The integration of large amounts of renewable energy will require multiterminal high-voltage direct-current (MTDC) grids to reliably transport the energy over long distances. However, before building an MTDC grid, a functional protection system design is needed. Realistic and industrial studies are required to validate the functionality of such a system. In addition, further academic research as well as education in the field are needed. This paper presents an open-source, low-cost protection intelligent electronic device (IED) prototype for use in a laboratory environment. In particular, the IED design, its fastest measured performance, example results for different fault scenarios, and an assessment of its use in education are shown. The open-source IED is useful to accelerate industrial and academic research, as well as to enable education in protection for MTDC grids.

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) can be configured to perform ac/ac conversion, which makes them suitable as railway power supplies. In this paper, a hierarchical control scheme for ac/ac MMCs for railway power supplies is devised and evaluated, considering the requirements and the operating conditions specific to this application. Furthermore, admittance models of the ac/ac MMC are developed, showing how the suggested hierarchical control scheme affects the three-phase and the single-phase side admittances of the converter. These models allow for analyzing the stability of the interconnected system using the impedance-based stability criterion and the passivity-based stability assessment. Finally, the findings presented in this paper are validated experimentally, using a down-scaled MMC.

Integrating multiterminal high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) connections into the existing alternating current (AC) power transmission system is a possible solution for transport of large amounts of renewable energy. Protection is considered a key enabler for multiterminal HVDC (MTDC) grids. Designing such a protection system is a challenge, in particular in a multivendor setup. Fault detection during transients might be required to achieve the stringent speed requirements for HVDC protection. This in turn requires knowledge about the expected system behaviour during faults and involves knowledge from all vendors supplying equipment in MTDC grid. Traditionally, HVDC projects are, however, supplied as turn-key solutions and the control and protection systems are the intellectual property of the vendors and not open for the HVDC end-users. This paper aims to provide a starting point on the discussion which information has to be shared between vendorsand HVDC end-users when designing MTDC grid protection. Simulations results show that missing information about certain aspects can lead to a failure of the protection system. A discussion on organization of the available information is added. Open specifications of the used equipment are useful to design safe and reliable MTDC grid protection.

Future multiterminal high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) grids are considered an enabling technology to efficiently integrate large amounts of renewable energy into the existing grid. However, already in today’s existing point-to-point HVDC links, harmonic interaction issues and instabilities related to the controland protection system of the converters have been reported. The converter control software is usually black-boxed and problems are therefore solved in close cooperation with the HVDC vendor. This paper aims to provide a starting point for a discussion onan open-source HVDC control system. In particular, it covers the control design including technical and non-technical aspects. The open-source approach can be useful to solve current as wellas future control-related problems, both in point-to-point links as well as in multiterminal and multivendor HVDC grids.

During faults in multi-terminal high-voltage DC systems, the disturbance will quickly become evident throughout the entire system. If DC breakers are included in such systems, the entire fault clearing process needs to occur within a few milliseconds. Therefore, DC line protection schemes based on telecommunication have previously been discarded by some authors as their performance is constrained by the communication delay. However, telecommunication-based detection methods offer some very favourable features, one being that selectivity can be achieved without coordination of settings. In this study, several telecommunication-based protection schemes are evaluated with regards to their minimum possible detection time when considering telecommunication delay. It is shown that they perform best during faults located at the remote end of a line, i.e. fault locations that are difficult to reliably detect using single-ended methods. Therefore, it is reasonable that the most reliable protection system will consist of both single-ended and communication-based methods because they complement each other well. Furthermore, it is shown that the travelling wave differential protection offers the shortest theoretical detection time due to the wave propagation delay being included in the formulation.

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) can be configured to perform ac/ac conversion, which makes them suitable as railway power supplies. In this paper, a hierarchical control scheme for ac/ac MMCs for railway power supplies is devised and evaluated, considering the requirements and the operating conditions specific to this application. Furthermore, admittance models of the ac/ac MMC are developed, showing how the suggested hierarchical control scheme affects the three-phase and the single-phase side admittances of the converter. These models allow for analyzing the stability of the interconnected system using the impedance-based stability criterion and the passivity-based stability assessment. Finally, the findings presented in this paper are validated experimentally, using a down-scaled MMC. 

This paper compares two hybrid topologies that combine the line-commutated converter (LCC) with cascaded full-bridge (FB) converters. The latter are utilized for compensating the reactive power and filtering the current harmonics of the LCC. The method that was developed for dimensioning these hybrid topologies is presented in detail. This method is utilized for calculating the arm voltage and current waveforms, which are used to estimate other important quantities, such as conduction losses and energy variations. Finally, the studied converters are compared in terms of voltage/current ratings, semiconductor requirements, conduction losses, and energy variations.

This paper compares two hybrid topologies that combine the line-commutated converter (LCC) with cascaded full-bridge (FB) converters. The latter are utilized for compensating the reactive power and filtering the current harmonics of the LCC. The method that was developed for dimensioning these hybrid topologies is presented in detail. This method is utilized for calculating the arm voltage and current waveforms, which are used to estimate other important quantities, such as conduction losses and energy variations. Finally, the studied converters are compared in terms of voltage/current ratings, semiconductor requirements, conduction losses, and energy variations.

The stability of a modular multilevel converter connected to an ac grid can be assessed by analyzing the converter ac-side admittance in relation to the grid impedance. The converter control parameters have a strong impact on the admittance and they can be adjusted for achieving system stability. This paper focuses on the admittance-shaping effect produced by different current-control schemes, either designed on a per-phase basis or in the $dq$ frame using space vectors. A linear analytical model of the converter ac-side admittance is developed, including the different current-control schemes and the phase-locked loop. Different solutions for computing the insertion indices are also analyzed, showing that for a closed-loop scheme a compact expression of the admittance is obtained. The impact of the control parameters on the admittance is discussed and verified experimentally, giving guidelines for designing the system in terms of stability. Moreover, recommendations on whether a simplified admittance expression could be used instead of the detailed model are given. The findings from the admittance-shaping analysis are used to recreate a grid-converter system whose stability is determined by the control parameters. The developed admittance model is then used in this experimental case study, showing that the stability of the interconnected system can be assessed using the Nyquist stability criterion.

This paper investigates the impact of the thyristor commutation time on the peak currents and the active-power capability of the hybrid alternate-common-arm converter (HACC). This converter employs director thyristors for the alternate connection of a common arm in parallel to the main arms. The parallel connection enables current sharing among the arms, which allows the HACC to transfer higher output power without increasing the peak arm current. It is shown that the active-power capability of the HACC is doubled for a certain current-sharing factor, which, however, is altered by the thyristor commutation time. Therefore, the impact of the commutation time on the active-power capability of the HACC is investigated theoretically. Finally, this analysis is verified by simulation results.