HARMONY - Harmonic identification, mitigation and control in power electronics based power systems

Global electrical energy consumption is still increasing which demands that power capacity and power transmission capabilities must be doubled within 20 years. Today 40 % of the global energy consumption is processed by electricity - in 2040 this may be up to 70 %. Electrical power production is changing from conventional, fossil based sources to renewable power resources. Highly efficient and sustainable power electronics in power generation, power transmission/distribution and end-user applications are introduced to ensure more efficient use of electricity. Traditional centralized electricity production with unidirectional power flows in transmission and distribution system will be replaced by the operation and control of intelligent distribution systems which are much more based on power electronics systems and having bidirectional power flow. Such large scale expansion of power electronics usage will change the characteristic of the power system by introducing more harmonics from generation, from power electronics interfaced load systems all resulting in a larger risk of instability and more losses in the future power system. The projects goal is to obtain “Harmony” between the renewable energy sources, the future power system and the loads in order to keep stability at all levels seen from a harmonic point of view. The project establishes the necessary theories, models and methods to identify harmonic problems in a power electronic based power system, a theoretical and hardware platform to enable control of harmonics and mitigate them, and develops on-line methods to monitor the harmonic state of the power system. The outcomes are new tools for identifying stability problems in power electronics based power systems, new control methods for reducing the harmonic presence and reduce the overall instability risks. Further, new design methods for active and passive filters in renewable energy systems, in the power system and in the power electronics based loads will be developed. The project is funded with ERC as an Advanced Grant given in 2012