Reconfiguration Algorithm to Reduce Power Losses in Offshore HVDC Transmission Lines

The race to increase the efficiency and reduce the power losses in transmission systems has resulted in the substantial growth of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Moreover, the interconnection of these transmission systems significantly increases their reliability. However, the control of these meshed grids is a key problem that usually is managed through the control of the VSCs in those grids, but the control of the VSC can be complemented with a reconfiguration algorithm. This paper proposes the use of the particle swarm optimization algorithm, in order to reconfigure meshed HVDC transmission systems and reduce losses. The proposed algorithm has been tested in the CIGRE benchmark grid, which comprises of several offshore wind farms that generate energy sent to the grid through several HVDC transmission lines. The results show that as the energy generation changes due to wind changes, the grid topology must be reconfigured in order to achieve the maximum efficiency. Doing this reconfiguration, power savings around 18-19% could be achieved.