New HVDC research to be presented in Berlin this April
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"An excellent conference - one of the key conferences for the HVDC industry," said one of the attendees at ACDC Global 2025, the international conference on AC and DC Power Transmission. One year on, and the organisers at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) are preparing to take the conference to Germany for the first time!
ACDC Europe 2026 will be the conference’s 22nd edition, and will focus on the latest HVDC technical and project updates. One such session will be presented by Sébastien Silvant, Horizon Europe Project Coordinator for HVDC interoperability at SuperGrid Institute, looking at how the InterOPERA Project’s work is transforming interoperability in HVDC into industrial reality.
The talk will examine the work currently underway to make multi-vendor HVDC grids deployable in a practical sense, including addressing non-technical barriers such as procurement models and data governance. Attendees will hear about the framework that will enable HVDC interoperability “by design”, leading the way to Europe’s first multi-vendor HVDC projects.
A panel discussion will present the trends and needs for HVDC deployment across Europe, with the perspectives of the transmission operator, OEM and researcher being considered. Chaired by organising committee member Willem Leterme, Professor, RWTH Aachen University, the panel will also include insight from Dr Niels Anger, Head of EU Energy Transition, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany (BMWE),Dirk Biermann, COO, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, Jutta Hanson, Professor, TUDarmstadt, and a representative from Hitachi Energy.
Peer-reviewed technical papers are a core part of the ACDC conferences, with the results of new HVDC research coming to the forefront. The international programme will include presentations on:
- Grid Forming Control Scheme Applied to 2GW-525kV MMC-HVDC Converter Station Model for Use in Multi-Vendor HVDC System Design Studies (TenneT, Germany)
- Impact of DC circuit breaker operation in HVDC grids on the testing requirements of HVDC cables — a tentative study (Scibreak AB, Sweden)
- Estimation of necessary design margins in HVDC protection settings (KU Leuven and Energyville, Belgium)
- Method for DC reactor and DC circuit breaker design in HVDC grids (Supergrid Institute,France)
- Integrating Dynamic Breaking Chopper into DC Circuit Breaker for HVDC Systems (E.ON Energy Research Center, Germany)
- System-level impacts of proactive isolation and failure-mode operation of hybrid DCCBs in multi-terminal HVDC hubs (Universityof Edinburgh and the National HVDC Centre, UK)
The two days of the conference will also present project updates on some of the most important transmission work underway throughout Europe. Attendees will hear status updates on Northern Seas TSOs’ collaboration and StromnetzDC, and take part in a panel debate aroundinnovation in power transmission. In between the sessions, there will be ampleopportunities for networking and collaboration, including a networking drinksreception at the end of the first day.
Conference co-chair, Ervin Spahic, GridPlanning Manager at WindGrid - Elia Group, explained why it’s important for the power transmission community to meet and exchange ideas:
“Power transmission technologies are constantly changing and updating, and there have been many dynamic developments during past years, especially in HVDC, offshore applications and multi terminal applications. The ACDC conference will include many of the latest results, reviews and project updates from across the fieldof power transmission.”
Hisco-chair, Kai Strunz, Professor at TU Berlin, added:
“There will be an excellent mix of industry and academia, both on the speaker programme and among the attendees. There are lots of opportunities to network and meet other engineers working to solve the same challenges as you.”
ACDC Europe 2026 will take place on 28 - 29 April at the Radisson Collection Hotel,Berlin. You can see the full programme and learn more about attending at https://spkl.io/6005AtpUU
