On Comprehensive Description and Analysis of MMC Control Design: Simulation and Experimental Study

Abstract

This paper presents an evolution of control systems of Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs) focusing on the internal voltages and currents dynamics. MMCs have passive components that create extra dynamics compared to conventional VSCs. Some control schemes that do not consider these internal dynamics may still stabilize the system asymptotically thanks to the linearisation in the modulation step. However these control schemes are less robust because they are prone to poor damped oscillations on the dc side of the converter. The MMC circuit and energy relationships are presented in this paper. Along with a gradual development of the energy based control, the important roles of each internal dynamics are clearly demonstrated. Experimental results are presented to show the impacts of the linearisation in the modulation step on the system behaviour.