Grid equipment: direct-current and reactive-power control teams

Direct-current link control and protection teams must grow fast

What happens. Makers of grid-connection equipment for high-voltage direct current are expanding their control and protection teams. Demand for these links is rising faster than people with the skills can be hired.

What it costs. Lead roles stay open for a long time and are advertised again and again. Meanwhile projects wait for a control concept, and delivery dates depend on a few people.

Why the usual fix fails. Recruiting from the same small pool raises salaries without raising the number of experts. Splitting the design among junior engineers raises review effort for the few seniors.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. I take a defined piece, for instance a review of the control concept, of a protection scheme or of simulation results. The fixed-price remote diagnosis gives a result for a fixed fee and shows which parts of your workload an outside specialist can carry.

Grid codes must become tuned and verified control

What happens. Reactive-power systems have to meet the grid operator’s code: how fast they respond to a voltage dip, how they behave in a fault, how they stay stable. From the written requirement to a tuned controller on site is a long path.

What it costs. Failing the grid-code test on site means a rework of the controller at the customer, a late commissioning and a delayed connection.

Why the usual fix fails. Tuning the controller by trial on the real plant is slow and risky. A model that was only used in the design phase is not trusted for the final tuning.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the plant model and test records, I check how well the controller was tuned against the code requirements. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether model-based tuning and verification would have found the problem before commissioning, and how to set that up.

Stability modelling and simulation of power systems is hard to staff

What happens. Power-system stability studies need dynamic models of grids, converters and controllers, and people who can judge whether the answer is physical. The people with this mix of skills are rare.

What it costs. Studies run late, customers wait for the answer, and a decision on equipment or on the control setting is made with less evidence than it deserves.

Why the usual fix fails. Simulation tools can be bought, but a tool does not tell whether the model is good. A junior engineer may produce curves that look plausible and are wrong.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. I take a study or a model you have and review it: is the model credible, are the conditions covered, what would change the answer. The fixed-price remote diagnosis gives a verdict for a fixed fee and shows which part of the work an outside specialist could take.

Control of reactive-power compensation plants stays an open role

What happens. Compensation plants that keep grid voltage stable need controllers that match the plant and the grid. The roles for this work have stayed open for most of a year in some firms.

What it costs. Projects pile up behind the open seat, and the first compensation plants of a new generation get an adapted version of the old controller.

Why the usual fix fails. Moving people between teams leaves other work undone. Buying a standard controller product does not fit custom plants.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. I look at your control concept and the grid conditions for a current project. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you where the controller design is robust and where it is not, and what a short outside engagement could deliver while the search continues.