil fuel generation and carbon emissions in 2030 using a pan-European electricity market model. We find that the Power Hub is cheaper if more than 10 GW of wind is built, as the avoided cost of multiple converter platforms offsets the cost of building an artificial island. It has profound impacts on electricity markets across Europe, especially in Britain and Ireland if they gain more interconnection to continental Europe. This impacts the economic viability of wind and gas power stations particularly, and saves 10Mt CO2 per year through reduced curtailment.
Zhu Y, Gu Y, Li Y, et al., 2022, Impedance-based root-cause analysis: comparative study of impedance models and calculation of eigenvalue sensitivity, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, ISSN: 0885-8950
Impedance models of power systems are useful when state-space models of apparatus such as inverter-based resources (IBRs) have not been made available and instead only black-box impedance models are available. For tracing the root causes of poor damping and tuning modes of the system, the sensitivity of the modes to components and parameters are needed. The so-called critical admittance-eigenvalue sensitivity based on nodaladmittance model has provided a partial solution but omits meaningful directional information. The alternative whole-system impedance model yields participation factors of shunt-connected apparatus with directional information that allows separate tuning for damping and frequency, yet do not cover series-connected components. This paper formalises the relationships between the two forms of impedance models and between the two forms of root-cause analysis. The calculation of system eigenvaluesensitivity in impedance models is further developed, which fills the gaps of previous research and establishes a complete theory of impedance-based root-cause analysis. The theoretical relationships and the tuning of parameters have been illustrated with a three-node passive network, a modified IEEE 14-bus network and a modified NETS-NYPS 68-bus network, showing that tools can be developed for tuning of IBR-rich power systemswhere only black-box impedance models are available.
Hou X, Sun K, Zhang N, et al., 2022, Priority-driven self-optimizing power control scheme for interlinking converters of hybrid AC/DC microgrid clusters in decentralized manner, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol: 37, Pages: 5970-5983, ISSN: 0885-8993
Hybrid AC/DC microgrid clusters are key building blocks of smart grid to support sustainable and resilient urban power systems. In microgrid clusters, the subgrid load-priorities and power quality requirements for different areas vary significantly. To realize optimal power exchanges among microgrid clusters, this paper proposes a decentralized self-optimizing power control scheme for interlinking converters (ILC) of hybrid microgrid clusters. A priority-driven optimal power exchange model of ILCs is built considering the priorities and capacities in subgrids. The optimization objective is to minimize the total DC-voltage/AC-frequency state deviations of subgrids. To realize the decentralized power flow control, an optimal-oriented quasi-droop control strategy of ILCs is introduced to not only achieve a flexible self-optimizing power flow management, but also provide an ancillary function of voltage support. Consequently, as each of ILCs only monitors the local AC-side frequency and DC-side voltage signals, the whole optimal power control of the wide-area microgrid clusters is achieved in a decentralized manner without any communication link. Thus, the proposed control algorithm has the features of decreased cost, increased scalability, reduced geographic restrictions and high resilience in terms of communication faults. Finally, the proposed method is validated by case studies with four interconnected microgrids through hardware-in-loop tests.
Fan S, Xiang X, Sheng J, et al., 2022, Inherent SM voltage balance for multilevel circulant modulation in modular multilevel DC-DC converters, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol: 37, Pages: 1352-1368, ISSN: 0885-8993
The modularity of a modular multilevel dc converter (MMDC) makes it attractive for medium-voltage distribution systems. Inherent balance of submodule (SM) capacitor voltages is considered as an ideal property, which avoids a complex sorting process based on many measurements thereby reducing costs and enhancing reliability. This article extends the inherent balance concept previously shown for square-wave modulation to a multilevel version for MMDCs. A switching duty matrix dU is introduced: it is a circulant matrix of preset multilevel switching patterns with multiple stages and multiple durations. Inherent voltage balance is ensured with a full-rank dU . Circulant matrix theory shows that this is equivalent to a simplified common factor criterion. A nonfull rank dU causes clusters of SM voltage rather than a single common value, with the clusters indicated by the kernel of the matrix. A generalized coprime criterion is developed into several deductions that serve as practical guidance for design of multilevel circulant modulation. The theoretical development is verified through full-scale simulations and downscaled experiments. The effectiveness of the proposed circulant modulation in achieving SM voltage balance in an MMDC is demonstrated.
Fan S, Xiang X, Zhao Y, et al., 2022, Dual-circulant Modulation for Inherent Submodule Voltage Balancing in MMDC, Pages: 33-38
The modular multilevel dc-dc converter (MMDC) has attracted much interest in medium voltage dc applications, but it has to face the main issue of balancing submodule (SM) capacitor voltages. This paper proposes a dual-circulant modulation and mathematically proves it possessing the inherent balancing capability for arbitrary operation cases. Two sets of circular switching patterns are preset and combined to complete the full constrains on SM voltages for balancing, and then reallocated to keep the advantage of SM uniformity. The associated polynomial of circulant matrix is introduced and the coprime of polynomials demonstrates the full-rank feature of the extended switching matrix that promises the inherent balancing. Experiments are conducted on prototype to validate the inherent voltage balancing capability of the dual-circulant modulation.
O'Malley M, Bowen T, Bialek J, et al., 2021, Enabling power system transformation: system operator research agenda for bulk power system issues, IEEE Power and Energy Magazine, Vol: 19, Pages: 45-55, ISSN: 1540-7977
The primary objective of a power system is to safely provide reliable energy services to society at an affordable cost. In many countries, this objective has been supplemented by another: meeting the energy demand with sustainable resources, which has culminated in the energy transition to low-carbon and zero-carbon energy systems. This transition, occurring rapidly around the world, is characterized by the increasing penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE), inverter-based resources (IBRs), and distributed energy resources (DERs).
Sheehan CS, Green TC, Daina N, 2021, A simulation approach to analyse the impacts of battery swap stations for e-motorcycles in Africa, 2021 IEEE AFRICON, Publisher: IEEE, Pages: 1-6
Electric motorcycles are being introduced in some African countries to combat the negative environmental impacts from the rapid growth in the use of traditional internal combustion engine motorcycle taxis. However, the electricity systems in many of these countries are strained, with generation and/or distribution capacity at their limits, leading to regular power outages that could impact the charging of these e-motorcycles. These fragile grids may be put under further strain by additional e-motorcycle charging. Commercial motorcycle taxi drivers may not be willing to wait for extended periods to charge during their shift. The use of battery swapping stations could mitigate these issues. However, modelling of their system impacts is required to fully understand their potential. This paper presents a hybrid model to simulate the key operational processes of battery swapping stations and their energy systems, allowing various configurations and scenarios to be investigated for the specific context of e-motorcycles in Africa. The configuration parameters include the numbers of batteries and charging slots, the charging power, and the addition of solar PV and static battery energy storage capacity. Power outages can be modelled for various scenarios. A test case of a battery swap station in Nairobi, Kenya, was used to showcase and validate the model. The results demonstrated how the various sub-models performed and interacted with each other, and clearly showed what impact the chosen BSS configuration would have on the grid.
Trask A, Wills K, Green T, et al., 2021, Impacts of COVID-19 on the Energy System, Impacts of COVID-19 on the Energy System
This Briefing Paper explores the impactthe COVID-19 pandemic had on the UK’senergy sector over the course of thefirst government-mandated nationallockdown that began on 23 March 2020.Research from several aspects of theIntegrated Development of Low-carbonEnergy Systems (IDLES) programme atImperial College London is presented inone overarching paper. The main aim isto determine what lessons can be learntfrom that lockdown period, given theunique set of challenges it presented inour daily lives and the changes it broughtabout in energy demand, supply, anduse. Valuable insights are gained intohow working-from-home policies,electric vehicles, and low-carbon gridscan be implemented, incentivised, andmanaged effectively.
Mian S, Judge P, Junyent Ferre A, et al., 2021, A delta-connected Modular Multilevel STATCOM with partially-rated energy storage for provision of ancillary services, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol: 36, Pages: 2893-2903, ISSN: 0885-8977
This paper proposes a delta-connected Modular Multilevel STATCOM with partially rated storage (PRS-STATCOM), capable of providing both reactive and active power support. The purpose is to provide short-term energy storage enabled grid support services such as inertial and frequency response, either alongside or temporarily instead of standard STATCOM voltage support. The topology proposed here contains two types of sub-modules (SM) in each phase-leg: standard sub-modules (STD-SMs) and energy storage element sub-modules (ESE-SMs) with a dc-dc interface converter between the SM capacitor and the ESE. A control structure has been developed that allows energy transfer between the SM capacitor and the ESE resulting in active power exchange between the converter and the grid. Injecting 3rd harmonic current into the converter waveforms can be used to increase the amount of power that can be extracted from the ESE-SMs and so reduce the required ESE-SMs fraction in each phase-leg. Simulation results demonstrate that for three selected active power ratings, 1 up, 2/3 pu, & 1/3 pu, the fraction of SMs that need be converted to ESE-SMs are only 69%, 59% & 38%. Thus, the proposed topology is effective in adding real power capability to a STATCOM without a large increase in equipment cost.
Green T, Xiang X, Gu Y, et al., 2021, Resonant modular multilevel DC-DC converters for both high and low step-ratio connections in MVDC distribution systems, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol: 36, Pages: 7625-7640, ISSN: 0885-8993
DC transformers based on power electronics are keyitems of equipment for medium voltage dc (MVDC) distributionsystems. Both high and low step-ratio dc-dc conversions arerequired to interface dc links at different voltages to form anintegrated dc distribution system. The transformer-coupledresonant modular multilevel dc-dc converter (RMMC) is wellsuited to high step-ratio connection between a MVDC network anda low voltage dc (LVDC) network but it is not suitable in low stepratio conversion for linking two MVDC networks with similar butnot identical voltages. This paper presents a circuit evolution of thehigh step-ratio transformer-coupled RMMC into its low step-ratiotransformer-less RMMC counterpart. These two RMMCsshare thesame structure and the same resonant process within the resonantSM stack (RSS) giving rise to the same operational advantages. Also,the circuit design experience can be readily transferred from one tothe other. From these two base RMMC circuits, a family of RMMCswith further configurations is elaborated that provide a wider varietyof connection optionsfor MVDC distribution systems. In this circuitfamily, each high step-ratio transformer-coupled RMMC has a lowstep-ratio transformer-less RMMC counterpart and one can betransformed into the other via the circuit evolution processpresented. The theoretical analysis for both high and low stepratio RMMCs has been verified through full-scale simulations ofmedium voltage examples and further verified through downscaled experiments on laboratory prototypes.
Xiang X, Fan S, Gu Y, et al., 2021, Comparison of cost-effective distance for LFAC with HVAC and HVDC in connections of offshore and remote onshore wind energy, CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, Vol: 7, Pages: 954-975, ISSN: 2096-0042
For cost-effective connection of large-scalelong-distance wind energy, low frequency alternating current(LFAC) transmission scheme (16.7 Hz or 20 Hz) has beenproposed as an alternative to the conventional high voltagealternating current (HVAC) transmission scheme (50 Hz or 60 Hz)and recently popular high voltage direct current (HVDC)transmission scheme (0 Hz). The technical feasibility of LFACsystem has been demonstrated but the basis for identifying thedistance ranges for which LFAC would be preferable to HVACand HVDC has not been established and the dependence of thisrange on factors such as power transfer rating, voltage rating andcable/line type has not been investigated. This paper presents anin-depth analysis for the overall cost of LFAC system and thenprovides an extensive comparison with HVAC and HVDC, toexplore the distance ranges over which LFAC is cost-effectiveover both HVAC and HVDC in connections of offshore andremote onshore wind energy. The results demonstrate that LFACsystem does possess ranges in the intermediate distance for whichit is more cost-effective than both HVAC and HVDC, and itsoverall cost advantage is generally larger in the overhead line(OHL) connection of remote onshore wind energy than the cableconnection of offshore wind energy.
Zhu Y, Gu Y, Li Y, et al., 2021, Participation analysis in impedance models: the grey-box approach for power system stability, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol: 37, Pages: 343-353, ISSN: 0885-8950
This paper develops a grey-box approach to small-signal stability analysis of complex power systems that facilitates root-cause tracing without requiring disclosure of the full details of the internal control structure of apparatus connected to the system. The grey-box enables participation analysis in impedance models, which is popular in power electronics and increasingly accepted in power systems for stability analysis. The Impedance participation factor is proposed and defined in terms of the residue of the whole-system admittance matrix. It is proved that, the so defined impedance participation factor equals the sensitivity of the whole-system eigenvalue with respect to apparatus impedance. The classic state participation factor is related to the impedance participation factor via a chain-rule. Based on the chain-rule, a three-layer grey-box approach, with three degrees of transparency, is proposed for root-cause tracing to different depths, i.e. apparatus, states, and parameters, according to the available information. The association of impedance participation factor with eigenvalue sensitivity points to the re-tuning that would stabilize the system. The impedance participation factor can be measured in the field or calculated from the black-box impedance spectra with little prior knowledge required.
Aunedi M, Wills K, Green T, et al., 2021, Net-zero GB electricity: cost-optimal generation and storage mix, Great Britain's electricity generation capacity mix for net-zero carbon emissions, Publisher: Energy Futures Lab
Oulis Rousis A, Tzelepis D, Pipelzadeh Y, et al., 2021, Provision of Voltage Ancillary Services Through Enhanced TSO-DSO Interaction and Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, Vol: 12, Pages: 897-908, ISSN: 1949-3029
Carmichael R, Gross R, Hanna R, et al., 2021, The Demand Response Technology Cluster: accelerating UK residential consumer engagement with time-of-use tariffs, electric vehicles and smart meters via digital comparison tools, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol: 139, ISSN: 1364-0321
Cost-effectively decarbonising the power sector and household energy use using variable renewable energy will require that electricity consumption becomes much more flexible and responsive to constraints in supply and the distribution network. In recent years residential demand response (DR) has received increasing attention that has sought to answer, based on current evidence, questions about how much consumers will engage with DR. This paper critically reviews the evidence base for residential consumer engagement with DR and draws out several important limitations in it. We argue for a more action- oriented focus on developing practical strategies to enable and unlock greater loadshifting and consumer engagement with DR within a changing technology and regulatory context. A number of recommendations are put forward for accelerating UK consumer engagement with DR, presented under three broad strategies: (a) promote awareness of smart tariffs, smart meters and storage and automation behind-the-meter devices as mutually-supportive components within a common ‘DR technology cluster’; (b) deliver targeted support for adoption of electric vehicles and other storage and automation technologies; (c) enable and support informed adoption of DR-enabling products and services through ‘smarter’ digital comparison tools (DCTs), data portability, and faster, simpler switching. The interdependency between components within this DR technology cluster delivers efficiency but also poses a risk that one delayed component (e.g., smart metering) will hold-up policy and industry support for other components. The urgency of decarbonisation goals makes it necessary to push forward as many of these elements as possible rather than the pace being set by the slowest.
Heath T, Barnes M, Judge PD, et al., 2021, Cascaded- and modular-multilevel converter laboratory test system options: a review, IEEE Access, Vol: 9, Pages: 44718-44737, ISSN: 2169-3536
The increasing importance of cascaded multilevel converters (CMCs), and the sub-category of modular multilevel converters (MMCs), is illustrated by their wide use in high voltage DC connections and in static compensators. Research is being undertaken into the use of these complex pieces of hardware and software for a variety of grid support services, on top of fundamental frequency power injection, requiring improved control for non-traditional duties. To validate these results, small-scale laboratory hardware prototypes are often required. Such systems have been built by many research teams around the globe and are also increasingly commercially available. Few publications go into detail on the construction options for prototype CMCs, and there is a lack of information on both design considerations and lessons learned from the build process, which will hinder research and the best application of these important units. This paper reviews options, gives key examples from leading research teams, and summarizes knowledge gained in the development of test rigs to clarify design considerations when constructing laboratory-scale CMCs.
Green T, Liu H, Li B, et al., 2021, Ultra-fast current differential protection with high-sensitivity for HVDC transmission lines, International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems, Vol: 126, ISSN: 0142-0615
Protection of transmission lines is the most important defense against faults in multi-terminal HVDC system. Up until now, no single protection can balance the operation speed and sensitivity needed for all fault types. To solve this problem, a novel current differential protection for HVDC transmission line is proposed in this paper. The intrinsic properties of a HVDC transmission line are analyzed first. Then, essence of ideal current differential protection is revealed and fundamental relations between line models and performance degradation of existing differential protections are discussed. Based on this analysis, a novel current differential protection scheme, including fault detection and faulty pole selection, is developed, and Bergeron model is used to describe the electrical wave propagation process along line, resulting in only simple computations are needed in each calculation cycle. Finally, a simulation model of Wudongde ± 800 kV HVDC project in China is established in PSCAD/EMTDC for verification. By discussing diversified faults and transient processes, simulation results prove that regardless of fault type, distance and transition impedance, the proposed differential protection can respond correctly. Main contribution of this paper is reducing the operation time of differential protection from hundreds of milliseconds to several milliseconds.
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