Simulation Engineer Habib Rahman attended CIGRE B4 UK this week and provides an update of the progress of the working groups along with the UK Interconnector projects.  This was an excellent opportunity to talk to lots of key connections from across the network and various organisations; including Transmission Operators, Manufacturers (e.g. ABB, GE, Toshiba etc), Consultants and Universities.

A summary of progress reported from different specialist technical working groups (WG) include:

• CIGRE WG B4-74: This WG aims to develop a guide to creating real-time simulation models (RTSM) for HVDC operation studies. Currently China Southern Grid (CSG) is the world’s largest Real-time Simulator (RTS) user and a key member of this group. RTS simulator is one of their key tools and strategies to ensure the secure and reliable operation of their power grid.  The National HVDC Centre will be heavily involved in the review process of the technical guide.

• CIGRE WG B4-81: This WG is focused on the interaction between nearby VSC-HVDC converters, FACTS devices, HV Power electronic devices and Conventional AC equipment. The National HVDC Centre is one of the key members of this working group and progress is being made against milestones. We will provide regular updates on progress of the CIGRE B4.81 working group evolves.

• CIGRE WG B1-62: This WG shared an update on the development on HVDC Cables and reported that a ±640kV HVDC cable system has been developed and qualified by manufacturers. The trend over the last 20 years has evolved from ±80kV (in 1999) to ±640kV (in 2020).

Also, interconnector developers at National Grid Ventures provided updates on the UK ongoing interconnectors projects from including IFA, IFA2, Nemo Link, BritNed, NSL and Vikings Link. The National HVDC Centre will continue to actively participate in CIGRE B4 UK technical and networking events across the year.