Control and Protection Strategies for a Universal Power Quality SMES Compensator

The paper describes the control and protection strategies of a device conceived to improve Power Quality in Low Voltage (LV) electrical distribution grid. The device, studied in the frame of the research project “DRYSMES4GRID”, acts as an active filter, compensating load harmonics and network disturbances (voltage dips and micro-interruptions) thanks to a Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage system (SMES).The control logics are presented with a particular focus on detecting and overcoming overload or internal and external fault condition. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategies has been investigated in ATPdraw simulation environment, using a detailed network and device model.