Undersea MVDC power distribution

Diversified Technologies, Inc. (DTI) has developed, and is fielding, a significant advance in undersea power network technology using high-voltage, solid-state DC-to-DC conversion. In this architecture, on-shore conventional switching power supplies provide medium-voltage (MV) DC power to several, kilometers-long undersea power cables at 10 kV. At each undersea node where power is required, a medium-voltage, high-frequency DC-to-DC converter down-converts the MVDC power to 375 VDC. Power delivered at this low voltage is available to support a wide range of sensors, electronics, repeaters, motors, or remotely operated vehicles. Since direct connections to the 10 kVDC power cable can be made at any point, and in any potential configuration, down-conversion nodes can be arbitrarily located. This is a significant advance over existing systems, where each node imposes a fixed voltage drop on the cable, limiting the number and configuration of potential nodes. This paper describes the power system architecture, the DC-to-DC conversion nodes, and the status of the initial system development and deployment.