RESEARCH INITIATION AWARD: Hybrid Power Conversion Topologies for Flexible AC Transmission Systems

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Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACT) are being studied by the electric utility industry for increasing the transmission capability of the existing infrastructure while maintaining or increasing security and quality levels. Most studies are concerned with the use of thyristor switched circuits. Currently these systems have to be custom designed, basically due to the thyristor's inherent need for natural turn-off, manifesting itself as harmonic interactions between the switching system and the power system. These interactions are not well understood. In order to eliminate such problems, the use of power converters with gate turn-off switches has been proposed. However, the power levels reachable with these are limited by the power semiconductor and power converter technology. This current study investigates a hybrid approach which aims to achieve the best features of each, i.e. high power level and an interface free of harmonic interaction.