Abstract:
This paper describes the setup and demonstrates the performance of a real time simulator, used for Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testing of the control and protection systems of VSC-based HVDC schemes based on Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) topology. The HVDC scheme referenced in the paper connects offshore wind parks in the North Sea to deliver electric power to the German mainland. The main challenge of the paper is to demonstrate the required balance between the following:
- the exact and accurate simulation of the network necessary to thoroughly test and prove the performance of the HVDC controls
- the acceptable level of detail and complexity for the converter and the wind farm representations to optimize the amount of simulator hardware necessary to conduct the tests
Modular Multilevel Converters (MMC) present a major challenge for real time simulation due to the high number of submodules and the massive I/O requirements for HIL tests. Additionally the detailed representation of the wind farms including individual wind turbines increases the requirements on the simulator within the presented offshore application. Due to these issues it was decided to decrease the demand on computing power by using equivalent circuits and/or simplified models.
O. Venjakob, S.Kubera, R. Hibberts-Caswell, P. Forsyth, T. Maguire, Presented at the International Conference on Power Systems Transients (IPST2013) in Vancouver, Canada July 18-20, 2013. Paper #: 13IPST033
KEYWORDS: Real-Time Simulator, Hardware in Loop Simulation - HIL, Modular Multilevel Converter - MMC, Offshore Wind Farm