During the first 18 months of PROSECCO, substantial progress has been achieved across all work packages, laying a solid foundation for the development of interoperable protection solutions, advanced power flow control technologies, and integrated AC/DC system assessment methodologies. The activities progressed broadly according to plan, with two smaller deviations
• The first concerns the startup of the project and the involvement of the relevant persons, which were slightly delayed due to hiring issues. This led to an underspending in the first period, which can be taken up in the remainder of the project.
• Secondly, there are uncertainties related to the availability of a real HVDC installation for protection system testing. Both are actively being mitigated.
WP1 formed the methodological backbone for the technical work by developing the MBSE framework, which is now used across the project for requirements, functional modelling, and test case specification. Requirements engineering (Task 1.1) and functional modelling (Task 1.2) were completed and consolidated in Deliverable D1.1. Functional models of key components — the Power Flow Controller (PFC) and the VARC DC circuit breaker — were implemented in SysML within Enterprise Architect, along with AC/DC grid topologies and associated test cases.
All models have been shared with partners via explanatory material, contributing to a unified “single source of truth” environment (Task 1.3). Preparations for laboratory validation (Task 1.4) were initiated, with hardware for a scaled bipolar HVDC test setup procured and installed. Work on protection specific requirements (Task 1.5) and congestion management assessment methodologies (Task 1.6) also advanced, including initial development of automated test case generation for DC relays. Overall, WP1 achieved all planned milestones and delivered its main methodological outputs on schedule.
WP2 progressed on two fronts: functional specification of protection relays and development of the high bandwidth test equipment required for DC protection testing. The first draft of Deliverable D2.1 is largely complete, pending input related to the industrial installation site. Substantial progress was made in developing automated functional testing procedures and establishing interfaces linking MBSE behavioural models to the test environment.
Significant advances were also realized in protection and control algorithm development, particularly in Model Predictive Control (MPC) implementations on FPGA hardware and in data driven adaptive control strategies. The prototype HVDC protection IED, including digital communication interfaces (Aurora implemented; IEC 61850 SV ongoing), has been developed with the aim of industrial field installation.
WP3 focused on foundational analytical work, establishing methods for assessing AC/DC transient stability and fault response. The key technical achievement is the development of a new generalized MMC control strategy capable of enhancing DC fault ride through capability while stabilizing AC side dynamics. Extensive simulation studies demonstrated its benefits compared to conventional control schemes.
Parallel activities addressed AC grid protection under the influence of power electronic converters, including the development and partial laboratory testing of virtualized protection algorithms.
WP4 made progress on PACS testing and real time simulation integration. The PACS designed in WP2 was implemented in FPGA and tested against standardized MTDC benchmark networks. A high fidelity RTDS model of a 2 GW North Sea HVDC grid was built, and high bandwidth UDP communication between RTDS and FPGA was established.
The DC relay test kit was validated for wideband waveform generation, achieving sub microsecond synchronization essential for realistic DC fault replication.
WP5 advanced the analytical tools necessary for future congestion management demonstrations. A first version of an integrated AC/DC state estimator has been developed and validated, which has led to a paper presented at IET ACDC in Birmingham.
Concurrently, an open source European transmission network model has been created for use in extended cost–benefit analysis. Early work on congestion management strategy design has identified technical, economic, and regulatory constraints relevant for North Sea system operation.
A steady state model of the Power Flow Controller (PFC) suitable for OPF/SCOPF studies has been implemented in the PowerModelsACDC.jl platform, enabling initial simulation studies that confirm the PFC’s congestion relief potential.
WP6 progressed in line with expectations, completing the PFC conceptual design, selection of topology and key components, and definition of scenario based specifications for the real time test system. Procurement of current sources and data acquisition system components has been completed.
Construction of the PFC prototype will begin next period, followed by testing and integration into RTS based demonstrations.
