IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2020 - 63

soon host two MMCs (a combined
power of 0.5 MVA) is shown in
Figure S2. Each MMC has 3.3-kV
ratings on its ac terminals and
± 5-kV ratings on its dc terminals.
A detailed description of the SM can
be found in [S1].

Reference
[S1] M. Utvic, I. P. Lobos, and D. Dujic,
"Low voltage modular multilevel converter submodule for medium voltage
applications," in Proc. PCIM Europe
2019; Int. Exhibition and Conf. Power
Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renew-

FIG S2 The MMC platform (in the assembly phase). The two left-hand side cabinets are hosting
air-core branch inductances, while three cabinets on the right-hand side host SMs of two MMCs.

employed control platform, removing the SM hardwaredesign constraints from the list of possible factors limiting
the amount of power reached with an existing SM design.
The effectiveness of the proposed control method was validated under realistic conditions, implying the mismatches
randomly distributed among the branch inductances as
well as the SM capacitances. By means of the simple, wellknown, and easily tuned linear controllers, the converter
energy balance was ensured, indicating that extremely
robust operation can be guaranteed. Upcoming research is
discussed in "MMC Research Platform."

able Energy and Energy Management,
May 2019, pp. 1-8.

Outstanding Achievement in Power Electronics. He is a
Senior Member of the IEEE.

References
[1] A. Lesnicar and R. Marquardt, "An innovative modular multilevel
converter topology suitable for a wide power range," in IEEE Bologna
Power Tech Conf. Proc., 2003, vol. 3, pp. 272-277. doi: 10.1109/PTC.2003.
1304403.
[2] A. Nami, J. Liang, F. Dijkhuizen, and G. D. Demetriades, "Modular multilevel converters for HVDC applications: Review on converter cells and
functionalities," IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 18-36, 2015.
doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2014.2327641.

About the Authors

[3] J. Kolb, F. Kammerer, M. Gommeringer, and M. Braun, "Cascaded con-

Stefan Milovanovic (stefan.milovanovic@epfl.ch) is a
postdoctoral researcher with the Power Electronics Laboratory at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
(EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland. He received his Dipl.Ing.
and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Belgrade, Serbia,
in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from
EPFL in 2020, all in electrical engineering. His research is
focused on medium- and high-voltage power conversion. He
is a Member of the IEEE.
Drazen Dujic (drazen.dujic@epfl.ch) is an assistant
professor and head of the Power Electronics Laboratory at
the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),
Switzerland. He received his Dipl.Ing. and M.Sc. degrees
from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2002 and 2005,
respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from Liverpool John
Moores University, United Kingdom, in 2008, all in electrical
engineering. From 2009 to 2014, he was with ABB Switzerland, and since 2014, he has been with the EPFL. His
research interests are predominantly related to high-power
conversion technologies for medium-voltage applications.
He has authored or coauthored more than 150 scientific
publications and has filed 14 patents. In 2018, he received
the EPE Outstanding Service Award, and in 2014, he
received the Isao Takahashi Power Electronics Award for

trol system of the modular multilevel converter for feeding variable-speed
drives," IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 349-357, 2015. doi:
10.1109/TPEL.2014.2299894.
[4] A. Volke, J. Wendt, and M. Hornkamp, IGBT Modules: Technologies,
Driver and Application. Neubiberg, Germany: Infineon, 2012.
[5] R. Hermann and S. Bernet, "Parallel connection of integrated gate commutated thyristors (IGCTs) and diodes," IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol.
24, no. 9, pp. 2159-2170, 2008. doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2009.2021837.
[6] M. Vasiladiotis, N. Cherix, and A. Rufer, "Accurate capacitor voltage
ripple estimation and current control considerations for grid-connected
modular multilevel converters," IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 29, no. 9,
pp. 4568-4579, 2014. doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2013.2286293.
[7] M. M. Steurer et al., "Multifunctional megawatt-scale medium voltage
DC test bed based on modular multilevel converter technology," IEEE
Trans. Transp. Electrific., vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 597-606, 2016. doi: 10.1109/
TTE.2016.2582561.
[8] S. Milovanovic´ and D. Dujic´, "On facilitating the modular multilevel
converter power scalability through branch paralleling," in Proc. IEEE
Energy Conversion Congr. and Expo., 2019, pp. 6875-6882. doi: 10.1109/
ECCE.2019.8911850.
[9] A. Antonopoulos, L. Angquist, and H.-P. Nee, "On dynamics and voltage
control of the modular multilevel converter," in Proc. 13th European Conf.
Power Electronics and Applications, 2009, pp. 1-10.

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