Integration of high voltage direct current technologies as alternatives for high voltage alternative current lines in meshed grids: dynamical aspect: stability, transients

Details

Supervisors

De Jaeger, Emmanuel

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil électricien, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

At the end of the nineteenth century, a debate took place in the United States of America as to whether Alternative Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC) technologies should be used for public lighting, also known as the War of the Currents. To cut a long story short, the technical difficulties of achieving high voltage with DC technologies made transmission over long distances inefficient compared to AC, where high voltage could be achieved thanks to transformers. That is why today's electrical networks are AC networks. However, with technical breakthroughs in power electronics, it is now possible to achieve high voltage with DC technologies, and even higher than with AC. So, when an operator builds a new line, they must compare these two technologies. In Belgium, the transmission system operator considers it necessary to build a new 6 GW line between Mercator and Courcelles. This project is called the "Boucle du Hainaut". At the request of some citizens, the possibility of building this new line with DC technologies has been investigated. Although the current conclusion is that it is not feasible to build the "Boucle du Hainaut" in a reliable manner with today's DC technologies, it does raise the question of the integration of such technologies in the existing meshed AC networks