On November 25, 2021, the IET 2021 E&T Innovation Awards, one of the highest awards in the field of engineering technology in the world, wasdisclosed. The "Large capacity DC breaking technology" completed by Professor Zeng Rong, Associate Professor Yu Zhanqing, and Associate Professor Huang Yulong from the Department of Electrical Engineeringand Applied Electronics andthe DC Research Center of the Energy Internet Research Instituteof Tsinghua Universityfinally won the “Future Power&Energy” Innovation Award! This is the first time thatTsinghua Universityhas won this award, andTsinghua University is also the only award winnerin this fieldof the worldthis year.

DC circuit breakers are the core equipment for constructing DC power grids,but they arealso a problem that has plagued the power industry for more than a century. Theapplication of power electronic switches torealize large-capacity DC breaking is the mainstream technology developmentorientation of DC circuit breakers, but there are many technical bottlenecks.

After ten years of systematic research andwork with many domesticmanufacturers and research institutes, the DC team led by Professor Zeng Rong, Associate Professor Yu Zhanqing, and Associate Professor Huang Yulong of the Department of Electrical Engineeringand Applied Electronicsof Tsinghua University successfully developed theIGCT plus device with abreaking capacityof 10,000 amperes, overcame the problems of voltage balance and two-waycurrent flow of large-scale power electronic devices in series, invented composite modulated power electronic switches suitable for large currents above 30kA, proposed ahybrid DC breaker commutating method throughvacuum mechanical switch flow — coupled negative pressure devicecommutation, and initially developeda series of original and advanced DC circuit breaker products,which have been applied in various engineeringscenarios.

This innovative achievement provides key technical support for the design, operation and promotion of DC circuit breakers, and is of great significance to reduce the cost of DC circuit breakers, reduce thesizes of DC circuit breakers, and improve the reliability of DC circuit breakers. Italso provides technical support and equipment guarantee for construction a new power system withnew energiesas the main body.

Related link 1:

The IET E&T Innovation Award is one of the highest-level awards in the field of global engineering technology, andhas beenpresented for seventeen timesuntilthis year. It currently covers 17 individual fields such as energy, communication, medical care, and transport, and solicit innovation projectsfrom engineers, innovative enterprises,organizations and academic groups of the world.The award for each individual field is selected by an awardassessingcommittee composed of top international experts, andoneinnovation award is finally selected from 3-4 shortlisted projects.

For more information, please visit the official website of IET:

https://eandtinnovationawards.theiet.org/

Related link 2:

The DC Research Center of the Energy Internet Research Institute of Tsinghua University was established in 2015 by Professor Rong Zeng from the Department of Electrical Engineeringand Applied Electronicsof Tsinghua University. Relying onthe advantages ofthe Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics in scientific research, the center establisheda research tem withhigh-level academic research capability,forward-looking technological innovation capability, and practicalindustrial development capability inthe Energy Internet Innovation Institute of Tsinghua University (Beijing Institute) and Tsinghua Sichuan Energy Internet Institute (Sichuan Institute). Focusing on the technical fields of high-capacity power semiconductor devices, high-voltage direct current transmission, and medium and low-voltage direct current power distribution,the teamcarried out theoretical research, technical research and engineering construction of devices, equipment and systems. The teamhasmore than 60members, including 1 professor, 8 associate professors/associate researchers, more than 30 full-time R&D persons, and more than 20 doctoral students. In recent years, the center has undertaken more than 20 national-level scientific research projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Key Research and Development Program of theMinistry of Science and Technology.The achievements have beenappliedZhangbei UHV Flexible DC Grid, Zhuhai 3-Terminal DC Power Distribution Project, Dongguan AC/DC Hybrid Power Distribution Project, and Suzhou MV/LV DC Power Distribution project, etc.

For more information, please refer to the official website of the center:

http://dc.eiri.tsinghua.edu.cn/lxwm/jrwm/index.htm