One of the challenges for developing the DC multi-terminal grids of the future, is how to protect the system in the event of a fault, so that only the faulty components are isolated rather than having to isolate the whole DC grid. Such protection requires intelligent electronic devices to monitor the grid and quickly detect and identify faults.
As part of the PROMOTioN Project two such devices have been developed and here at The National HVDC Centre we have the responsibility of demonstrating how these devices will work in practice (within a simulated environment).
The event successfully brought together project partners from the PROMOTioN project with the purpose of demonstrating HVDC protection implementation. This was done by using real-time simulation to test protection hardware integrated within a simulated model of an HVDC Grid; combined with direct current circuit breaker (DCCB) real-time simulation models. The protection hardware used were two intelligent electronic devices (IEDs): one was developed in PROMOTioN Work Package 4; and the other provided by Mitsubishi Electric Europe, which is developed by its parent company Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (centre of picture).
Beyond this event further testing will be undertaken to assess the performance of the protection system and to investigate the interoperability of the different components. This will culminate in a public demonstration event next year (at The National HVDC Centre).
