Advancements in medium voltage DC architecture development with applications for powering electric vehicle charging stations

Abstract

MVDC infrastructure serves as a platform for interconnecting many forms of renewable electric power generation, including wind and solar. Forthcoming abundant loads such as industrial facilities, data centers, and electric vehicle charging stations can be powered using MVDC technology. MVDC networks are expected to improve efficiency by serving as an additional layer between the transmission and distribution level voltages for which renewable resources could directly connect with smaller rated power conversion equipment. This work establishes a 5 kV MVDC architecture composed of 4, type 4 wind turbines (full converter) capable of supplying 20 MW and a photovoltaic plant supplying 1 MW of power. The load emphasized in this article is an electric vehicle charging station. Details of the modeling approach are presented as well as validated simulation results performed in PSCAD of the overall MVDC structure.