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This paper proposes an adaptive self-tuned current controller design for an LCL-filtered LC-tuned single-phase shunt hybrid active power filter (HAPF), which offers adaptability and flexibility of the control system to filter parameters changes. System modelling and online identification of parameters are presented. Then, a systematic self-tuned controller (STC) design is proposed to calculate the controller parameters and obtain the final control law adaptively. The exact HAPF parameters design is described and the overall closed-loop stability evaluation with considering digital control delay is discussed in this paper. To confirm the theoretical achievements, simulations and experimental tests on a real prototype system are performed. The results are in good accordance and demonstrate the effectiveness and superior performance of the suggested control technique. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparison between the proposed control technique and other controllers is provided to show the superiority of the proposed system from different aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modular multilevel converter control system, based on converter energy storage, is proposed in this paper for two different control modes: active power and dc voltage. The proposed control system decouples the submodule (SM) capacitor voltages from the dc bus voltage. One of the practical applications is the management of active redundant SMs. A practical HVDC system with 401-level MMCs, including 10% redundancy in MMC SMs, is used for validating and demonstrating the advantages of the proposed control system. This paper also presents a novel capacitor voltage balancing control based on \max–\min functions. It is used to drastically reduce the number of switchings for each SM and enhances computational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the accurate and efficient computation of control system equations in electromagnetic-transient simulation tools. The proposed approach is based on the formulation of a reduced rank Jacobian matrix in a fully iterative Newton method. In addition, this paper compares the accuracy and efficiency for the proposed method's variants, including a hybrid approach with a fixed-point solution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The penetration of inverter-based resources is growing rapidly around the globe. During a fault, the behavior of inverter-based resource is very different from a traditional synchronous machine based generation. As the penetration of inverter-based resources increases, there is an urgency for the industry to understand their behavior so that these resources can be accurately modeled and their impact on various protection schemes can be studied in detail. This path begins with standardizing the response of inverter-based resources to a fault. Additionally, this paper discusses issues with modeling inverter-based resources in a short circuit model which is developed for systems dominated by synchronous machines and finally a need for further research to understand impacts on traditional protection schemes as inverter-based resources continue to displace traditional generation. This paper does not offer solutions however, it is intended to encourage further study by industry professionals toward development of solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As high-speed railways develop rapidly worldwide, the problems of neutral section and power quality are becoming increasingly prominent. These problems affect the normal operation of the power grid and the electric locomotives. The co-phase power supply schemes were proposed by researchers, which can solve these problems well. Among them, the MMC-based scheme (MMC-5 L) is a representative one. The existing scheme, when applied to the auto-transformer (AT)-fed system which is usually adopted by high-speed railways, needs to install an auto-transformer on the output side. To eliminate the auto-transformer and to obtain the more suitable and superior co-phase power supply schemes to AT-fed system, two improved schemes are proposed in this paper based on the novel MMC-based scheme (MMC-6 L) we proposed before. While establishing the mathematical model, creating the control system, and carrying out simulation verification of the proposed schemes, the proposed schemes are compared with MMC-6 L and MMC-5 L in terms of topological characteristics, control system complexity, power loss, and functionality. The results show that while the proposed schemes can fulfill the functions of the co-phase power supply scheme well like the MMC-5 L and MMC-6 L, they are more suitable and superior for the AT-fed system in terms of control system complexity and power loss. Among them, MMC-5L1CB performs best in power loss, and MMC-4L2CB performs best in control system complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an idea to integrate more renewable energy into the existing China power grid and to provide remote islands with a reliable power supply. The idea is to expand the existing point-to-point line-commutated converter (LCC) HVDC transmission link into a hybrid multiterminal HVDC (hybrid MTDC) system, which contains LCC stations and voltage-source converter (VSC) stations. Accordingly, this paper proposes a novel control strategy for this system called active voltage feedback control, which does not need any high-speed communication system under various disturbances, such as wind speed variations, load fluctuations, faults, etc. This paper also adds secondary frequency regulation to the synchronverter, which is one way of combining the VSC converter with synchronous machine behavior. Then, this paper applies an approach to limit its current under fault conditions. Finally, the entire hybrid MTDC system is modeled in PSCAD/EMTDC. Simulation results show that the improved synchronverter is able to achieve secondary frequency control, and the presented active voltage feedback control works very well when exposed to various disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most microgrid protection schemes found in published literature suffer from a lack of generality in that they work well for the assumed topology, including type and placement of sources. Other generic protection schemes tend to be too complicated, too expensive, or both. To overcome these drawbacks, a topology-agnostic, scalable, and cost-aware protection based on fundamental principles that work in the presence of high penetration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) is developed and tested in this paper. The protection system also implements stable automatic reconfiguration of the healthy sections of the system after clearance of fault, thus increasing resilience by self-healing. To achieve this ambitious goal, stable inverter models are developed that operate in unbalanced networks in grid-connected and islanded modes, even with 100% IBRs, share power without conflicting controls, and can ride through faults while limiting fault currents. The scheme is tested for primary and backup protection and reconfiguration on the IEEE 123-node feeder in grid-connected and islanded modes with 15 IBRs connected to the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsynchronous control interaction (SSCI) is the interaction between the power-electronics control and the series-compensated transmission system that occurs at frequencies below the system nominal frequency. SSCI may occur between the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) control system and the series-compensated transmission line, to which the wind park (WP) is connected. Not only do the DFIG control system parameters, but also the WP operating conditions have a significant impact on SSCI. In this paper, the impact of WP operating conditions and DFIG control system parameters on SSCI is analyzed in detail. Guidelines are presented for modifying the DFIG control system parameters to ensure safe operation and acceptable transient responses due to faults. This paper also examines the accuracies of various analytical tools used for SSCI problem identification and proposes a new frequency scan analysis approach for accurate prediction of potential SSCI problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The high-frequency resonances (HFRs) around 700 Hz and 1.8 kHz have occurred in Yu′E project. Mechanism studies indicate that HFRs are caused by the interactions between the negative damping inductance characteristics of the MMC and the capacitive characteristics of the AC system. In this paper, two optimized methods regarding the current control loop are presented to suppress the HFRs. The first one is to use a round(x) function inserted into voltage feed-forward loop instead of low pass filter (LPF). The proposed method has less negative impact on transient characteristics of an MMC. The second one is to employ a second-order damping controller, including the parameters design, to reshape the MMC impedance around the multiple risky regions. The core of HFRs suppression is that the real part of the MMC impedance near the multiple intersection frequencies should be positive according to impedance stability theory. Combined with the proposed control methods and core of HFRs suppression, the simplified model of MMC is adopted to design the parameters using the analytical expressions. Moreover, the general steps of parameters design are presented. Finally, the optimized methods to suppress HFRs are verified by time-domain simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For droop control in voltage source converter based multi-terminal HVDC systems, the determination of droop coefficients is a key issue, which directly affects both power distribution and DC control performances. This paper proposes a novel design of droop coefficients considering the requirements of power distribution, DC voltage control and system stability. Considering the power margins of different converters, the ratio relationship among droop coefficients is established. Converters with larger power margins take bigger portion of power mismatch to avoid overload problem. Furthermore, the integral square error of converters DC voltage is adopted as the DC voltage control performance index, and optimization of droop coefficients to achieve coordinated DC voltage control of steady-state deviation and transient variation, is derived. Finally, the constraint of droop coefficients is established to guarantee the DC system stability after power disturbance. Case studies are conducted on the Nordic 32 system with an embedded 4-terminal DC grid to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed droop control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversification of control schemes adopted by inverter-interfaced distributed generators (IIDGs) leads to difficulties in fault current estimation in a microgrid, which might make preexisting protection systems invalid and threaten the safety of power electronic devices. It is therefore important to study fault characteristics of IIDGs. This paper investigates characteristics of fault current of IIDGs caused by both symmetrical and asymmetrical faults. Two kinds of widely used control modes, current control (constant current control and PQ control) and voltage control (V/F control and droop control), are under investigation to provide an intuitive comparison on fault current. In particular, a novel algorithm is proposed to calculate fault current of droop-controlled IIDGs. It is found that different limiters have great impacts on fault response of IIDGs and detailed research works are carried out to identify the effects in this paper. Simulation results based on PSCAD/EMTDC and calculation results based on MATLAB/Simulink verify the correctness of the proposed fault models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new passive Islanding detection approach for the Inverter Interfaced Distributed Generators (IIDGs) operating under different control modes. First, a novel index is formulated using Root Mean Square (RMS) value of the voltage and the frequency information, acquired at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) of the target DG. The index is then post-processed by estimating the number of peaks and valleys $(N_{p_{k}-v})$ in a cycle using the sliding window concept, which indicates the occurrence of an event. Finally, the nature of the event, i.e., Islanding or non-Islanding, is decided by exploiting the two statistical features viz., Square of RMS $(S_{RMS})$ of $N_{p_{k}-v}$ and Average Crest Factor $(ACF^{m})$ of the proposed index. The performance of the proposed method (P-IDM) is demonstrated through comprehensive studies in PSCAD/EMTDC for the single-bus and IEEE 34-bus Active Distribution System (ADS). Also, the real-time validation is performed for the IEEE 34-bus using Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (CHIL) setup comprising of Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) and dSPACE1104. The simulation and hardware results for different test systems indicate that the proposed scheme, being generic in nature, sustains its efficacy under various interface controls of IIDGs. Finally, a comparative assessment with the other existing Signal Processing (SP) based passive methodologies shows the supremacy of the proposed method in terms of accuracy and faster detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a combined control scheme that consists of two complementary control strategies, namely hierarchical control and autonomous control to handle contingencies in a multi-terminal high voltage direct current (MTDC) system. The proposed hierarchical control considers three optimal targets, i.e., equal or proportional power sharing, minimizations of transmission loss and total DC voltage variation. The primary control layer implements the droop control for voltage source converters (VSCs). While in the secondary control layer, voltage reference setpoints of the VSCs in droop control scheme are calculated by the proposed optimal power flow method with the equal or proportional power sharing as equality constraints. As the hierarchical control relies on communication system, the autonomous control for power sharing can be activated during communication system malfunctioning or rapid power variation caused by renewable energy sources. The combined control strategy can greatly increase the reliability of the MTDC system. The simulation results of a five-terminal MTDC network conducted in the MATLAB/Simulink software verify the performance of the proposed combined control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional single-ended fault location method is influenced by the fault resistance, and the remote in feed, which reflects as the two equations built by fault phase have four unknowns. And in the grid-connected converter system, the weak feedback characteristic further reduces the performance of the method. To solve it, a single-ended fault location method based on control and protection coordination is proposed in this paper. First, using the high controlled-ability of the converter, the control strategy for fault ride-through (FRT) operation is divided into two stages by switching control modes. Then, according to the electrical quantities under two stages, four uncorrelated equations can be established, and the equations still have four unknown parameters. The fault distance can be calculated by solving them. The simulation results show that the proposed method has high accuracy and is immune to fault resistance and fault location, it solves the problem of insufficient equations in principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a new control strategy for voltage source converter (VSC) based multi-terminal high voltage dc (MT-HVDC) grids for enhancing the mutual frequency support between MT-HVDC interconnected asynchronous ac systems. The existing droop control structure of VSCs is augmented with an additional feedback voltage-based loop that generates a voltage shifting term to be added to the original dc voltage reference. The addition of this integrator-based controller nullifies the difference between voltage errors seen at adjacent converter stations. This action helps to overcome inaccuracies in the mutual frequency support caused by the uneven voltages across a dc system. The proposed strategy uses only local variables for the continuous-time control; thus, it does not rely on a high-bandwidth communication network, and its performance is not affected by the change of ac systems’ parameters. Modal analysis is carried out to investigate the stability of the proposed controller. Finally, comprehensive simulation studies are used to verify the proposed strategy’s performance and compare it with recently reported alternative controllers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a control of the parallel operation of diode rectifier based high-voltage direct current (DR-HVDC) and voltage source converter based HVDC (VSC-HVDC) links. The two links are connected to offshore wind farms (OWFs). The VSC-HVDC controls the voltage and frequency of the offshore AC-grid needed for the OWFs start-up. The proposed grid forming control is based on controlling the OWFs voltage by controlling the active power balance at the VSC-HVDC AC-bus. When the OWFs inject more power than a certain active power reference established for the VSC-HVDC, the OWFs voltage increases and the DR-HVDC starts conducting. Then, the offshore voltage automatically accommodates the required value for transmitting the OWFs power through the DR-HVDC link while the system frequency is controlled by the VSC-HVDC through satisfying the reactive power balance. The power transmitted through the VSC-HVDC can be set by adjusting the corresponding power command while the DR-HVDC will automatically close the power balance. The main advantage of the proposed control system is that the VSC-HVDC can be sized just to support the system energization; while once the OWFs are in operation, the DR-HVDC will be loaded automatically. Simulation results verify the proposed control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares how a dc fault affects a multiterminal dc (MTdc) network depending on the HVDC transmission system topology. To this end, a six-step methodology is proposed for the selection of the necessary dc fault protection measures. The network consists of four voltage-source converters converters radially connected. The converters natural fault response to a dc fault for the different topologies is studied using dynamic simulation models. For clearing of the dc faults, four different dc breaker technologies are compared based on their fault interruption time, together with a current direction fault detection method. If necessary, the converters are reinforced with limiting reactors to decrease the peak value and rate of rise of the fault currents providing sufficient time for the breakers to isolate the fault without interrupting the MTdc network operation. The study shows that the symmetric monopolar topology is least affected by dc contingencies. Considering bipolar topologies, the bipolar with metallic return exhibits better fault response compared to the one with ground return. Topologies with ground or metallic return require full semiconductor or hybrid breakers with reactors to successfully isolate a dc fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction of droop controllers through power network is high in networked microgrids (NMGs) due to the low X/R ratio of the power lines impedance and lack of inertia in converter-based NMGs, which has raised stability concerns. On the other hand, inaccurate reactive power sharing and poor power quality due to the voltage and frequency deviations still remain as noticeable issues in NMGs. In this paper, a novel fuzzy consensus protocol is proposed to improve the droop controller performance in power sharing by incorporating the X/R ratio of the power lines impedance into droop loops. Power quality is also enhanced by restoring the average voltage profile based on a new consensus protocol, which is designed to be in coordination with reactive power sharing. In order to guarantee stability of the closed-loop system, linear matrix inequality method is adopted to determine the consensus signal coefficients as structured static output feedback gains. To this end, a novel small-signal model is proposed for NMGs to be adopted in the design process, by which the cross-coupling as well as interaction of droop controllers through the power network is properly realized. The numerical results in MATLAB/SIMULINK prove the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medium power distributed energy resources (DERs) are commonly connected to medium voltage distribution systems via voltage source converters (VSCs). Several guidelines and standards have been developed to establish the needed criteria and requirements for DERs interconnections. In this respect, it is preferred to reinforce the VSC fault ride through (FRT) capability, which considerably minimizes the DG outage period and reconnection time and results in a resilient system against short circuits. Considering the significant number of asymmetrical faults in distribution systems, the VSC response in such conditions must be investigated, and consequently, its FRT capability must be reinforced. In this paper, first, a comprehensive review on the existing FRT methods has been presented and discussed. Accordingly, an adaptive virtual impedance-based voltage reference generation method is proposed, which enhances the VSC behavior under short circuits and increases the VSC FRT capability. Also, a fast sinusoidal current reference limiter is proposed to improve the performance. To evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme, state-space analysis is presented, and a complete set of simulations is performed in PSCAD/EMTDC environment. Also, a comparison with the conventional method is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents analytical and simulation studies of wind farms (WFs) connected to power system through a unified interphase power controller (UIPC), which should control power flow and the short-circuit contribution of WF. The UIPC is based on an interphase power controller (IPC) in which the phase-shifting transforms are replaced by two series converters (SECs). In this paper, the UIPC model is developed based on phase angles of injected SEC voltage and a control scheme is proposed to control power flow and limit the short-circuit contribution of WF. The WF model is based on an equivalent aggregated variable-speed double-fed induction generator. The PSCAD/EMTDC simulation results show that the UIPC is an effective and novel solution for power-flow control and limitation of short-circuit contribution of WF in power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On March 31, 2019, a 500 kV air-core, shunt reactor at a large generating station in BC Hydro was damaged shortly after four unit transformers were simultaneously energized from a 500 kV series and shunt compensated line source. Forensic investigations revealed that the controlled switching system, controlling the instant at which each breaker phase closes during energization to minimize inrush current, had failed. Uncontrolled closing led to under-damped, high-magnitude and sub-synchronous currents. Protection tripped and isolated the four transformers, followed shortly by shunt reactor protection tripping. Before the reactor could be isolated by circuit breakers, a damaging internal fault developed. This paper presents forensic investigation describing sequence of events leading up to reactor damage and shares the lessons learned with the peer utilities having similar installations.    [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a control strategy to mitigate subsynchronous oscillations (SSOs) in doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farms integrated into series-compensated transmission systems. The strategy has two parts: in the first one, a compensation filter based on the motion-induction amplification concept is proposed to increase the damping of the DFIG machine in the subsynchronous frequency range; in the second one, a proportional-integral (PI)-like controller is designed using an optimal quadratic technique to minimize the control effort and the additional rotor voltage required by the SSO damping action. The SSO mitigation strategy acts locally on the DFIG control system reducing the negative resistance the rotating machine presents to the grid at subsynchronous frequencies; this approach reduces the control dependence on the topology and resonance frequencies of the network. The control strategy is validated with a case study based on the Argentinian power system and evaluated in a wide range of operating conditions, showing that the DFIG control system can be enhanced to mitigate poorly damped SSOs and increase the penetration level of wind power in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new simulation approach based on the functional mock-up interface standard for parallel and multistep simulation of electromagnetic transients in power grids with computationally expensive control systems. The control systems are represented by slave subsystems, which are decoupled in memory from the power network and encapsulated in functional mock-up units. The simulation modes are either asynchronous or synchronous. In the asynchronous mode, the subsystems are simulated in parallel, whereas in the synchronous mode, the simulation of each subsystem is executed in a sequential multistep environment. Considerable computation time gains in both modes have been observed in power system protection studies on large-scale networks with accuracy properly maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The smartening of distribution systems with distributed generation, storage devices, and intelligent loads have created challenges for the operation of distribution feeders, which can be addressed with power-electronics based controllers. However, the capital-intensive nature of these controllers is an obstacle for their wide use. The Hybrid Power Flow Controller (HPFC) is shown here to provide an adequate solution to the application of flexible ac transmission systems controllers to distribution systems, and hence the merits and the added value of this controller are discussed here through detailed modeling and simulations, examining its impact on a distribution system under different conditions. Thus, in this paper, a detailed dynamic model of the HPFC is developed and implemented in PSCAD, describing and proposing control strategies to properly operate this controller in distribution-system applications, such as an effective and simple procedure for starting up the device. The developed model is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controller for solving problems in distribution systems, such as voltage sags associated with feeder faults and power flow fluctuations due to intermittent renewable generation using a benchmark network as an illustrative example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interline dynamic voltage restorer (IDVR) is a new device for sag mitigation which is made of several dynamic voltage restorers (DVRs) with a common dc link, where each DVR is connected in series with a distribution feeder. During the sag period, active power can be transferred from a feeder to another one and voltage sags with long durations can be mitigated. IDVR compensation capacity, however, depends greatly on the load power factor, and a higher load power factor causes lower performance of IDVR. To overcome this limitation, a new idea is presented in this paper which enables reducing the load power factor under sag conditions and, therefore, the compensation capacity is increased. The proposed IDVR employs two cascaded H-bridge multilevel converters to inject ac voltage with lower total harmonic distortion and eliminates the necessity to low-frequency isolation transformers in one side. The validity of the proposed configuration is verified by simulations in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. Then, experimental results on a scaled-down IDVR are presented to confirm the theoretical and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In high power applications, 3-phase ac/dc Voltage Source Converters (VSCs) are paralleled to increase the overall aggregated converter power rating, effective switching frequency and control bandwidth. For this, interleaved Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and current limiting paralleling inductors are required. Interphase Transformers (ITRs) are often used for the converter paralleling because they provide large magnetizing inductances for the currents flowing between the converters while introducing negligible leakage inductances for the currents flowing from the converters to the ac grid. This large asymmetry in the inductance values makes it difficult to independently control active power flows in the individual converters. Thus, if the converters dc buses are not mutually interconnected, instabilities in active control of balance of converter dc bus voltages can occur in certain operational conditions. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the active power flows produced by the currents flowing among the converters and explains origins of potential instability in the active control of balance of dc bus voltages in multi-converter systems with floating dc buses, paralleled using the ITRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AC fault ride-through and support capability of line commutated converter based high voltage direct current (LCC-HVDC) have significant influence on the safe operation of power system. The ability of phase locked loop (PLL) to synchronize with the voltage phase under AC faults would affect the recovery performance of LCC-HVDC systems. This paper analyzes the influence of the conventional PLL on the subsequent commutation failure (SCF) of LCC-HVDC systems and points out that the conventional PLL has some problems such as slow dynamic response, significant frequency fluctuation, and coupling of phase and frequency detection under fault conditions. A novel PLL is proposed to address the problems. Cascade delayed signal cancellation operators are combined with a mathematical filter, forming a hybrid pre-filter to extract fundamental positive sequence voltage for the PLL. To reduce the fluctuation of PLL's frequency during AC faults, the estimated frequency is fixed when the fault is detected by a fault detector. As a consequence, the decoupling between phase detection and frequency detection is realized, and the proposed PLL's dynamic response performance is enhanced. Simulation results show that the proposed PLL can provide accurate phase reference for the DC control system and reduce the probability of SCFs of LCC-HVDC system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers in this special section focus on HVDC systems for large offshore wind power plants. These plants have experienced an important growth in the last decade and are becoming a key energy source worldwide. Offshore wind presents clear advantages due to high and stable wind speeds offshore, enabling the use of larger wind turbines than those commonly used on inland wind power plants. However, transmitting power to load centres also brings a number of technical challenges. Depending on the distance to the shore and the power rating, AC or DC technology may be the preferable option for integrating offshore wind power to onshore grids. There are a number of issues which have to be considered requiring substantial research and development. For DC connections, (Voltage Source Converter) VSC-HVDC technology has shown advantages over (Line Commutated Converter) LCC-HVDC. The development of multiterminal HVDC grids though brings further challenges related to system operation, control, and protection and coordination between HVDC converters, wind power plants, and the onshore system. The development of power electronic switches has reached a point where the size, rating, and the system efficiency can meet the needs of commercial HVDC. Wind power plants connected to HVDC transmission system require specific control and protection coordination between HVDC converters and wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel concept of utilizing a photovoltaic (PV) solar farm inverter as STATCOM, called PV-STATCOM, for improving stable power transfer limits of the interconnected transmission system. The entire inverter rating of the PV solar farm, which remains dormant during nighttime, is utilized with voltage and damping controls to enhance stable power transmission limits. During daytime, the inverter capacity left after real power production is used to accomplish the aforementioned objective. Transient stability studies are conducted on a realistic single machine infinite bus power system having a midpoint located PV-STATCOM using EMTDC/PSCAD simulation software. The PV-STATCOM improves the stable transmission limits substantially in the night and in the day even while generating large amounts of real power. Power transfer increases are also demonstrated in the same power system for: 1) two solar farms operating as PV-STATCOMs and 2) a solar farm as PV-STATCOM and an inverter-based wind farm with similar STATCOM controls. This novel utilization of a PV solar farm asset can thus improve power transmission limits which would have otherwise required expensive additional equipment, such as series/shunt capacitors or separate flexible ac transmission system controllers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low frequency ac transmission (LFAC) has been proposed as an alternative to high voltage dc transmission for medium distance (80–150 km) offshore wind farms. Long HVAC cables and their associated low frequency resonance, connected to voltage source converters (VSC), provide technical challenges for the control of the offshore voltage. This paper provides the design of the offshore voltage “grid forming control” to maintain a stable offshore voltage accounting for the connection of a long HVAC cable connected to the VSC. Simulations are performed on an LFAC test system to examine the influence of controller parameters and the associated design tradeoffs between the selection of dq controller time constants and voltage control bandwidth. The LFAC system design and control is then validated in a hardware experiment where the proposed controller operates in a real-time hardware-in-the-loop experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the challenges that the power converters with $dq$ -frame-based control confront when subjected to ferroresonance. This is mainly due to two main properties of the widely used $dq$-frame control systems. It is demonstrated in this paper that regardless of the phase-to-ground or phase-to-phase voltage measurement, the $dq$-frame control only responds to phase-to-phase voltage variations. Furthermore, the PI controllers, which are employed in conjunction with the $dq$ reference frame, can inherently only track dc references and reject dc disturbances. Consequently, a $dq$ -based PI controller can only respond to the positive-sequence phase-to-phase voltage variations, effectively. This, in turn, limits the disturbance mitigation capability of the power converter. This study investigates the impacts of the ferroresonance phenomenon on the control system response and the operating conditions of the power converters. Based on a droop-based $dq$ frame controller, the behavior of an electronically interfaced distribution generation system is studied, under various transient conditions. In spite of a promising performance under the load change and islanding scenarios, the $dq$-frame-based controller of the power converter fails to detect and respond to the voltage fluctuation and excessive overvoltages as a result of ferroresonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analyzing the topology and mathematical model of modular multilevel converters (MMCs), a control scheme based on the energy reallocation is proposed to control the MMC with redundant submodules. This control scheme is not only appropriate for the MMC in normal state but also applicable to the MMC in submodules fault state. Considering the circulating currents characteristics of the MMC in submodule fault state, a phase energy controller using proportional integral resonance control is presented, and the circulating currents can be suppressed. As the power loss of the MMCs is closely related to switching frequency of the IGBTs, a new modulation strategy based on arm current feedback is proposed in this paper, and this strategy considers not only the switching frequency's effect but also the collector current's effect on the switching losses. Taking the grid-connected MMC rectifier as an example, the effectiveness of the comprehensive control scheme and the new modulation strategy are verified by simulations and experiments on a MMC prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The smart substation, revolutionarily changing every aspect of the modern substation, is developing fast in the world and being massively deployed in China quickly. A smart substation is typically implemented with a sophisticated combination of smart primary high-voltage equipment and hierarchically networked secondary devices. Based on the IEC61850 communication protocol, the functionalities, such as the information sharing and interoperability among smart electric equipment, are realized in smart substations. It is regarded as the basis for the development of smart grid and represents the future development trend of substation technologies. This paper reviews the fundamental vision of the smart substation. The state of the art and the challenges encountered in the practice of engineering implementation are presented. Future developments to solve the present challenges and promote the development of smart substations are also described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Delayed signal cancellation is one of the methods used to separate the negative- and positive-sequence components in unbalanced 3\phi systems. In this letter, a DSC methodology with fast convergence time is proposed and it is shown that an improved separation of the positive and negative sequences is feasible. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular multilevel converter (MMC) topology is discussed intensively as a crucial part of future dc grids, especially to integrate offshore wind power. While generalized voltage-source converter models are usually utilized for multiterminal investigations, conclusions on transient dc grid behavior and on ac–dc interactions during distorted ac grid conditions are hard to draw or are limited in their significance. In this paper, a MMC-based dc grid framework with a tripartite focus on an internal converter as well as dc and ac grid control is presented. Besides, an evaluation of the implemented MMC model that incorporates the available arm sum voltage, a decoupled ac and dc current system control concept that is suitable to handle unbalanced voltage conditions is derived for HVDC applications. Combined with wind farm arrays, this collocation allows a meaningful examination of hybrid ACDC structures and the implemented dc grid control methodologies. To provide proof of the universal applicability of this framework, simulations are carried out on a five-terminal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading wind turbine manufacturers are running life extension programs for their installed wind farms which include fixed speed induction generator-based wind turbines (FSIG-WT). To accommodate the requirement of recent grid codes in these upgrades, this paper presents a new topological configuration to enhance the fault ride through (FRT) operation of FSIG-WT. The topology comprises ten semiconductor switches in total and performs shunt and series compensation concurrently in response to the dynamic grid conditions. A coordinated control strategy is developed for the proposed topology to ensure smooth steady state operation, enhanced transient response, and most importantly, FRT capability in adherence to the recent grid code requirements. In addition, the control strategy maintains the linear modulation range and uniform switching frequency across all the switches participating in series and shunt compensation. The validity of the proposed topology and the coordinated control strategy is verified through extensive simulation study under different operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an alternate arm converter (AAC)-based point-to-point high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system compatible with the existing benchmark models of modular multilevel converter (MMC)-based HVDC and multiterminal dc (MTDC) grids. The developed AAC-based HVDC system expedites the future development of multi-converter, multiterminal benchmark models that enable the system level studies with detailed models of multiple topologies. The configuration and design parameters of the topology, are derived in alignment with the existing MMC-based benchmark systems. Detailed analysis and simulation studies based on real-time digital simulations verify the operation and performance of the developed AAC-based HVDC system and the associated control functions. The model developed in RTDS is also provided as supplementary material in order to enable further research and development on multiple topologies-based dc grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel dual-mode control scheme for the control of an ac/voltage-source converter (VSC)-HVDC hybrid transmission system with the wind farm connected. First, a novel ac voltage and phase-angle control scheme is designed for the active power control of the wind farm side voltage-source converter (WFVSC) such that the switching of control schemes of WFVSC is no longer required when the ac lines are switched on or off the transmission system. This results in the proposed dual-mode control scheme being able to accommodate different operation modes of the ac/dc hybrid transmission systems. Second, an improved direct-current vector control scheme has been designed for the control of grid-side VSC (GVSC) to provide better control of the dc voltage of the GVSC. Moreover, simulation studies have been undertaken on a two-terminal VSC-HVDC and an ac hybrid transmission system under a variety of operating conditions, which have validated the feasibility performance of the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative-sequence current of a modular multilevel converter (MMC) under unbalanced ac grid conditions increases the voltage ripples of the submodule capacitors. This paper investigates the impact of circulating current control in capacitor voltage ripples under different unbalanced ac grid conditions, while considering multiple control objectives and independent control of active and reactive power. It is demonstrated that higher order harmonic injection in the circulating current through a reference calculation based on instantaneous information improves operation of the MMC reducing capacitor voltage ripples at the cost of increased peak arm current and dc current oscillations. The efficacy of the circulating current control is validated through real-time digital simulations of an 800 MVA benchmark MMC high-voltage direct current transmission system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-port solid-state transformer (SST) characterized by high scalability is expected to be widely used in AC/DC hybrid microgrid. However, the DC bus voltage deviation and dynamic response speed are two key issues in its application. Therefore, a model predictive direct power control (MPDPC) of the three-port SST (TPSST) is proposed. Compared with the traditional PI-based method, the oscillation of the DC bus voltage is inhibited, and the steady-state performance is improved with the MPDPC method. Moreover, a direct power path is incorporated into the control system in order to integrate the rectifier and dual active bridge (DAB) stage. This power path delivers the power required by the load to the DAB stage and the rectifier stage for power control, thereby improving the dynamic response of the system in the process. Besides, since the MPDPC strategy is a control scheme for the whole system, the design of the control system is simplified. Finally, a low power prototype has been built and tested, and the experimental comparison with the traditional voltage control (TVC) and model predictive voltage control (MPVC) method verifies the efficiency improvement of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on grid-forming (GFM) control of Interconnecting Power Converters (IPCs) that are used to interconnect multiple HVAC and HVDC subgrids to form a grid of grids. We introduce the concept of dual-port GFM control that leverages the ability of Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs) to simultaneously form its AC and DC terminal voltage and present two dual-port GFM MMC controls. We provide analytical results and high-fidelity simulations that demonstrate that (i) dual-port GFM control is more resilient to contingencies (i.e., line and generator outages) than state-of-the-art single-port GFM control, and (ii) unlike single-port GFM control, dual-port GFM control does not require assigning grid-forming and grid-following (GFL) roles to the IPC terminals in grids of grids. Finally, we provide an in-depth discussion and comparison of single-port GFM control and the proposed dual-port GFM controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes the Hybrid Control Converter (HCC), a new kind of VSC control. This method aims to have one single converter mimic the behavior of two individual, virtual converters working in parallel (one with grid-following and the other with grid-forming control). This way, the hybrid converter can show behavioral characteristics of both kinds of converter control at the same time. Two possible applications for the HCC are presented. The first one is related to synthetic inertia capability of wind turbines. Results show that the HCC presents superior performance when compared to conventional techniques based on grid following converters, resulting in a smaller grid frequency drop during transients. The second application shows that the HCC allows for autonomous connection of multiple distinct AC systems using a meshed DC transmission system. This enables automatic frequency support and generation and load sharing between the AC grids without requiring any specific action by the system operator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a comprehensive coordinated suppression strategy for DC overvoltage to achieve the receiving-end fault ride-through of DC grid connected large-scale wind power. For the monopolar DC overvoltage, by reasonably switching the control mode of bipolar modular multilevel converter (MMC), the power transfer capability of the healthy pole MMC can be improved while maintaining DC voltage stability, and the precise load-shedding control of wind farm and its coordination scheme with dissipative resistors are designed, which can effectively reduce the input capacity of dissipative resistors and the risk of wind turbines being cut off. For the bipolar DC overvoltage, the load-shedding control strategy and its parameter selection principles are proposed, which can make wind farm and capacitors in each MMC absorb excess power together, to reduce the change rate and amplitude of DC voltage. Then its cooperation scheme with the dissipative resistors is designed to achieve fault ride-through in the full power range of wind farm. Finally, based on the simulation model of four- terminal DC grid, the effectiveness of the proposed coordinated control methods is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new control structure for grid-interfaced converters to enhance ancillary services from emerging electric vehicle (EV) charging stations (CS) under unbalanced and distorted grid conditions. Compared to existing methods, the proposed control structure is relatively simple yet effective for both regulating powers and minimizing harmonics under unbalanced and distorted grid conditions. A simple direct predictive control methodology is proposed where the positive fundamental component of currents is controlled for power regulation while other negative sequence or harmonic current components are set to zeros. Consequently, the charging station operation is enhanced with efficient ancillary services to the electric grid. The novelty originates from a simple predictive control structure in an abc-natural frame without adding any decoupled or separated current-component controllers. Comparative studies on both Matlab/Simulink platform and OPAL-RT-based real-time system among proportional integral (PI) control, finite predictive control, and the proposed method are conducted to verify the efficacy of the proposed structure. The comparative results show that the control structure improves the control performance and significantly enhances the support for the local loads under unbalanced, harmonic distorted grid conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-signal models (SSM) of modular multilevel converter (MMC) based HVDC grid under unbalanced grid conditions in recent literatures do not consider interactions between MMC and dc network. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly model the double-fundamental-frequency zero-sequence circulating currents (DFF-ZSCC) existing under unbalanced grid conditions, although they can be suppressed to avoid penetrating into dc side. In view of that, a general and modular small-signal modeling method of MMC-HVDC grid under unbalanced grid condition is developed. Firstly, a general d-q transformation process for multi-sequence and multi-frequency components is introduced to build the state-space model of MMC electric part in d-q frame. Secondly, the SSM of dc network, which is divided into dc- and double-fundamental-frequency parts, is developed based on the existing frequency-dependent-cascaded-pi (FDC-PI) cable model. Then, to interface MMC stations with dc network under unbalanced grid conditions, a general method to synchronize the variables of double fundamental frequency at dc side of each MMC station is introduced to compose the SSM of the entire HVDC grid from SSMs of each MMC and dc network. Finally, taking a three-terminal MMC-HVDC grid as an example, two SSMs of the MMC-HVDC grid with FDC-PI cable model and single-PI cable model are developed in Matlab, respectively. The small-signal dynamics and stability of both SSMs of the grid under unbalanced grid conditions are compared to validate the accuracy and stability of the proposed SSM of the whole HVDC grid. The simulation results validate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed modular modeling method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter analyzes the mechanism of commutation failures (CFs) caused by sending end AC faults. It is founded that the dc impulse current after fault clearance is the direct reason of CF occurring under nonserious sending end AC faults, and the controller interaction is the main reason of CF occurring under severe sending end AC faults. Moreover, a prevention strategy is proposed based on the revealed mechanism, and the validity is verified by the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]