To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (45683 ) 12/7/2016 1:14:19 AM From: axial Read Replies (1) | Respond to Frank as a followup to this post “ We need new tests and standards to prevent major failures ” The transition to renewable energy is accompanied by the widespread use of power electronics, such as inverters, which require a whole new way of testing smart equipment, says Theo Bosma, Program Director Power Systems & Electrification at DNV GL, one of the largest technical consultancies in the world. According to Bosma, the new power electronics are not adequately tested at the moment. “New technologies such as solar, wind, batteries and smart grids are driven by software. But as a sector we are still testing individual components instead of the brains of these systems.” He warns that “if we don’t change our methods and standards, this will cause major problems in the future, including blackouts”. DNV GL calls on the electricity sector to jointly develop new industry standards based on “hardware-in-the-loop” techniques. With the electric power system increasingly being taken over by software-driven “power electronics”, Theo Bosma, who leads a team of 20 researchers in labs in Singapore, Bristol, Copenhagen, Oslo and Arnhem, has a practical example showing how things can go seriously awry. In the business this is known as “the German 50.2 Hz problem”. Another example Bosma encountered in which “smart” components showed unexpected reactions was in the case of a medium-voltage transformer which contained power electronics keeping the voltage at a constant level. “This worked so well that a similar transformer a few kilometres away was put in place. But then the two started hunting each other. If one reduced the voltage, the other started increasing it, because there was no communication or coordination.”
