High Voltage Substation Equipment
“In the High Voltage Substation Equipment research department, we respond to the constraints of DC networks whilst respecting the environment.”
Marie-Hélène Luton, Department Director – High Voltage Substation Equipment
We develop substation technologies to respond to the constraints of future DC networks as well as those of current AC networks. This includes using circuit breakers to clear fault currents from meshed DC networks, as well as developing interconnection nodes to transfer energy. Our circuit breaker technologies and protection strategies are designed to reduce the cost of infrastructure and preserve the stability and availability of the network.
Gas-insulated switchgear is essential to networks, yet it is currently highly dependent on sulphur hexafluoride gas (SF6) – at the top of the list of greenhouse gasses – as the insulating medium. We study, model and optimise alternatives for gas-insulated switchgear. In addition, we research and implement new solid and gas insulation systems to provide enhanced electrical performance and resilience whilst maintaining low environmental impact.
To validate performance, we rely on SuperGrid Institute’s dielectric and power test laboratories. The characterisation platform enables us to define insulating material properties.
Our research projects include:
Recent publications
CO2 Footprint of DC Solid State Transformer for Linear PV Power Plant
A comparison of the carbon footprint of a DC SST designed for a Linear PV Power Plant with MVDC collection network.
Influence of the Mission Profile on the Selection of the Leakage Inductance for Dual Active Bridge Converter
The Dual Active Bridge (DAB) is a promising topology to be used in Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) networks.
Power Losses Measurement Method for High Efficiency MV Oil-Insulated DC-DC Converter
The accurate measurement of low power losses is not possible with traditional electrical input-output power measurements.
