Impact of operation principle on the losses of a reduced matrix converter for offshore wind parks

Reduced matrix converter (RMC) could be used in series connection of offshore wind farms as part of the conversion system in each turbine. The converter can be operated as voltage source or current source converter. This paper investigates the influence that voltage source and current source operation principle will have on the losses of the RMC. The modulation of the converter is done by space vector modulation for current source operation. Losses are analyzed by means of simulation in PSIM and a dynamic link library programmed in c++ that calculates the losses based on an experimental behavioral model. The effect of the high frequency transformer is analized. Results indicates that voltage source operation improves the total efficiency compared with current source converter operation.