The use of real time simulation to de-risk and manage HVDC and FACTS schemes

​​RT Spotlight Zurich Presentation - Several projects involving power electronic based equipment such as HVDC links, static VAR compensators and wind power plants have been decided and build by RTE. In the long term, the share of power electronics connections into existing ac systems will significantly increase due to the massive penetration of wind power plants and HVDC links. For several years, the French TSO (Transmission System Operator) RTE, has been involved in research and development activities to model and study power electronic devices. To support these activities, numerical tools are needed that offer detailed modeling HV components and controls while maintaining a good compromise between robustness, accuracy, and flexibility. 

This presentation illustrate how replicas are used at RTE to improve system operation since 2011. This solution will be presented with real events that occurred on the French grid with HVDC devices. Special incidents are presented, that is: DC cable fault event and AC emulation behavior due to inter-area oscillation. Also, the paper explains how realtime simulation with physical controls supports maintenance, training and R&D activities by providing robust and reliable tool.