SuperGrid Institute inaugurates a platform for the study of HVDC power networks in collaboration with OPAL-RT
SuperGrid Institute
Energy
01 / 23 / 2017
The company
SuperGrid Institute was created in France in 2014 to research the electrical grid of the future. In collaboration with OPAL-RT, the institute inaugurated a platform designed to model and simulate HVDC power networks in real time and help increase the technological readiness of the control and protection strategies developed by the institute.
The Challenges
- HVDC Protection Requirements: HVDC installations contain costly equipment that must be protected against faults such as short circuits and lightning.
- Validation of New Algorithms: SuperGrid Institute required a platform to test and validate new protection and control algorithms.
- MMC Testing Complexity: Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) control requires voltage balancing between capacitors, demanding high computing power and fast communications.
The OPAL-RT Solution
- CPU/FPGA Architecture: OPAL-RT provided a mixed CPU/FPGA simulation architecture combining EMT simulation and high-frequency power electronics modeling.
- HIL & PHIL Capabilities: The platform supports Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL), Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP), and Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) testing using reduced-scale MMC converters and power amplifiers.
- IEC 61850 Communications: The real-time simulation platform supports standardized communication protocols, including IEC 61850 for substation automation applications.
The results
- Real-Time HVDC Testing: SuperGrid Institute can model and simulate HVDC power networks in real time.
- Improved Technology Readiness: The platform helps increase the technological readiness of the control and protection strategies developed by the institute.
- PHIL-Based MMC Testing: Reduced-scale MMC converters can be tested using PHIL techniques and actual current flows.
- Interoperability Testing: Standardized communication protocols enable testing with actual substation devices using the HIL approach.
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