THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP INNOVATIVE CONTROLS AND PROTECTION FOR A MULTI-TERMINAL HIGH-VOLTAGE DIRECT CURRENT (MT HVDC) NETWORK AND IMPLEMENT AND VALIDATE THEM ON A DISTRIBUTED SOFTWARE-IN-THE-LOOP (SIL) PLATFORM. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM ARE: • DE-RISK MT-HVDC TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF U.S. OFFSHORE WIND INTEGRATION THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE CONTROLS AND PROTECTION STRATEGIES. • VALIDATE THE PROPOSED CONTROLS AND PROTECTION STRATEGIES AGAINST STANDARD FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS (IN COORDINATION WITH TOPIC AREA 1A) WITH A STANDARDIZED LIBRARY OF MODELS DEVELOPED THROUGH THE PROGRAM. • USE A BENCHMARK MT HVDC GRID MODEL DEVELOPED UNDER TOPIC 1A TO INNOVATE, TEST, AND VALIDATE NEW DC TECHNOLOGIES. • BUILD A NEW DISTRIBUTED SIL PLATFORM, MULTISIM, AS A NATIONAL-LEVEL INFRASTRUCTURE; SET THE FOUNDATION FOR COST-EFFECTIVE AND FAST VALIDATION OF MULTI-VENDOR INTEROPERABILITY. • COORDINATE WITH TOPIC AREA 1B PROJECT TO FACILITATE THE TESTING/UTILIZATION OF MULTISIM. ESTABLISH A COOPERATION FRAMEWORK AMONG DIFFERENT PARTIES INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT TO BUILD WORLD-LEADING TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES AND LAB INFRASTRUCTURE AIMED TOWARDS FUTURE COMMERCIAL COLLABORATIONS.