Energies 2013, 6(1), 1-26; doi:10.3390/en6010001
Article

Operation and Power Flow Control of Multi-Terminal DC Networks for Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Farms Using Genetic Algorithms

Rodrigo Teixeira Pinto 1,* email, Sílvio Fragoso Rodrigues 1 email, Edwin Wiggelinkhuizen 2 email, Ricardo Scherrer 3 email, Pavol Bauer 1 email and Jan Pierik 2 email
1 Electrical Power Processing Group, Technical University of Delft, Mekelweg 4, Delft 2628 CD, The Netherlands 2 Wind Energy Group, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), Westerduinweg 3, Petten 1755 LE, The Netherlands 3 Bids, Proposals & Sales Operations, Alcatel-Lucent, Av. Marginal Direita da Anchieta 400, São Paulo 04182-901, Brazil
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 11 October 2012; in revised form: 24 November 2012 / Accepted: 14 December 2012 / Published: 24 December 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Grid and the Future Electrical Network)
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Abstract: For achieving the European renewable electricity targets, a significant contribution is foreseen to come from offshore wind energy. Considering the large scale of the future planned offshore wind farms and the increasing distances to shore, grid integration through a transnational DC network is desirable for several reasons. This article investigates a nine-node DC grid connecting three northern European countries — namely UK, The Netherlands and Germany. The power-flow control inside the multi-terminal DC grid based on voltage-source converters is achieved through a novel method, called distributed voltage control (DVC). In this method, an optimal power flow (OPF) is solved in order to minimize the transmission losses in the network. The main contribution of the paper is the utilization of a genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the OPF problem while maintaining an N-1 security constraint. After describing main DC network component models, several case studies illustrate the dynamic behavior of the proposed control method.
Keywords: HVDC transmission; voltage-source converters; power electronics; DC networks; offshore wind energy; control theory; optimal power flow; genetic algorithms

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Pinto, R.T.; Rodrigues, S.F.; Wiggelinkhuizen, E.; Scherrer, R.; Bauer, P.; Pierik, J. Operation and Power Flow Control of Multi-Terminal DC Networks for Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Farms Using Genetic Algorithms. Energies 2013, 6, 1-26.

AMA Style

Pinto RT, Rodrigues SF, Wiggelinkhuizen E, Scherrer R, Bauer P, Pierik J. Operation and Power Flow Control of Multi-Terminal DC Networks for Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Farms Using Genetic Algorithms. Energies. 2013; 6(1):1-26.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pinto, Rodrigo T.; Rodrigues, Sílvio F.; Wiggelinkhuizen, Edwin; Scherrer, Ricardo; Bauer, Pavol; Pierik, Jan. 2013. "Operation and Power Flow Control of Multi-Terminal DC Networks for Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Farms Using Genetic Algorithms." Energies 6, no. 1: 1-26.

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