This paper proposes a generalized voltage droop (GVD) control strategy for dc voltage control and power sharing in voltage source converter (VSC)-based multiterminal dc (MTDC) grids. The proposed GVD control is implemented at the primary level of a two-layer hierarchical control structure of the MTDC grid, and constitutes an alternative to the conventional voltage droop characteristics of voltage-regulating VSC stations, providing higher flexibility and, thus, controllability to these networks. As a difference with other methods, the proposed GVD control strategy can be operated in three different control modes, including conventional voltage droop control, fixed active power control, and fixed dc voltage control, by adjusting the GVD characteristics of the voltage-regulating converters. Such adjustment is carried out in the secondary layer of the hierarchical control structure. The proposed strategy improves the control and power-sharing capabilities of the conventional voltage droop, and enhances its maneuverability. The simulation results, obtained by employing a CIGRE B4 dc grid test system, demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach and its flexibility in active power sharing and power control as well as voltage control. In these analysis, it will be also shown how the transitions between the operating modes of the GVD control does not give rise to active power oscillations in the MTDC grids.

The increasing amount of renewable power generation systems is a challenging issue for the control and operation of the electrical networks. One of the main issues is their lack of inertia, which is becoming a greater problem as much as the share of the power plants based on traditional synchronous generators gets reduced. In this regard, the new grid codes ask these plants to provide new functionalities such as the frequency support and inertia emulation. In this paper, a synchronous power controller for grid-connected converters is proposed as a good solution for the renewable generation systems with energy storage. It provides inertia, damping, and flexible droop characteristics. Different from the faithful replication of the swing equation of synchronous machines, an alternative control structure is proposed, by which the damping and inherent droop slope can be configured independently to meet the requirements in both dynamics and frequency regulations. Analysis and experimental results are both shown to validate the proposed controller.

The actual grid code requirements for the grid connection of distributed generation systems, mainly wind and photovoltaic (PV) systems, are becoming very demanding. The transmission system operators (TSOs) are especially concerned about the low-voltage-ride-through requirements. Solutions based on the installation of STATCOMs and dynamic voltage regulators (DVRs), as well as on advanced control functionalities for the existing power converters of distributed generation plants, have contributed to enhance their response under faulty and distorted scenarios and, hence, to fulfill these requirements. In order to achieve satisfactory results with such systems, it is necessary to count on accurate and fast grid voltage synchronization algorithms, which are able to work under unbalanced and distorted conditions. This paper analyzes the synchronization capability of three advanced synchronization systems: the decoupled double synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (PLL), the dual second order generalized integrator PLL, and the three-phase enhanced PLL, designed to work under such conditions. Although other systems based on frequency-locked loops have also been developed, PLLs have been chosen due to their link with dq0 controllers. In the following, the different algorithms will be presented and discretized, and their performance will be tested in an experimental setup controlled in order to evaluate their accuracy and implementation features.

This paper presents a centralized protection strategy for medium voltage dc microgrids. The proposed strategy consists of a communication-assisted fault detection method with a centralized protection coordinator and a fault isolation technique that provides an economic, fast, and selective protection by using the minimum number of dc circuit breakers. The proposed method is also supported by a backup protection that is activated if communication fails. This paper also introduces a centralized self-healing strategy that guarantees successful operation of zones that are separated from the main grid after the operation of the protection devices. Furthermore, to provide a more reliable protection, thresholds of the protection devices are adapted according to the operational modes of the microgrid and the status of distributed generators. The effectiveness of the proposed protection strategy is validated through real-time simulation studies based on the hardware in the loop approach.

At the present time distributed generation systems are required to disconnect from the main grid when there is an outage. In order to fulfill this requirement photovoltaic power plants (PV) are equipped with anti-islanding algorithms, embedded in the converters controller, to avoid the island operation. However, the current trends in the development of the future electrical networks evidence that it is technically feasible and economically advantageous to keep feeding islanded systems under these situations, without cutting the power supply to the loads connected to the network. Nevertheless, commercial PV power converters are programmed as grid-feeding converters, and they are unable to work in island mode if there is not an agent forming the grid. In order to overcome this problem the Synchronous Power Controller (SPC) is presented in this paper as a suitable alternative for controlling PV inverters. As it will be further discussed this controller permits PV plants to operate seamless in grid connected and island mode, with no need of changing the control structure in any case. Moreover, the participation of SPC based power converters integrating energy storage enables other grid-feeding systems to contribute to the grid operation in island conditions. The good results achieved with the SPC in different conditions will be shown in simulations and also with experiments considering a real PV power plant combining SPC and comercial SMA converters.

This paper proposes a hierarchical control architecture designed for an arbitrary high voltage multiterminal dc (MTDC) network. In the proposed architecture, the primary control of the MTDC system is decentralized and implemented using a generalized droop strategy. Design criteria for dimensioning the primary control parameters, including voltage limits, are offered by analyzing the transients appearing in the system. The proposed secondary control is centralized and regulates the operating point (OP) of the network so that optimal power flow (OPF) is achieved. Compared to previous works, this paper further elaborates, both analytically and through simulations, on the coordination between the primary and secondary control layers. This includes how local primary controllers have to be driven by the centralized controller in order to ensure a smooth transition to the optimal OP.