A new book by an NDSU faculty member addresses innovative approaches to energy in the future. The book by Nilanjan Ray Chaudhuri, NDSU assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the first text of its kind to examine methods to bring offshore wind energy on shore to power industry, homes and businesses.
“Multi-terminal Direct Current Grids: Modeling, Analysis, and Control,” is published by the Wiley-IEEE Press.
The research by Chaudhuri and his co-writers proposes a new type of power grid technology that allows reliable transfer of power from remote offshore locations. The research enables interconnection of offshore wind energy to onshore grids using direct current power transmission. “The book examines offshore energy integration through multi-terminal direct current grid and reveals the mystery of alternate current and direct current system interactions,” said Chaudhuri.
Standard power system technology does not work to bring the huge amount of energy from offshore locations to onshore.
“A multi-terminal DC, called MTDC, grid interconnecting multiple alternating current systems and offshore energy sources, such as wind farms, across the nations and continents would allow effective sharing of intermittent renewable resources and open market operation for secure and cost-effective supply of electricity,” said Chaudhuri. He points out that no operational experiences currently exist with such DC grids.
Discussions for setting up MTDC grids, particularly in Europe, have occurred. Two major technical barriers to harnessing offshore wind through such a system need to be solved. Interaction between a MTDC grid and surrounding AC systems has yet to be understood. Commercial unavailability of efficient DC side fault current interruption technology for conventional voltage sourced converter systems also presents problems.
The book presents a comprehensive modeling, analysis and control design framework. The authors note possible methodologies for autonomous power sharing and exchange of frequency support across a MTDC grid and their impact on overall stability. In addition, an overview of challenges and ongoing research and development initiatives for DC side fault current interruption also is presented.
The book’s co-writers include Balarko Chaudhuri, senior lecturer at Imperial College London; Rajat Majumder, senior staff consultant at Siemens Power Technologies International, Schenectady, New York; and Amirnaser Yazdani, associate professor at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.
Chaudhuri earned a doctorate from Imperial College London in 2011, and master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India, in 2005, both in power systems. From 2005-07, he worked at the General Electric John F. Welch Technology Center, Bangalore, India, in the Edison Engineering Development Program. He worked at the GE Global Research Center, New York, as a lead engineer from 2011 to 2014.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
