A New Modular Neutral Point Clamped Converter with Space Vector Modulation Control

This papers proposes a new 5-level modular neutral point clamped (MNPC) converter for medium voltage (MV) and high power applications. The proposed converter can operate at voltages up to 13.8kV using available commercial power semiconductor switches without series connection of the switches. The MNPC topology offers fewer numbers of components compared to the exiting five-level converters and simplicity in manufacturing as it can utilize off-the-shelf 3-level converter modules. In order to control the proposed 5-level converter, space vector modulation (SVM) technique is employed. Performance of the converter is evaluated at steady-state and transient conditions and for different modulation indices and loads by simulation studies. It is shown that using the SVM strategy the capacitor voltages are maintained around nominal values under both steady-state and transients.