High Voltage DC (HVDC) transmission is a long-standing technology with many installations around the world. Over the past few years, significant breakthroughs in the voltage-sourced converter technology along with their attractive features have made the HVDC technology even more promising in providing enhanced reliability and functionality and reducing cost and power losses. Concomitantly, significant changes in generation, transmission, and loads such as (i) integration and tapping renewable energy generation in remote areas, (ii) need for relocation or bypassing older conventional and/or nuclear power plants, (iii) increasing transmission capacity, and (iv) urbanization and the need to feed the large cities have emerged. These new trends have called for Multi-Terminal DC (MTDC) systems, which when embedded inside the AC grid, can enhance stability, reliability, and efficiency of the present power grid. The strategic importance of MVDC and HVDC grids is evidenced by the number of worldwide projects currently in their advanced planning stage, e.g., European “Supergrids” and the Baltic Sea project along with several projects in the US and China. This presentation is focused on opportunities brought by the MTDC grids and addressing the technical challenges associated with their operation, control and protection in future power systems. [] Room: MK435, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/420734

During this talk will be presented a case study of a network microgrid designed to coordinate the operation of microgrids, with the objective of increasing their resiliency. The proposed microgrid orchestrator was validated in the state-of-the-art network microgrid testbed at ORNL. The study focuses on two community-owned microgrids in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, designed to provide affordable and reliable access to electricity to 14 businesses located in the town square. Currently operating in standalone, this work investigates the potential benefits of networking them to increase their resiliency. Through experimental results we validated advantages of networking microgrids to increase the islanded operating time compared to stand-alone operation. Further details can be found in our publication in IEEE spectrum publication: https://spectrum.ieee.org/microgrid [] Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/417854

The team provides all materials (PCB, parts, solder, etc.). Students are shown how to solder a variety of joints and connections. Proper safety techniques are demonstrated, and proper use of the soldering iron. Afterwards, students may take home their new soldered PCB! Knoxville, Tennessee, United States