HVDC – VSC system
Training in New York, USA
About
Introduction
Supported by ambitious climate objectives, HVDC-VSC technology is playing an increasingly important role in current and future energy transmission systems. VSC technology is crucial in its contribution to the energy transition as it provides new opportunities for more and more interconnected energy markets. However, the technology is developing rapidly, and the complexity of these projects requires detailed engineering expertise. Therefore, the objective of the 5-day training course is to introduce the participants to the principles and challenges of HVDC-VSC technology and to present basic methodologies and technical hands-on experience for VSC projects.
Topics Covered
The training course, organized in close collaboration with EMTP and RTE international, covers the following topics:
- Introduction to VSC-MMC technology
- Modelling and simulation of HVDC-VSC systems with EMTP
- Control and protection of VSC-MMC stations
- Specifications of HVDC-VSC projects
- Maintenance of HVDC converter
Intended Audience
This course is intended for engineers, researchers, operators, and maintenance personnel who work or are planning to work on HVDC projects and would like to gain a deeper understanding of the technology. It provides up-to-date technical expertise on HVDC-VSC projects. This course is also an opportunity to meet and share with experts and colleagues who work in the HVDC field. Thank you for understanding that the number of participants will be limited.
Training Course Structure
The duration of the training course is 5 days (Mon-Fri). The training starts at 9:00 am and ends at 5:00 pm every day (except on Friday). Lunch breaks are planned from noon to 1:00 pm, the cost of which are included in the course fees.
The first day will be open to all, free of charge, upon registration, to allow as many people as possible to discover our training.
A group dinner for participants and trainers is planned for Thursday.
Training presentations and supporting materials will be provided.
Licenses
Temporary EMTP licenses will be provided to the audience. EMTP will be used to illustrate models and concepts and evaluate the performances of HVDC-VSC systems.
COVID-19 regulations
With reference to the currently applicable regulations, the event is scheduled to take place on site. In case of short-term changes due to COVID, alternatives are intended to be offered, e.g. online training. For recent rules and regulations in the US, please refer to this website
Procedure
Date
2024
Duration
5 days
Fees
On demand
Type of training
Classroom training. A training certificate will be provided at the end of the course for all attendees.
Location
123 Main Street, White Plains, New York, USA
Register Here
Trainers

Sébastien Dennetière
HVDC Expert & Technical Senior Advisor at RTE international
In January 2010, he joined the French TSO RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Electricité) where he is currently involved in power system simulation and HVDC projects as a technical expert. One of his main tasks is to integrate HVDC/FACTS equipment to the French grid. He oversees the technical coordination of studies performed for HVDC integration in France and abroad. He was responsible for the development of detailed HVDC and wind turbines models in Uruguay and in the development of specifications for coordination of the 2 HVDC systems in Norway for the project “Equinor Johan Sverdrup VSC multivendor interoperability”.
From 2004 to 2008 he worked at the research center of EDF in the field of insulation coordination and power system simulations. From 2002 to 2004 he worked at IREQ (Hydro-Québec) on research and development activities related to the simulation and analysis of electromagnetic transients.
Sébastien Dennetière graduated from the École Supérieure d’Electricité (Supélec) France in 2002. He received his M.Sc. degree and PhD degree from the École Polytechnique de Montréal in 2003 and 2017, respectively.

Pierre Rault
HVDC Expert at RTE international
He is a Power System Expert Engineer in RTE international since 2018, working mainly for the EQUINOR Johan Sverdrup project. In this position, he is involved in the coordination control philosophy of the two HVDCs links of the project. He follows replica installation and commissioning. In addition, he performs and analyses parallel tests with control replicas.
At the same time, he is the secretary of CIGRE WG B4.70: “Guide for Electromagnetic Transient Studies involving VSC converters” and member of CIGRE B4-58: “Control Methodologies For Direct Voltage And Power Flow In A Meshed HVDC Grid”. Furthermore, he is the French representant in the committees TC8 / TC22 / TC115, where he follows and reviews new standards related to VSC-HVDC. Similarly, he is a member of TC115 – WG15 – Functional Specifications for HVDC Grid Systems.
Pierre Rault has been studying and dealing with with HVDC topics since his PhD on Multiterminal VSC-HVDC grid control strategies. Beforehand, he worked at GIE IDEA (EDF/Schneider Electric/G2Lab) on wind farm connection. He was in charge of the necessary requirements and thus reviewed grid codes compliance criteria. Moreover, he developed a methodology for wind farm reactive power management.
Pierre Rault has good proficiency in English. He holds a PhD from Ecole Centrale de Lille, France and a Master’s degree from the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France.

Hani Saad
Senior HVDC Expert at RTE international
Hani Saad (S’07) received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Polytechnique of Montréal in 2007 and 2015, respectively. In 2015, he received the best Ph.D. thesis award from Polytechnic of Montreal. He has been working in the field of HVDC and renewable energy integration for more than 11 years with RTE (French TSO) and 5 years with RTE international. He is involved in the world’s largest HVDC-VSC systems, EMT studies and grid codes. Since 2022, he is working as an independent consultant to support different stakeholders in the field of HVDC and grid integration of renewable energy systems. He is an active member in several expert groups such as IEEE Task forces, ENTSOE EG and Cigré working groups and the convenor of Cigré B4-84 related to integration of energy storage in HDVC systems. Since 2022, he is the French representative of Cigré National Committee B4.
Thanks to his extensive experience on HVDC matters, he is member of several Cigré working groups on HVDC, such as “Application guide for the insulation coordination of Voltage Source Converter HVDC (VSC HVDC) stations” and “AC Fault response options for VSC HVDC Converters”. He has contributed and published several articles on power electronics and power delivery, notably in the Wiley IEEE book. He gave conference related HVDC field and EMT-type tool and is a regular reviewer for IEEE Transactions of Power Delivery, Industrial Electronics.

Janek Liger
Power Electronics Engineer at RTE

Samy Akkari
HVDC expert at RTE
He is now the Asset Manager for RTE HVDC links at the National Center for Grid Expertise. He also works on the Operation & Maintenance of the INELFE link (2x1GW VSC-MMC, Siemens) and IFA2 link (1GW VSC-CTL, ABB). Finally, he is involved in the Technical Specification of future HVDC projects such as Biscay Bay and CELTIC.

Jean Mahseredjian
CEO PGSTech, Professor Polytechnique Montreal, PhD, IEEE Fellow

Henry Gras
Director of operations at PGSTech
Preliminary
Day 1 – Introduction and HVDC technology basics
9.00 – 12.00
- Introduction: RTEi HVDC expertise
- Overview of HVDC technology
- HVDC MMC station main equipment description
- Q&A
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch
13.00 – 16.00
- HVDC VSC: Development and R&D
- Basics of Power Electronics in EMT – Introduction to EMTP
- Q&A
16.00 – 18.00: Get together
Day 2 – HVDC converter design, introduction to C&P aspects and EMT studies
- Overview of HVDC technology – evolution, key drivers and challenges
- HVDC MMC station main equipment description
- HVDC converter design principles
- Q&A
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch
13.00 – 17.00
- Introduction to HVDC control and architecture
- General description of VSC controls
- Specific upper-level and low-level controls for MMC converters
- Description of Grid Connected and Grid Forming control
- EMTP: Use cases of grid forming converters – practical examples
- Q&A
Day 3 – Project management and specification of HVDC projects
- Basic Design approach
- Tender Principles
- Technical Specifications
- Q&A
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch
13.00 – 17.00
- Game
- Project Execution
- Q&A
Day 4 – HVDC-VSC design studies and Control and Protection aspects / Evening: dinner
- HVDC system design studies
- General overview of converter protection strategy and implementation in real systems
- HVDC-VSC behaviour during AC fault events (balanced and unbalanced conditions)
- DC side transients analysis of typical DC faults: pole-to-ground and one-phase- to-ground faults
These sessions will be supported by EMTP
- Q&A
12.00 – 13.00 Lunch
13.00 – 17.00
- Introduction to transients during start-up and shut-down sequences
- EMT studies for the design and operation HVDC system
- Q&A
Evening: Group dinner
Day 5 – Maintenance of HVDC-VSC systems and integration in AC grids and final Q&A session
- Introduction to the maintenance principles of HVDC-VSC systems
- O&M Team Structure, Roles and Responsibilities, and Required Infrastructure, Facilities and Systems to Support O&M Activities
- Maintenance of HVDC-VSC converter stations, focus on HVDC specifics: Power electronics, auxiliary systems (cooling, climate) and controls
13.00 – 16:00 (approx.)
- Maintenance specifications, spare parts
- Maintenance experiences and recommendations
- Introduction to practical experience using replica
- Real Time Simulation Studies Introduction
- Outlook on EMT simulation
- Closing / Feedback / Q&A
Backup: Depending on the progress of the course throughout the previous days, individual topics can be picked up and continued during the afternoon session
Register Here
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