Innovative High-Power Converters and Controls for Next-Generation Offshore Wind Energy Systems

兆瓦级的大功率变流器广泛应用于海上风能系统。海上风能正受到越来越多的关注，因为海上风能资源丰富，风速更高更稳定，而且海上风能发电对环境的影响比陆上风能小。随着技术的不断进步，一种新型的海上风能系统--基于串联结构的海上风能系统应运而生。与目前实际使用的现有系统相比，它具有显著的优势。它的主要优势之一是消除了对海上变电站的需要，而现有的海上风力发电系统需要海上变电站来容纳升压变压器、电力转换器和其他必要的组件。海上变电所在初始投资、后续运营和维护成本方面非常庞大和昂贵，因此基于串联配置的海上风电系统比现有系统更具成本效益。在此基础上，提出的研究计划的目标是为下一代串联海上风电系统开发创新的电力转换和控制。拟议的研究计划预计将为下一代海上风电系统产生许多尖端技术和设计，包括创新的海上发电机侧和陆上电网侧电力变流器拓扑结构、这些功率变流器的最佳调制和控制算法，以及串联海上风电系统的直流扼流最小化方案。拟议的研究计划有望推动和推进海上风能的研究领域，因为它解决了海上风能行业目前面临的紧迫技术问题，并反映了该领域的最新研究趋势。此外，加拿大自然资源公司宣布今年启动2亿美元的新兴可再生能源计划，包括海上风能，以扩大该国各省可用的可再生能源，因此，该研究计划预计将为加拿大的海上风能转换系统提供先进技术，并使加拿大受益匪浅。

High-power converters in the megawatt range are widely used in offshore wind energy systems. Offshore wind energy is gaining increased attention because of the considerable wind resources, higher and steadier wind speeds, and because the generation of offshore wind energy has a smaller environmental impact than that of onshore wind energy. With increasing technological advancements, a new type of offshore wind energy system, the series-connected configuration based offshore wind system, has emerged. It has significant advantages over existing systems currently used in practice. One of the main advantages is that it eliminates the need for an offshore substation which is required in existing offshore wind systems to accommodate step-up transformers, power converters, and other required components. The offshore substation is very bulky and costly in terms of initial investment, subsequent operation and maintenance costs, and therefore the series-connected configuration-based offshore wind system is far more cost efficient than existing systems. On this basis, the objective of the proposed research program is to develop innovative power conversion and control for next-generation series-connected offshore wind systems. The proposed research program is expected to generate a number of leading-edge technologies and designs for next-generation offshore wind systems, including innovative offshore generator-side and onshore grid-side power converter topologies, optimal modulation and control algorithms for those power converters, and dc choke minimization schemes of the series-connected offshore wind system. The proposed research program is expected to boost and advance the research field of offshore wind energy because it addresses the pressing technical issues currently encountered in offshore wind industry and reflects the latest research trends in the field. In addition, Natural Resources Canada announced a launch of a $200 million expression of interest for the Emerging Renewable Power Program, including offshore wind energy, to expand renewable energy sources available to the country's provinces, this year, and therefore, the research program is expected to provide advanced technologies for offshore wind energy conversion systems in Canada and benefit Canada greatly.