A Multi-Option Unified Power Flow Approach for Hybrid AC/DC Grids Incorporating Multi-Terminal VSC-HVDC

Abstract

This paper proposes a multi-option power flow approach for hybrid AC/DC grids. A unified AC-DC unit is introduced which can be used in two different cases: case a) AC grids with embedded VSC-based MTDC grids, and case b) asynchronous AC grids connected via a common VSC-based MTDC grid. In the proposed method for each MTDC grid (regardless of the number of converters), a new state variable is introduced to handle any kind of converter loss models. For the case (b), the AC-DC unit can be used in two different analyses, namely, a1) the separated analysis and a2) the integrated analysis. Both a1) and a2) can be used in the practical analysis of the real-size power systems. However, it is shown that the separated analysis not only offers a shorter computational time but it is also very suitable for the future connection between large existing AC systems and other AC systems or remote renewable energy sources through the DC grids. The proposed methodology is implemented in MATLAB software and verified using commercial software SIMPOW.