A fast switching, scalable DC-Breaker for meshed HVDCSuperGrids

The increasing percentage of renewable energy sources and the decreasing number of conventional power plants lead to new challenges for the High Voltage Grid. The existing HVAC-Grids are not suitable to compensate the fluctuating nature of these sources and to transmit energy over long distances. Therefore, a large meshed HVDC-SuperGrid, electronically controlled, has been proposed by several experts. Such a large grid will impose the need for fast DC-Breakers at the nodes and Modular Multilevel Converters with current limiting function. The following paper deals with a new concept for a fast switching DC-Breaker, with thyristor-based power electronics. Its characteristics and essential components are investigated in detail.