Page 25 - Modern Control of DC-Based Power Systems

xxiv Preface

engineering. The book uses the challenges introduced by DC technology
to review how different control solutions could be applied in modern
power grids.
For this reason, we do not enter into the details of the mathematical
formulation and demonstration. A lot of excellent books are already avail-
able for this purpose [1]. Here the idea is to have a quick review of the
theoretical prerequisites and then to focus on the understanding of how
to use a control design formulation in a given context. For this reason a
significant set of simulation results is also provided.
The hope is to empower the students with a set of design tools and
with the right level of understanding that enables them to select the right
tool for the right problem.
DC Power Systems are deemed to be solutions for high efficiency
power conversion scenarios. Examples of those include Off-shore
Windfarms, Industrial Power Grids, Microgrid Applications, More
Electric Aircraft, Electric Vehicles, and All Electric Ships. The last three
cases have been of particular interest as a full DC distribution has been
realized or planned for the future. These types of systems have in com-
mon that the generation capacity is limited and that the maximum load
demand may exceed the available generation capacity. Furthermore, the
installed inertia is very low. This characteristic is expected to be more evi-
dent when in 30 years our energy generation will move towards a fully
renewable model.
Therefore, DC microgrids offer a compelling use case to study the
challenges that the future power engineers will face in 30 years. As result,
this book places an emphasis on parallel source and load DC power
systems.
The main goal of this book is to capture this knowledge in a struc-
tured way. To support the migration from AC to DC Systems, the actual
power engineers have to learn about their peculiarities. In the current
context, DC Systems are a domain of the Power Electronics research field
while classical power engineers lack the necessary background in power
electronics or control theory to fully master this topic. The contributors’
research activity delivered a significant amount of knowledge that the
authors would like to share with this book. This book aims at:
• being used in an interdisciplinary university program to teach about
future challenges of DC Grids in a problem-based context;
• practicing power engineers who will face the challenge of integrating
DC grids in their existing architecture.