Bidirectional buck-boost inverter-based HVDC transmission system with AC-side contribution blocking capability during DC-side faults

Abstract

Offshore wind energy is now seen as a key contributor for the future renewable energy mix. HVDC technology is among the chief technologies enabling widespread use of offshore wind. Thanks to their numerous advantages, voltage-source converter-based-HVDC (VSC-HVDC) systems are expected to be the technology of choice. Unfortunately, most of VSCs are defenseless against dc-side faults, such as two-level VSCs, and half-bridge modular multilevel converters. This paper proposes the buck-boost inverter-based-HVDC system (BBI-HVDC) as a means to overcome the limitations of the classical VSC-HVDC systems. The proposed configuration does not only provide sinusoidal three-phase voltage, but also provides complete blocking capability of ac-side contributions during a dc-side fault. The latter is achieved by simply disabling the gating signals to the switches upon fault detection. The performance of the proposed system is illustrated during normal conditions, ac-side faults, and dc-side faults. A simulation case study comparing the performance of the conventional HVDC converters with the proposed system during dc-side faults is conducted. The simulation results reveal the promising performance under normal operation as well as a significant decrease in the dc fault current due to the ac-side contribution blocking capability of the BBI-HVDC system during dc-side faults.