MORE CARE Overview

International audienceThis paper provides an overview of MORE CARE, a European R&D project financed within the 5th Framework Energy Programme. This project has as main objective the development of an advanced control software system, aiming to optimize the overall performance of isolated and weakly interconnected systems in liberalized market environments by increasing the share of wind energy and other renewable forms, including advanced on-line security functions. The main features of the control system comprise advanced software modules for load and wind power forecasting, unit commitment and economic dispatch of the conventional and renewable units and on-line security assessment capabilities integrated in a friendly Man-Machine environment. Pilot installations of advanced control functions are foreseen on the islands of Crete, Ireland and Madeira

A 2MA metal-to-metal switch with 0.1 μ\musec jitter time

A foil switch of plane configuration with low inductance and low resistance is described. An exploding aluminum foil drives the two switch electrodes together; the insulation is sheared and a metal-to-metal contact results. Clamp and start switching have been possible on circuits having a voltage up to 60 kV, a frequency up to 300 kHz and a current up to 2 MA. The delay is 3.4 $\pm$ 0.1 $\mu$sec for a 2 MA current rating and a 0.4 mm polythene insulation; decreasing the current rating or the insulation thickness, decreases the delay too. High current (MA) pulses of a few $\musec risetime and more than 1 msec decay time with less than 2 % oscillations have been produced in clamped circuits with small inductive loads (2o nH). An analysis of the current-time dependance after clamping an inductance with such a switch is given. The theoretical results have been found to be in accordance with the experimental data