A fast switching, scalable DC-Breaker for meshed HVDCSuperGrids

Inhalt:
The increasing percentage of renewable energy sources and the decreasing number of conventional power plants lead to new challenges for the High Voltage Grid. The existing HVAC-Grids are not suitable to compensate the fluctuating nature of these sources and to transmit energy over long distances. Therefore, a large meshed HVDC-SuperGrid, electronically controlled, has been proposed by several experts. Such a large grid will impose the need for fast DC-Breakers at the nodes and Modular Multilevel Converters with current limiting function. The following paper deals with a new concept for a fast switching DC-Breaker, with thyristor-based power electronics. Its characteristics and essential components are investigated in detail.