SuperGrid Institute, sponsor of InnoGrid 2019
This week, SuperGrid Institute participated as an official sponsor of the 8th edition of InnoGrid2020+, the innovative power conference co-organized by ENTSO-E and E.DSO.
New challenges for High Voltage transmission
In able to fully integrate renewable energies and to stop to use fossil energy and nuclear power, there is a need to evolve the current electric grid in a new one called the supergrid. This new grid will be based on a mix of High Voltage AlternativeCurent (HVAC) and High voltage Direct Current (HVDC) junctions highly meshed with Gas Insulation Substation (GIS) as nodes. While HVAC GIS technologies are well mastered, HVDC ones are still at the beginning. One weakness of the equipment being dielectric insulators, industries may have to conceive new dielectric formulations or improved ones. This paper presents a list of properties and values to target for future dielectrics formulation. At the end, it highlights as well, the importance of health and environnement and how their consideration have to be at the same level of attention than the final properties of the dielectrics.
SuperGrid Institute at PCIM Europe 2019
This year, for the first time our presence at PCIM Europe 2019, was noticeable with our stand from 6th to 9th May. At the conference, and as power electronics is at the heart of our innovations, SuperGrid Institute was invited to present during the « Smart Transformers » special session.
Power electronic traction transformers in 25 kV / 50 Hz systems: Optimisation of DC/DC Isolated Converters with 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs
In AC electric trains, power electronic traction transformers (PETT) are multilevel single phase AC/DC converters connected to the AC medium voltage overhead line. For indirect topologies, DC/DC isolated converters are key elements of PETTs. This paper shows a method to design such DC/DC converters, and several variants are considered. Finally, the comparison results, in the case of a 25 kV / 50 Hz power supply and 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs, show that the variant with a resonant AC link, with only one controlled bridge and a switching frequency lower than the resonant frequency, offers the best efficiency at rated power for a given volume.
Relive the SuperGrid Institute inauguration
If you would like to re-live your day with us, or if you were unable to attend, we invite you to watch this short video to discover the day’s events and our test platforms & facilities.
SuperGrid Institute presents a brilliant innovation at CIGRE-IEC 2019 in Japan
The Energy Management Control of MMC by SuperGrid Institute was presented in Japan this week at the CIGRE-IEC 2019 Conference on EHV and UHV (AC & DC), generating stimulating discussions about this new technology.
A New Energy Management Control of Modular Multilevel Converters for Coping with Voltage Stress on Sub-Modules
This paper investigates the impact of the operating condition on the SM voltage ripples. In particular, it is revealed that under the classical control scheme where the Modular Multilevel Converter internal energy varies naturally with the DC grid voltage, the traditional sizing approach based on the analytical expression of instantaneous SM voltage may fail to respect the SM voltage constraint. To tackle this problem, this paper presents a solution by incorporating the advantages of the explicit energy management and the developed analytical expressions of the SM voltage ripple, which achieves a better utilization of the converter asset.
Packaging Solution for SiC Power Modules with a Fail-to-Short Capability
Fail-to-short packages, which can still carry current after the failure of their semiconductor devices, are required for HVDC applications. However, all existing solutions are dedicated to silicon components. Here, a fail-to-short package is proposed for SiC devices. Its manufacturing process is described. 4 modules are built and submitted to intense short circuit currents (up to 2000 A). It is found that they offer a stable short-circuit failure mode, providing that the modules are mechanically clamped to prevent separation during the surge current test.
-Phd Caroline STACKLER “Electronic transformers for railway applications”
The main objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology to size PETT topologies, in order to compare them.
PhD Amjad MOUHAIDALI “Contribution to the modelling of HVDC cables for electromagnetic transient simulations”
The integration of new technologies in the electric grids made them more and more complex, and most likely future growth of power grids will be based more on underground cables than overhead lines. One problem here, is that the mathematical model for electromagnetic simulation of power cables still has some shortcomings regarding stability, accuracy and passivity. In this thesis, we evaluate the cable parameters using analytical and numerical methods.
