Design considerations for high power converters interfacing 10 MW superconducting wind power generators

The design of power electronic converters for the integration of wind generated power into the grid is more and more important due to a new class of Superconducting Generators (SG) with power ratings of up to 20 MW. High efficiency of power converters for high power applications is mandatory in order to reduce the overall cost of the system. This paper proposes a design method to minimise the cost of the system by finding the optimal number of power devices and capacitors for different high power converter topologies. The investigation focuses on determining the optimal number of voltage levels for a Back-To-Back (BTB) Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) converter. The design method is demonstrated by estimating the cost of different BTB NPC power converter topologies for the integration of a 10 MW SG to the grid.