The role of HVDC technology in transmission planning with renewable energy integration: A case of wind energy

Abstract

Renewable sources of energy have particular characteristics which make grid integration and long-distance transmission onerous. For one, the existing transmission infrastructure cannot, at its present state, accommodate features of RE for reliable integration with the grid and subsequent transmission. Wind, for example is very unpredictable- the ripple effect of this unpredictability is that the availability of power output will also fluctuate so much so that without auxiliary support, secure, reliable and quality power cannot be dispatched. Another set of complexity is the location of RE power plants that are significantly miles away from the intended Point of Use (PoU) centers. This makes VSC-HVDC the most appropriate technology that can harmonize the challenges of RE integration and transmission in one-fold. The VSC-HVDC transmission link was simulated in a MATLAB environment for offshore wind integration and results reveal the need to adopt VSC-HVDC as the most compatible technology for integrating and transmitting RE.