The National HVDC Centre in the UK has tested two devices that monitor and detect faults in DC multi-terminal grids and aims for a public demonstration next year.
Testing and development of the intelligent electronic devices has been carried out under the auspices of the Progress on Meshed HVDC Offshore Transmission Networks (Promotion) initiative.
The Promotion project aims to tackle technical, regulatory, financial and legal challenges to the implementation of HVDC transmission networks.
One of the monitoring devices was developed in work package four of Promotion, while the other was provided by Mitsubishi Electric Europe.
The devices aim to overcome the challenge of how to protect multi-terminal grids in the event of a fault so that only the faulty components are isolated rather than the whole grid.
The National HVDC Centre is a simulation and training facility, supporting the integration and successful operation of all HVDC schemes connecting to the UK grid.
It is part of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, in collaboration with Scottish Power and National Grid, and funded through Ofgem’s Electricity Network Innovation Competition.