EQUIRED AEI I+D

Description of the project

Modern electrical systems are dominated by converters based on power electronics. Power converters are present in the predominant renewable energy generators (wind and solar photovoltaic), energy storage interfaces, high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems, flexible alternating current transmission systems ( FACTS), electric vehicle chargers and industrial drives. Power converters differ from synchronous generators in that they are fully controllable devices with very limited overload capacity. This implies significant challenges in the operation of the electrical system (related to low inertia) and protection (limited short-circuit current). Steady-state power system calculations and short-circuit analyzes are usually done by assuming that there is a slack node (voltage source) in the network that can provide the current required to ensure balance. In power systems dominated by power electronics, this assumption is no longer true. A possible approach suggested by some recent research projects is based on doing dynamic simulations to analyze the behavior of the system under different conditions, including faults. This implies carrying out specific simulation studies for each condition, and generalized analyzes cannot be made. EQUIRED suggests a completely different approach by considering this problem from a different perspective. The project assumes that the network cannot be synthesized by the so-called Thevenin equivalent (commonly used in electrical system studies) and proposes a different approach based on voltage-to-current mapping. This new equivalent allows steady-state and short-circuit studies of modern electrical systems without requiring dynamic simulations. EQUIRED aims to transform the fundamentals of energy system analysis of modern energy systems to enable more accurate and in-depth calculations. The main research question of the project is how to obtain the basis for analyzing modern electrical systems dominated by power electronics for steady-state and short-circuit calculations.

Budget and financing

Amount: 242.000 €
Financing: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Co-financed by the European Union, State Research Agency.