To promote the integration of renewable energy resources into modern energy systems, high-voltage dc (HVdc) and circuit breaker (CB) technologies have become critical to achieving secure and efficient energy transmission. This article reviews the technical development of the related areas, compares diverse breaker concepts and topologies, investigates possible coordination and testing solutions, and points out the remaining challenges as well as future needs. The time-domain simulation and comparative analysis are adopted in this article to analyze and compare the performances of different HVdc CBs. By making use of different selectivity levels of multiterminal HVdc (MTdc) grids, the suitable planning and placement of HVdc CBs can be conducted. Furthermore, by providing insights into the performance of HVdc CBs, the work presented in this article can serve as a useful asset for the upcoming standardization and industrial application process of HVdc grid and CB design and testing.

Supplementary control (SC) technology is widely leveraged by power supply companies in active distribution networks (ADNs) to improve their stability and dynamic characteristics. Yet, the existed SCs are generally implemented from inside the converter controllers of distributed generators (DGs) or active loads, so there is a need to redesign the internal physical structure of the existing controller, resulting in the increasing work amount of assembling and workability. This paper studies the specific R & D process of a novel external coupling type SC (ECSC), which is based upon current source injection (CSI-ECSC) for improving the dynamic characteristics of ADN. The SC current signals are coupled to the current sampling loop from outside the converter controller. And the employment of the existing current sample makes it unnecessary to redesign the internal physical structure of the existing controller. As a result, the SC assembling is simplified and its workability is improved. In this paper, a detailed exemplary ADN with direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) is firstly set up in math for full eigenvalue analysis. Then, the CSI-ECSC is designed with its control loop, interface circuit, and parameter setting. Furthermore, by using PSCAD/EMTDC, groups of case studies are conducted in ADNs where photovoltaics (PVs) and energy storage (ES) are included. Finally, the real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing validates the functionality of the realized CSI-ECSC in RTDS.