Assistant Professor Kenichiro Sano has returned from the stay supported by the WRH Faculty Research Abroad Program. This is a report on the activities and results of his stay.

Dr.Sano(4th from right)

 

Awardee	Kenichiro Sano, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering
Destination	1. Hitachi Energy Sweden AB 2. KTH Royal Institute of Technology 3. University of Strathclyde 4. University of Edinburgh 5. National HVDC Centre 6. RWTH Aachen University 7. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
City and Country	1. Västerås, Sweden 2. Stockholm, Sweden 3. Glasgow, UK 4. Edinburgh, UK 5. Cumbernauld, UK 6. Aachen, Germany 7. Genk, Belgium
Name and Position of Host Researcher	1. Dr. Nan Chen, Research Team manager, Hitachi Energy Research 2. Dr. Xiongfei Wang, Professor 3. Dr. Agusti Egea-Alvarez, Reader 4. Dr. Stephen Finney, Professor 5. Dr. Ben Marshall, Technical Manager 6. Dr. Ilka Jahn, Junior PI 7. Dr. Dirk Van Hertem, Professor
Travel Period	2023/08/12 – 2023/12/24
Project Title	Establishment of basic concept of HVDC Grids

 

To use renewable energy resources on a large scale, it is essential to connect them to the power system and ensure their stable operation. As one of the technologies contributing to this, I have been conducting research on high-voltage dc (HVDC) transmission. I have received a financial support from the WRH program and visited researchers working in this field to exchange information and discuss various aspects, including global trends, future prospects, technical challenges, research methodologies, and potential future collaborations. During my stay in research groups, I was warmly welcomed as a member of the group from regular meetings to social events in the institute. The researchers also kindly provided relevant information related to my research, introduced me to other researchers having similar interests, and shared stories and experiences which we cannot know from the published papers. Through these exchanges, I believe that I have not only found colleagues for future joint research, but also gained valuable friendships. The locations and activities are as follows.

Hitachi Energy Sweden (August 14 – September 1): I stayed at the company’s research institute in Västerås, Sweden, and I mainly communicated with researchers of the Power Electronics group. I also visited the factory for the HVDC converter and engaged in discussions with the staff in the business unit.

KTH Royal Institute of Technology (August 24): I visited the Power Electronics Laboratory located in Stockholm, Sweden. The group focuses on HVDC protection. I gave a presentation on my research and learnt about their ongoing projects.

University of Strathclyde (September 13 – October 25): I stayed in the Power Electronics, Drives, and Energy Conversion (PEDEC) group located in Glasgow, Scotland, and communicated with faculty and graduate students. They focus on stability analysis of power system including HVDC transmission. As an island nation, the UK’s power system has many issues in common with those of Japan.

University of Edinburgh (October 13): I visited the Power Electronics laboratory located in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group works on next-generation power converters. I gave a presentation on my research and learnt about their ongoing projects.

National HVDC Centre (October 16): I visited the center located in Cumbernauld, Scotland. The center is a division of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, a UK power transmission operator. It is an organization responsible for system analysis related to HVDC transmission. I heard about ongoing demonstration projects in the UK and discussed power system analysis methods.

RWTH Aachen University (November 6 – December 22): I visited the E.ON Energy Research Center and the Institute for High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization, and Energy Economics (IAEW) located in Aachen, Germany. Multiple research groups are working on the research related to dc transmissions, and I was able to learn about a various topics including control, protection, power conversion, power system analysis, international standardization, and regulatory design.

KU Leuven (December 12): I visited the Digital Grid Emulation group of KU Leuven at EnergyVille, a joint energy research facility in Genk, Belgium. I delivered a presentation on my research and learnt about their ongoing projects on system planning, control, and protection related to HVDC.

 

 

Related links:
– World Research Hub (WRH) Program
– Power Electronics Laboratory