The Spain-based Ingeteam has developed a new medium voltage power converter for offshore wind turbines with the capacity of up to 15MW.
The converter is part of a research study that assessed the relationship between the cost of the power conversion stage and its reliability and maintainability metrics, MTBF and MTTR respectively, to determine the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE).
Ingeteam found that the optimal solution for the offshore wind sector is a medium voltage power converter based on the parallelization of several conversion lines (core product).
According to the company, the new product decreases the production losses of the turbine as it provides efficiencies higher than 98% at rated operating conditions.
The control algorithms of its power converters are developed so they can be applied for different grid codes and adapted to operate with single and multiphase stator generators in order to optimize the whole turbine solution, while it also allows multiple solutions depending on customer requirements regarding the integration in the wind turbine.
The converter comprises a fully enclosed cabinet and a liquid cooling system that ensure safe operation even in harsh environments and is easily maintained due to its front access and withdrawable main components that are expected to contribute to minimizing the OPEX related to the service of the turbine, Ingeteam said.
“With current technologies, as well as the expected progress in materials and engineering integration, we think that offshore wind turbines will continue to rapidly increase their power capacity. Therefore, a robust medium voltage power converter has been developed focusing on a market that demands a low Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) without compromising quality or performance in wind turbine platforms that are continuously scaling up,” said Ana Goyen , Director of Ingeteam Wind Energy.