Voltage Stability in Large Marine-Integrated Electrical and Electronic Power Systems

Offshore oil and gas vessels operating in deep and ultra-deep waters demand larger and more sophisticated power and control systems. This tendency brings new challenges in integrated power system's design, especially for platforms/vessels requiring both dynamic positioning and high levels of redundancy. Voltage stability is essential in such systems, being in islanded operation (with related limited power generation) and with continuously changing load demands. In particular, voltage stability issues can arise due to the increasing amount of power electronic converters installed onboard, used to feed variable frequency drives and other electronic loads. Indeed, most of these have a controlled front-end, whose control can affect network voltage with a destabilizing effect named constant power loads (CPLs) instability. Such a behavior deserves special attention in islanded power systems, mostly if the quota of power electronics loads on the total installed power reaches very high values (up to the 85% for new large all electric ships). This paper initially focuses on the CPL voltage instability. Two different models to assess voltage stability in marine systems with high penetration of electronic power conversion are given, focusing on a design-stage assessment. Using the conditions obtained by such models, a practical stability analysis methodology is proposed, to help assessing voltage stability already at design stage, to avoid equipment retrofits during vessel building or commissioning. Finally, some practical case studies are discussed, and solutions to overcome the CPL instability are suggested.