On September 15, a Special Working Group (IEC SC22F/ahG 6) of the Power Electronics Technology for Transmission and Distribution System Subcommittee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) held its 3rd meeting. This Special Working Group was designated to work on the standard for the Performance of Power Electronics transformers for Flexible Transmission and Distribution Systems. This standard was initiated by China, and the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Power Electronic Systems and Equipment (SAC/TC 60) was responsible for all relevant operations within China (SAC TC60 SC2 technical support), with Biao Zhao, Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University and Deputy Head of DC Research Center of the Energy Internet Research Institute, acting as the convener.
Ten experts from the UK, Switzerland, France, and China participated in the meeting. Building on the two previous meetings, this meeting carried out detailed discussions regarding the definition, isolation mode, operating frequency, voltage and capacity requirements of power electronic transformers. After the meeting, the working group will continue to collect comments from its members to further revise the draft of the standards and push the standardization of power electronic transformers forward. After the proposed standard was approved in October 2020, a special working group was established. The special working group held two meetings in 2021, to establish the outline of the standards and discuss the main content of each section. After the third meeting, Associate Professor Biao Zhao, the convener, will represent the special working group ahG 6 and present a work report at the IEC SC 22F annual meeting in October.
In recent years, the engineering of power electronic transformers has undergone accelerated growth, bringing us many products and applications. China leads the world in engineering applications. With the rapid development of flexible transmission and distribution systems, power electronic transformers can be used in a broader range of applications. Power electronic transformers can enable not only basic functionalities like voltage conversion, electrical isolation, and energy transmission, but also extensive functionalities such as reactive power compensation, harmonic control, grid interconnection, new energy grid connection, DC power transmission & distribution networking, etc. This makes them the key equipment for building a new type of power system that is widely interconnected, intelligent, interactive, flexible, safe and controllable. However, there is still a gap in the standardization of power electronics transformers, which hinders the development of this technology and related products. It is urgent to reach a consensus on a global scale to provide a reference for product design, engineering application, international exchange and trade.
Proposing and leading the development of this standard is another breakthrough of China in electrical engineering international standardization. It fills the gap of IEC in international publications on power electronic transformers, and holds great significance for facilitating the overall technical level of flexible transmission and distribution systems in China and sharing China’s advanced technology practice and experience with the world through international standardization.
This article is reprinted from the WeChat Official Account of "China Standardization".
