• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.232-239
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• 2015

Faced with unbalanced grid operation mode, the high voltage direct current (HVDC) based on voltage source converter (VSC) can be properly controlled by a dual current control scheme. For the modular multilevel converter (MMC) controlling the AC side current is able to limit the arm current which flows along the IGBT of submodule (SM) to rated current. However the limitation of the arm current results in leaving the control range of active power at MMC confined to below the rated capacity. As a result, limiting the arm current causes the problem that the DC side voltage of the HVDC can not be controlled to the reference value since MMC HVDC adjusts the DC side voltage through the active power. In this paper, we propose the algorithm adjusting the active powers of both MMCs to resolve the problem. The back-to-back MMC HVDC applying the algorithm is modeled by PSCAD/EMTDC to verify the algorithm.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.403-407
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• 2018

This study proposes a predictive direct power control method in a modular multilevel converter (MMC) high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) system. The conventional proportional integral (PI)-based control method uses a cascaded connection and requires an optimal gain selection procedure and additional decoupling scheme. However, the proposed control method has a simple structure for active/reactive power control due to the direct power control scheme and exhibits a fast dynamic response by predicting the future status of system variables and considering time delay. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation results.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2014.07a
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• pp.146-147
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• 2014

This paper presents an operation of the modular multilevel converter-high voltage direct current (MMC-HVDC) system as a Statcom to support the grid voltage. The advantage of the MMC-HVDC system is that it can control the active and reactive powers independently. The proposed control scheme will be designed by combining this performance and the control method of the Statcom. The grid voltage is regulated by the control of the reactive power, meanwhile the active power is controlled according to its applications. The simulation results based on the PSCAD/EMTDC simulation program will evaluate the effectiveness of the control scheme.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.270-278
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• 2013

This paper proposes a control method for high voltage direct current(HVDC) with modular multilevel converter (MMC) under unbalanced voltage conditions considering the submodule(SM)'s current capacity and circulating current. It is aimed to propose a control method in which the current peak value does not exceed the maximum value of HVDC-MMC by considering the current capacity of the SM under unbalance voltage conditions. And it analyzes the effect of the unbalanced voltage on circulating currents in MMC and then proposes a control method considering each component of circulating currents under unbalanced voltages. The effectiveness of the proposed controlling method is verified through simulation results using PSCAD/EMTDC.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2294-2305
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• 2016

The introduction of a high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) system based on a modular multilevel converter (MMC) for wind farm integration has stimulated studies on methods to control this type of converter. This research article focuses on the control of the AC voltage and circulating current for a wind-farm-side MMC (WFS-MMC). After theoretical analysis, emotional learning (EL) controllers are proposed for the controls. The EL controllers are derived from the learning mechanisms of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex which make the WFS-MMC insensitive to variance in system parameters, power change, and fault in the grid. The d-axis and q-axis currents are respectively considered for the d-axis and q-axis voltage controls to improve the performance of AC voltage control. The practicability of the proposed control is verified under various conditions with a point-to-point MMC-HVDC system. Simulation results show that the proposed method is superior to the traditional proportional-integral controller.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.829-838
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• 2016

This paper focuses on the engineering trade-offs in designing capacitor voltage balancing schemes for modular multilevel converters (MMC) HVDC: regulation performance and switching loss. MMC is driven by the on/off switch operation of numerous submodules and the key design concern is balancing submodule capacitor voltages minimizing switching transition among submodules because it represents the voltage regulation performance and system loss. This paper first introduces the state-of-the-art MMC-HVDC submodule capacitor voltage balancing methods reported in the literatures and discusses the trade-offs in designing these methods for HVDC application. This paper further proposes a submodule capacitor balancing scheme exploiting a control signal to flexibly interchange between the on-state and the off-state submodules. The proposed scheme enables desired performance-based voltage regulation and avoids unnecessary switching transitions among submodules, consequently reducing the switching loss. The flexibility and controllability particularly fit in high-level MMC HVDC applications where the aforementioned design trade-offs become more crucial. Simulation studies for MMC HVDC are performed to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed capacitor voltage balancing algorithm.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.127-135
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• 2017

Recently the researches on modular multi-level converter (MMC) are being highlighted because high quality and efficient power transmission have become key issues in high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems. This paper proposes an improved pre-charging method for the sub-module (SM) capacitor of MMC-based HVDC systems, which operates in the nearest level control (NLC) modulation and does not need additional circuits or pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques. The feasibility of the proposed method was verified through computer simulations for a scaled 3-phase 10kVA MMC with 12 SMs per each arm. Hardware experiments with a scaled prototype have also been performed in the lab to confirm the simulation results.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2015

This paper proposes the installation of a new modular multilevel converter based high-voltage direct current (MMC-HVDC) system to connect between mainland and Jeju island power systems in Korea in 2020. The purpose is to combine with two old line-commutated converters (LCC)-based HVDC system to achieve a stability of the Jeju island power system. The operation of the overall system will be analyzed in three cases: (i) wind speed is variable, (ii) either one of the LCC-HVDC systems is shutdown because of a fault or overhaul, (iii) a short circuit fault occurs at the mainland side. The effectiveness of the proposed control method is confirmed by the simulation results based on a PSCAD/EMTDC simulation program.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1746-1752
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• 2014

This paper presents an application of proportional-resonant (PR) current controllers in modular multilevel converter-high voltage direct current (MMC-HVDC) system under unbalanced voltage conditions. The ac currents are transformed and controlled in the stationary reference frame (${\alpha}{\beta}$-frame). Thus, the complex analysis of the positive and negative sequence components in the synchronous rotating reference frame (dq-frame) is not necessary. With this control method, the ac currents are kept balanced and the dc-link voltage is constant under the unbalanced voltage fault conditions. The simulation results based on a detailed PSCAD/EMTDC model confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.494-502
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• 2014

This paper presents a control method of the modular multilevel converter - high-voltage direct current (MMC-HVDC) system to regulate grid voltage on the basis of the Jeju Island power system. In this case, the MMC-HVDC system is controlled as a static synchronous compensator (Statcom) to exchange the reactive power with the power grid. The operation of the MMC-HVDC system is verified by using the PSCAD/EMTDC simulation program. The Jeju Island power system is first established on the basis of the parameters and measured data from the real Jeju Island power system. This power system consists of two line-commutated converter - high-voltage direct current (LCC-HVDC) systems, two Statcom systems, wind farms, thermal power plants, transformers, and transmission and distribution lines. The proposed control method is then applied by replacing one LCC-HVDC system with a MMC-HVDC system. Simulation results with and without using the MMC-HVDC system are compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the control method.