The European Union is moving ahead with its target of at least 27% of final energy consumption to be from renewables by 2030, and the UK aiming for 30%. The role of wind energy especially offshore is becoming more important than ever. The non-dispatchable nature of renewables make integration into the grid and maintaining the grid-stability an arduous and complicated task. HVDC technology is seen as a key enabler for achieving higher penetration of renewable energy in the grid.
We asked experts from our speaker panel at Offshore Power Transmission & HVDC 2021 about the key challenges in integrating RES into the grid.
“In modern grids, power generation that is interfaced through DC-to-AC converters becomes more dominant, displacing older synchronous generation sources. These changes in generation features weaken the existing power grids, changing their dynamic behaviour and challenging their stability in an unprecedented way. Thus, weak-grid spots can also be developed at the connection points of Inverter Based Resources (IBR) or HVDC-Links and may jeopardise their stable operation under certain events or disturbances. Therefore, further collaboration is needed among asset owners, system operators and equipment vendors to find solutions that shall enable compliant IBRs’ integration in coherence with stable grid operation”
“In modern grids, power generation that is interfaced through DC-to-AC converters becomes more dominant, displacing older synchronous generation sources. These changes in generation features weaken the existing power grids, changing their dynamic behaviour and challenging their stability in an unprecedented way. Thus, weak-grid spots can also be developed at the connection points of Inverter Based Resources (IBR) or HVDC-Links and may jeopardise their stable operation under certain events or disturbances. Therefore, further collaboration is needed among asset owners, system operators and equipment vendors to find solutions that shall enable compliant IBRs’ integration in coherence with stable grid operation”At Offshore Power Transmission & HVDC 2021, Dr Spyros Karamitsos will speak on HVDC-OWF Integration Challenges & Stability Aspects in the Transforming Power Grids
“One of the biggest transformations in the power system sector is underway and is related to the integration of more renewable energy generators. At the same time, it is truth that the conventional thermal power plants, which cause significant air pollution, are planned to be phased out and replaced by greener renewables. This, however, comes with the great challenge of maintaining grid stability, given that the renewable energy generators are inverter based and can offer significantly lower inertia in the system, compared to the conventional synchronous generators, resulting in a reduced strength of the power system. HVDC technology will be a key enabler for achieving higher penetration of renewable energy generators, given the superior controllability that can offer in maintaining grid stability. Nevertheless, as we move towards a power system with more renewables the main control strategy of the HVDC has also to be adapted from grid-following to grid-forming converter and this is one of the main challenges that HVDC manufacturers will face in the near future.”At Offshore Power Transmission & HVDC 2021, George Fintzos will present a Case Study on the design and functional aspects of a new HVDC link of Crete Island with the mainland Transmission System of Greece
“The increased penetration of power electronics (PE) equipment in the network will have more and more impact on grid performance and reliability. PE devices as HVDC converters, FACTs and wind power plants include control and protection systems with a dynamic behaviour more complex compared to the classical power system devices. Such PE devices may, also, have undesired interaction phenomena risks and impact the AC network performance and stability. Therefore, the integration of PE devices in the network requires dedicated tools and deep knowledge to assess such risks. Dynamic tools such as EMT tool and real-time simulation should be improved and used more often by different stakeholders to prevent future undesired network behaviour due to such PE integration.”At Offshore Power Transmission & HVDC 2021, Haani Saad will speak on Composite Testing of HVDC-connected Offshore Wind Farms
“The grand challenge this year for Power Transmission & HVDC is how to de-risk the design, operation and build-up of integrated offshore wind connections that could deliver savings of up to £6 billion by 2050 to GB consumers and support Government’s commitment to achieving 40GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030.”At Offshore Power Transmission & HVDC 2021, Dr Oluwole Daniel Adeuyi will speak on Multi-terminal Extension of Existing HVDC Schemes
We are bringing together experts in Offshore Power Transmission, Electrical Engineering & HVDC technologies to discuss the latest trends, challenges and best-practices.
Interested to know more about the best-practices in offshore power transmissions, cabling and HVDC links? Then, we have got a virtual conference for you! Join our Offshore Power Transmission and HVDC 2021 to gain insights with our unique long peer-to-peer interaction model.
