Smart Grid Seminar
Annenberg 107
Electric Springs: A New Smart Grid Technology
Ron Hui,
The University of Hong Kong and Imperial College, UK,
Balarko Chaudhuri,
Imperial College, London,
Instantaneous balance between power generation and demand is a requirement for power grid stability. With increasing use of distributed and intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, traditional control paradigm of power generation following demand has to be changed. Power demand must follow the dynamically changing power generation. Inspired by the Hooke's law for mechanical springs, the concept of "electric springs" was developed recently with an aim to ensure secure operation of future power grids. Electric springs are expected to facilitate integration of intermittent renewable energy sources which are interfaced to the power grid through power electronic converters.
In the first part of this talk, Professor Ron Hui would introduce the basic concept of electric springs and discuss the motivation behind it. He would describe the proof-of-concept experiments carried out using bench-scale prototype of electric springs to show their potential. He would summarize the recent research activities, planned field trials and potential role of electric springs in smart grids.
In the second part of this talk, Dr Balarko Chaudhuri would discuss the future challenges facing the system operators in Great Britain due to the anticipated reduction in system inertia and short circuit level. In this context, the role of electric springs in grid frequency regulation and distributed voltage control will be described at a system level. Two possible configurations of electric springs would be compared in terms of their effectiveness in dealing with under- and over-voltage/frequency problems. The talk will conclude by highlighting the technical challenges towards exploiting the full capability of electric springs which would require collaborative research between experts in control theory, power electronics and power systems.
For more information, please contact Sydney Garstang by email at sydney@caltech.edu.
Event Series
Smart Grid Seminar Series