Medium Voltage Power Electronics for Wind Systems

Renewable energy is a quickly growing component of the electricity grids around the world especially due to its contributions to energy system decarbonization, long-term energy security and expansion of energy to new consumers. One of the major renewable energy sources is wind which is estimated to produce 24.4 % of the EU electricity demand and provide a manufacturing industry of 334.000 jobs in 2030. The ambition to increase wind power to these levels puts a strong demand on the performance and cost of energy from new wind turbine installations. The MVolt project is designed to meet this societal need for sustainable power by lowering the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) of wind energy, thereby increasing the pace with which clean energy can replace polluting sources.
The common goal for this project is to prepare and design medium voltage power electronics based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) transistors. Aalborg university has extensive experience with this technology and together with industry wish to make a solution that adheres to industry standards (IEC and ISO), making the technology ready for commercial use. The ultimate success criteria of this project hinges on creating a working demonstration with components designed and manufactured during the project that adhere to industry standards, making them ready to commercialization. This demonstrator consists of the components in an electrical setup, where they can be qualified. The objective is to create a medium voltage converter based on a medium voltage basis module that adheres to industry standards (IEC), adapting it to comply with wind turbine requirements and demonstrate its superior performance. The resulting technological innovation enables pushing MVolt medium voltage technology to commercialization complying with industry standard (ISO).