Accelerating the deployment of offshore wind using DC technology
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
Renewable power is one of the main drives to achieve carbon reduction and net-zero, and to meet the ambitious climate goals. In particular, offshore wind power in Europe has been developing at a rapid pace in recent years. Multi-Giga watts offshore wind farms with larger wind turbine power ratings, floating wind turbines installed in deeper water areas, and higher ratio of renewables integrated to existing power grids, are fundamentally changing power system operations and bringing new challenges and technical demands.
This industry-doctorate consortium, ADOreD, will recruit and train 15 Researchers by collaborating with 19 academic and industrial organisations. It aims to tackle the academic and technical challenges in the areas of transmission of offshore wind power to the AC grid by using power electronics-based AC/DC technologies. In doing so, it will equip the Researchers, through their PhD studies, with essential knowledge and skills to face fast energy transition in their future careers.
The project covers 3 key research aspects: offshore wind (including wind turbines, wind power collection, and wind farm design and control); DC technologies (including AC/DC converters, HVDC control and DC network operation and protection); and AC grid (including stability and control of AC grids dominated with converters under various control modes. The ADOreD consortium has excellent coverage of academic universities and industry organisations including manufacturers, energy utilities, system operators, consultancy and technology innovation centres. All the research questions in the project reflect industry needs; academic novelty and innovation will be reflected in the methodologies and solutions; and the research results will be disseminated directly to the industry partners' products, grid operation and services. The outcomes of the project are both technologies and a talent pool to accelerate the deployment and grid integration of large-scale offshore wind power.
This industry-doctorate consortium, ADOreD, will recruit and train 15 Researchers by collaborating with 19 academic and industrial organisations. It aims to tackle the academic and technical challenges in the areas of transmission of offshore wind power to the AC grid by using power electronics-based AC/DC technologies. In doing so, it will equip the Researchers, through their PhD studies, with essential knowledge and skills to face fast energy transition in their future careers.
The project covers 3 key research aspects: offshore wind (including wind turbines, wind power collection, and wind farm design and control); DC technologies (including AC/DC converters, HVDC control and DC network operation and protection); and AC grid (including stability and control of AC grids dominated with converters under various control modes. The ADOreD consortium has excellent coverage of academic universities and industry organisations including manufacturers, energy utilities, system operators, consultancy and technology innovation centres. All the research questions in the project reflect industry needs; academic novelty and innovation will be reflected in the methodologies and solutions; and the research results will be disseminated directly to the industry partners' products, grid operation and services. The outcomes of the project are both technologies and a talent pool to accelerate the deployment and grid integration of large-scale offshore wind power.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Jun Liang (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
| Description | The initial objectives of the award have largely been met, and work is ongoing, with no final outcomes yet. Research is actively investigating technical requirements for HVDC grid interoperability, focusing on harmonizing control protocols and operational standards for HVDC systems. This also includes development of simulation and analytical models for small-signal stability analysis in HVDC and renewable integration. Moreover, the research is investigating hardware-software co-design for GFM wind turbines to provide ancillary services and also a key emphasis on developing a more accurate dynamic aggregated equivalent model to replicate the overall dynamic behaviour of wind farms while reducing simulation time and computational resources. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings from this research can be taken forward by both academic and industrial stakeholders. |
| Sectors | Energy Environment |
| Description | This research is in its early stages and has not yet generated societal, economic, or policy impacts. The outcomes could eventually support offshore wind integration and grid resilience in the UK/EU. Collaboration with industry partners ensures alignment with real-world challenges, but findings are still under validation. Future work aims to translate technical insights into actionable guidelines for industry and policymakers. |
| Sector | Energy |
| Description | Offshore Multi Terminal DC Networks (MTDCs) - Strategic Advancement for Enhanced System Services |
| Amount | £427,266 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | TS/Z000416/1 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2024 |
| End | 07/2026 |
| Description | An industrial partner in EC Horizon Europe Doctorate Network |
| Organisation | Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Collaborating with ORE Catapult to utilise testing facilities (HIL and wind turbine test rig) for validating and investigating GFM wind turbines in providing ancillary services, as well as developing tools for wind farm aggregation models with HIL testing. We jointly recruited 2 PhD students who are working on the collaboration. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Industrial supervision, knowledge, models and application requirements. |
| Impact | at this stage, the recruitment has been completed; research and training plan has been agreed. Outcomes are expected in coming year. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | ADOreD Consortium Meeting in Barcelona |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | • Delivered a poster titled "Impedance Measurement of Grid-connected Converter" at the ADOreD Consortium Meeting in Barcelona (May 13-17, 2024) by Qingyuan Gong. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | ADOreD Consortium Meeting in Barcelona |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | • Delivered a poster titled "Impedance Measurement of Grid-connected Converter" at the ADOreD Consortium Meeting in Barcelona (May 13-17, 2024) by Qingyuan Gong. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | HVDC Colloquium in Barcelona |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | • Presented a talk titled " Active Bypass Control for Fault Tolerant Operation of Cascaded Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Converters" at the HVDC Colloquium in Barcelona (March 14-15, 2024) by Muhammad Helal |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | HVDC Colloquium in Barcelona |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | • Presented a talk titled "DC Voltage Balancing and Thermal Sharing Control of Cascaded Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Converters" at the HVDC Colloquium in Barcelona (March 14-15, 2024) by Muhammad Fawad. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Keynote speech at Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering Annual Conference on HVDC and Power electronics, Tianjin China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Jun Liang was invited to give the Keynote Speech on the Annual Conference on the topic of offshore wind power and AC/DC transmission technologies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Kick off and 1st Network Training event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This is a planned event providing training to 19 recruited doctorate researchers for 5 days in October 2023 in KU Leuven, Belgium. Academics, industries and policy makers attended to provide knowledge and training to the researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |