Converter station selection method of urban VSC-DC intertie for grid resilience enhancement

Abstract

The site selection of converter stations for voltage source converter-based direct current (VSC-DC) interties can significantly impact their control performance, particularly when both grid-following control (GFL) and grid-forming control (GFM) are configured. It is challenging to fully realise the maximum potential of both control modes at a single node within an urban power grid. This paper proposes a novel converter station site selection method to identify optimal connection points in urban grids, enabling efficient active power transfer while providing flexible active and reactive power support in interconnected urban areas. First, a comprehensive index system is developed to quantitatively assess the impact of VSC-DC intertie converter station siting on urban grids under both GFL and GFM modes. The proposed method utilises voltage stability margins to quickly rank candidate nodes and combines Euclidean distance with grey relational analysis to determine the most advantageous locations. A case study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The results show that the novel site selection method ensures converter stations configured with both GFL and GFM are optimally sited, thereby maximising control performance, significantly enhancing power support capabilities, and improving resilience at the connected nodes.