Power flow control through a multi-level H-bridge based power converter for Universal and Flexible Power Management in future electrical grids

The paper proposes a novel power conversion system for universal and flexible power management (UNIFLEX-PM) in future electricity network. The structure is based on three AC-DC converters each one connected to a different grid, (representing the main grid and/or various distributed generation systems) on the AC side, and linked together at DC side by suitable DC isolation modules. Each port of the UNIFLEX-PM system employs a conversion structure based on a three-phase 7-level AC-DC cascaded converter. Effective and accurate power flow control is demonstrated through simulation in Matlab and Simulink environment on a simplified model based on a two-port structure and using a stationery reference frame based control solution. Control of different power flow profiles has been successfully tested in numerous network conditions such as voltage unbalance, frequency excursions and harmonic distortion.