DR-MMC Hub Based Hybrid AC/DC Collection and HVDC Transmission System for Large-scale Offshore Wind Farms
Xiang Wang, Mingrui Yang, Jinyu Wen
Abstract
Conventional offshore wind farm (OWF) integration systems typically employ AC cables to gather power to a modular multilevel converter (MMC) platform, subsequently delivering it to onshore grids through high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission. However, scaling up the capacity of OWFs introduces significant challenges due to the high costs associated with AC collection cables and offshore MMC platforms. This paper proposes a diode rectifier (DR)-MMC hub based hybrid AC/DC collection and HVDC transmission system for large-scale offshore wind farms. The wind farms in proximity to the offshore converter platform utilize AC collection, while distant wind farms connect to the platform using DC collection. The combined AC/DC power is then transmitted to the offshore DR-MMC hub platform. The topology and operation principle of the DR-MMC hub as well as the integration system are presented. Based on the operational characteristics, the capacity design method for DR-MMC hub is proposed. And the control and startup strategies of the integration system are designed. Furthermore, an economic comparison with the conventional MMC-HVDC based offshore wind power integration system is conducted. Finally, the technical feasibility of the proposed integration scheme is verified through PSCAD/EMTDC simulation with the integration scale of 2 GW.