Superconducting Cable Modelling into Electro-Magnetic Transient Simulation Tool

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to model superconducting cables as electrical circuits within simulation tools, facilitating the analysis of fault scenarios and protection strategies for high-power offshore wind connections.

Contribution

It introduces a circuit-based modeling approach for superconducting cables in electromagnetic transient simulations, aiding design and protection strategy development.

Findings

Successful integration of superconducting cable models into simulation tools

Effective analysis of fault scenarios and protection strategies

Demonstrated benefits for offshore wind power connection design

Abstract

The European project SCARLET aims to study and realize a demonstrator of a MVDC (Medium Voltage Direct Current) high-power superconducting cable. This device might be employed to connect offshore wind farms with land, expecting to significantly simplify the offshore platform by eliminating the need for its conversion function. For this purpose, windmill conversion chain must be modified to directly produce the MVDC export voltage. In this scenario, this paper presents the case of a 1GW offshore windmill superconducting link and outlines the design consideration for a 1 GW onshore converter. For this cable, a protection strategy that combines DC circuit breakers with a Resistive Superconducting Fault Current Limiter is proposed. Moreover, this works demonstrates how a superconducting cable can be modelled as an electrical circuit to be integrated into a network simulation tool, enabling the investigation of various fault scenarios and protection strategies. Finally, a specific result is discussed to exemplify how the proposed approach can benefit the design of both the electrical network and the superconducting cable itself.