A Novel Hybrid-Arm Bipolar MMC Topology With DC Fault Ride-Through Capability

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel bipolar modular multilevel converter (MMC) topology with dc fault ride-through capability. The proposed bipolar MMC topology is a hybrid of two types of arms: the half-bridge submodule (HBSM)-based arms (HBSM-arms) which are connected to the ground pole, and the unipolar-voltage full-bridge submodule (UFBSM)-based arms (UFBSM-arms) which are connected to the positive or negative pole. During a pole-to-ground or pole-to-pole dc fault, the hybrid-arm design offers the proposed UFBSM-based hybrid-arm bipolar MMC (UHA-BMMC) the capability to provide additional reactive power to support the ac grid while blocking the dc fault current. The topology, operation principle, dc fault mechanisms, and dc fault ride-through scheme of the UHAB-MMC are presented in this paper. Compared with other possible bipolar MMC topologies, the UHA-BMMC provides good dc fault ride-through capability with a small cost of power-electronic devices. The validity and features of the proposed UHA-BMMC are verified by simulation results conducted in PSCAD/EMTDC.