Modular multilevel converter with short-time power intensive electrical energy storage capability

The developing political and environmental reforms are driving a fast change in the energy mix of many nations. The increasing electrical energy being fed from renewable energy sources (e.g. wind and photovoltaic) impacts the dynamic behaviour of the power grid. Phasing out of existing conventional synchronous generators will adversely affect auxiliary services like voltage control and frequency regulation. Nowadays, there is no requirement by grid operators for these decoupled generation plants to provide any inertial support to the grid. Hence the integration of renewable energy sources could not serve as a complete replacement of the conventional generation. These challenges require identification of new solutions, which enhance dynamic performance and improves stability of the power grid. This paper presents one of the possible solutions to cope up with these challenges. This is based on a Modular Multilevel Converter based STATCOM i.e. SVC PLUS with power intensive storage. Preliminary results show a significant contribution of the proposed system to the dynamical behaviour and stability of the power grid.