System Architectures and Power Electronic Converter Topologies Enabling Flexible AC/DC Power Networks

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The deployment and advancement of electrical power systems over the past century has enabled an exponential growth in global GDP and in the living standards of the entire developed world. Electrical power transmission and distribution (T&D), be it large scale or small, enables the movement of power from supply to load. In 2012 the global T&D equipment market size was estimated at $131 billion. Today, with the explosive growth in renewable energy production and the pressures to enhance energy efficiencies, the importance of integrating renewables and energy storage into utility networks are forcing a re-evaluation of the design paradigms that have driven T&D technology development over the past several decades.**Recently, use of DC networks for collection, transmission and distribution of power have become a viable alternative to AC networks, offering promise for enhanced efficiency, enhanced controllability and, in a growing number of applications, reduced cost. Most existing end consumers however, will remain reliant on AC distribution networks for decades to come, inevitably leading to the emerging dominance of mixed or `hybrid' AC/DC power networks. **The proposed research focuses on the development of future hybrid AC/DC power network architectures to achieve system efficiency enhancement, cost reduction and, most importantly, to leverage the control versatility offered by the power electronic building blocks that make up AC-to-DC and DC-to-DC power conversion units. Through exploitation of this control versatility, the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources and energy storage devices may be realized. To facilitate new system architectures that best exploit the benefits of both AC and DC networks, the development of new converter topologies is necessary. These system architectures and conversion topologies will form the power-side infrastructure required to realize the "smart grid" vision as applied to power collection, transmission and distribution. Control of these converter topologies and system architectures are an integral part of the research.**The work will exploit recent advances made in the development of modular multi-input/multi-output converter topologies, invented at the University of Toronto, that enable the formation of converter topologies that serve multiple functions. These power electronic topologies not only facilitate the transfer of energy from AC to DC or from one DC voltage level to another, but they also enable a multitude of DC energy sources (be they batteries, solar PV panels or other sources) or loads to be simultaneously integrated directly into the AC and DC networks. Such approaches allow the elimination of unnecessary power conversion stages, driving up efficiency and driving down cost. "New architectures" for the power system will be directly enabled by, and linked to, the power electronic topologies that are developed.**The urgency of this work is demonstrated around the globe by the ever growing power transmission constraints, power interruptions and power quality problems that are arising as a result of a non-systematic approach to renewable energy integration into the T&D systems of the past generation. For a further demonstration of this urgency one need only look at the new integrated "Solar PV - energy storage" systems market, which is expect to grow from $200 Million in 2012 to $17 Billion by 2017. It is imperative that Canada participates in this technological revolution, which is reshaping the landscape of electric power engineering. The proposed research will enable the training of 5 MASc graduates, 5 PhD graduates, in addition to the training of numerous MEng students, summer students and BASc thesis students within this critical area.