Hybrid AC/DC Topologies for the CIGRE Low-Voltage Benchmark Performance Evaluation

This paper presents three hybrid AC/DC topologies for the CIGRE European low-voltage benchmark grid to evaluate their impact on voltage regulation, current compliance, and power-sharing capability under realistic operating conditions. The proposed topologies integrate a dedicated DC network in parallel with the existing AC infrastructure through voltage source converters (VSCs), enabling controlled power exchange between the two subsystems. This structure facilitates improved voltage support and more flexible integration of distributed renewable energy resources, many of which inherently operate in DC. A decentralized droop-based control strategy is employed as a uniform baseline to control the VSCs and assess the intrinsic performance of each topology. The proposed architectures are evaluated using realistic 24-h load profiles under scenarios with and without droop control. The results demonstrate significant improvements in voltage stability and feeder current management, particularly under high DC penetration conditions. Overall, the study provides a reproducible benchmark framework for topology-level comparison of hybrid AC/DC low-voltage distribution networks.