Steady-State Analysis of Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) under Unbalanced Grid Conditions

This paper presents a steady-state analysis of the modular multilevel converter (MMC) for the second order voltage and current ripple prediction under unbalanced conditions, taking the impact of negative sequence current control into account. Using the circular relationship among current and voltage quantities, the magnitudes and initial phase angles of different circulating current components can be evaluated theoretically. With negative sequence phase current control, the positive, negative and zero sequence circulating currents are generated by more voltage sources and are no longer decoupled. Based on the generic inner relationship among current and voltage quantities, this steady state analysis is applicable to the MMC under both rectifier and inverter operating modes. Experimental results from a scaled down three-phase MMC system are provided to support the theoretical analysis and derived model.