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Comparison of Switching Schemes for STATCOMs using Modular Multi-Level

J. TURUNEN
GE, Grid Solutions
Finland

SUMMARY

A switching scheme and the number of submodules have a significant influence on the
quality of the output voltage of the static compensators (STATCOMs) using a modular multi-
level converter (MMC). Increasing the number of submodules in converters also increases the
quality of the output voltage, but on the other hand brings other drawbacks to the STATCOM
design. However, using a pulse width modulation (PWM) switching scheme this can be
avoided and a good quality of STATCOM output voltage reached with a reasonable number
of submodules.
This paper presents a comparison of the MMC switching schemes based on the simulation
results of the STATCOM system. Three switching schemes are inspected: in addition to the
traditional staircase synthesis, the PWM switching scheme with two different switching
frequencies is included in the study.
At the beginning of the paper the structure of the inspected MMC and the principles of the
switching of its switching components are explained. After this, a structure of the simulation
model used in the simulations is introduced in detail.
The rest of the paper presents the simulation results and the conclusions done based on
them. First, a fundamental frequency performance of the STATCOM is inspected using the
presented switching schemes. It is seen that with basic switching scheme the error between
actual STATCOM output voltage and its reference value is decreased when the number of
submodules is increased. However, in the case of the PWM switching the voltage error is less
dependent on the number of the submodules and is always lower than in the case of the basic
switching scheme.
After this the harmonic frequency performance of the STATCOM is inspected. It is noticed
that the PWM switching scheme has two benefits compared to the basic switching scheme.
First, in case of the PWM switching scheme, less low-frequency harmonics are generated.
Second, harmonics produced in the PWM switching scheme are concentrated on the narrow
frequency band, which makes the design work of a high-frequency filter easier.
Last, the switching losses of the STATCOM in case of each presented switching scheme are
inspected. It is seen that the price of a better output voltage quality when using the PWM
switching scheme is increased switching frequency, which induces additional switching
losses. However, the difference in average switching frequencies between basic and PWM
switching schemes is noticed to be lower when the number of the submodules in a converter
is higher.

KEYWORDS

STATCOM – Switching Scheme – Comparison – Modular Multi-Level Converter

[email protected]
INTRODUCTION

The quality of the output voltage of the static compensators (STATCOMs) using a modular
multi-level converter (MMC) depends on the number of submodules and the switching
scheme used. When the submodules are traditionally switched on and off twice during a
fundamental cycle, the quality can be increased simply by increasing the number of series-
connected submodules. This is because with a higher number of submodules, a lower voltage
level per submodule can be used and more sinusoidal output voltage waveform is achieved.
However, although the increased number of submodules has these two benefits, i.e. the
increased quality of output voltage and lower voltage rating of submodules, it also has
drawbacks, which are due to the increased complexity and costs of a STATCOM device. On
the other hand, a pulse width modulation (PWM) switching scheme may be applied for the
switching of STATCOM switching components in order to achieve a good quality of
STATCOM output voltage with a reasonable number of submodules.
In this paper the switching schemes of a MMC are compared using the simulations. First, a
brief explanation of the inspected STATCOM is given. After this the simulation model, which
is used for the comparison, is presented. The rest of the paper concentrates in the comparison
of switching schemes using the results achieved by the simulations. Both the fundamental
frequency and harmonic frequency performance of the switching schemes are inspected. In
addition to this, the switching losses of a device are discussed. Finally, conclusions are
provided at the end of the paper.

MMC-BASED STATCOM

This Section provides a brief description of the operation of a MMC-based STATCOM. The
operation principle of the MMC, as such, is well-known and dealt for example in [1, 2]. The
generalised main circuit of the STATCOM inspected here is shown in Fig. 1. The STATCOM
consists of series-connected submodules, which serve as voltage sources and a reactor
connected in series with these. The figure shows only three submodules per phase but in
reality any number of submodules is possible. The number of submodules depends on several
factors, for example the supply grid voltage level, the step-down transformer transformation
ratio, and the desired level of the MMC component voltage and current stresses. In addition,
the MMC may be wye- or delta-connected. The STATCOM is connected to a high-voltage
supply grid using a step-down transformer.
Fig. 2 presents the main circuit of a single (full-bridge) MMC submodule. It consists of four
fully controlled semiconductor switches (such as insulated gate bipolar transistor or gate turn-
off thyristor) and a dc-link capacitor. These switches have several switching combinations,
which are called the switching states. In active switching states, the complementary switches
(S1 and S4 or S2 and S3) are conducting. By using switches in this fashion, the dc-voltage of
the dc-link capacitor is connected in series with the circuit with either positive or negative
polarity. In zero switching states parallel switches (S1 and S3 or S2 and S4) are conducting
and the output voltage of the submodule is equal to zero.

STATCOM
Grid S1 S3

S2 S4

Fig. 1: MMC-based STATCOM. Fig. 2: Full-bridge submodule.

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 In the simplest case, the switches are switched on and off twice during a fundamental cycle,
once during voltage being positive and once during negative voltage. This kind of output
voltage waveform is as presented in Fig. 3, the number of voltage steps (or levels) being
dependent on the number of submodules used in MMC. This is called as the basic switching
scheme in this paper.
Alternatively, one of the submodules can be switched using PWM, which brings its benefits
to STATCOM operation. The fundamentals of a PWM switching scheme are dealt e.g. in [3]
and are out of the scope of this paper. In general, PWM switching means the switching of the
switches of a single submodule with a high frequency in such a way that the average of the
resulting voltage equals its reference over short duration of time. The output voltage
waveform when a PWM is applied to MMC operation is shown in Fig. 4.
1.5 1.5

1 1

0.5 0.5
Voltage [pu]

0 Voltage [pu] 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time [ms] Time [ms]

Fig. 3: Output voltage reference (blue) and realised Fig. 4: Output voltage reference (blue) and realised
phase voltage (red) of a MMC-based STATCOM phase voltage (red) of a MMC-based STATCOM
using the basic switching scheme. using the PWM switching scheme.

SIMULATION MODEL

The switching schemes were compared using the simulations done using MatLab/Simulink
simulation program and the models were created using SimPowerSystems component library.
The simulation model included a supply grid, a step-down transformer and the STATCOM as
shown in Fig 5.

Fig. 5: The STATCOM simulation model used in comparison.

The parameters of the simulated system are given in Table 1. Depending on the simulation,
each phase of the modelled MMC STATCOM consisted of 10, 30 or 50 series-connected H-
bridge converters (i.e. submodules) and an inductor. The dc-link voltage of the H-bridge
converters was calculated such that each STATCOM valve was capable of generating 24
kVpeak voltage independently of the number of the used submodules.

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 Table 1: Simulation parameters.
Grid Voltage 400 kV/ 50 Hz
Step-down transformer Transformation ratio 400/20 kV
Connection Yd1
STATCOM DC-link voltage when 10/30/50 submodules 2400/800/480 V
Inductor inductance per phase 6.5 mH
Connection wye

PERFORMANCE AT FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY

The differences in MMC operation due to the used switching schemes are discussed next.
Three wye-connected STATCOMs, with 10, 30, and 50 submodules are inspected. The
operation of all topologies is studied using the basic switching scheme, the PWM switching
scheme with 5 kHz switching frequency (PWM5kHz) and with 7.5 kHz switching frequency
(PWM7.5kHz).
The STATCOM output performance at the fundamental frequency is inspected first. As Fig.
3 shows, the instantaneous value of MMC output voltage does not match with its reference
value. This is because of discrete voltage levels generated by the submodules. As is obvious,
this error can be decreased by increasing the number of the submodules since in this case the
voltage level per submodule can be decreased. However, it is more efficient to decrease the
error by introducing the PWM switching scheme in the switching of one submodule per
phase. The comparison between these cases is shown in Figs. 6–8. These figures present the
error between the fundamental frequency component of the MMC output phase voltage and
its reference as a function of the output voltage. The figures present the graphs for MMCs
with 10, 30, and 50 submodules per phase. It can be seen that regardless of the number of
submodules, the STATCOM with the PWM switching scheme has a remarkably lower error
in the output voltages at the fundamental frequency.

2 0.4
0.3
1
Voltage error [%]

Voltage error [%]

0.2
0.1
0
0
-0.1
-1
-0.2

-2 -0.3
-0.4
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Voltage [pu] Voltage [pu]

Fig. 6: Output voltage error as a function of the Fig. 7: Output voltage error as a function of the
fundamental voltage component. 10 submodules per fundamental voltage component. 30 submodules per
phase. Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz phase. Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz
(green) switching scheme. (green) switching scheme.

3
 0.3

0.25

0.2

Voltage error [%]

0.1

0.05

-0.05

-0.1
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Voltage [pu]

Fig. 8: Output voltage error as a function of the fundamental voltage component. 50 submodules per phase.
Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz (green) switching scheme.

PERFORMANCE AT HARMONIC FREQUENCIES

Next, the high-frequency (HF) harmonics produced by the STATCOM are analysed. Figs 9–
11 show the frequency spectrum of the STATCOM output phase voltage with different
switching schemes when 10 submodules are used per phase. It can be seen that in the basic
switching scheme (Fig. 9) the harmonics are concentrated on low frequencies. On the other
hand, when the PWM switching scheme is used (Figs. 10 and 11) the harmonics are at higher
frequencies and a clear spike can be seen in harmonic spectrum. With the PWM5kHz, the spike
is at frequency of 5 kHz and with the PWM7.5kHz, the spike is at 7.5 kHz.
Since the harmonics are at higher frequencies in case of the PWM5kHz and the PWM7.5kHz,
the resulting voltage waveform is more sinusoidal. This can be inspected more closely by
calculating a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) value of the phase voltage in each case. The
result of this is shown in Figs. 12-14, which present the THD of a phase voltage calculated up
to 2.5 kHz as a function of the fundamental voltage component. The figures present the THD
values in the case of all inspected switching schemes and in the cases where 10, 30, or 50
submodules are used per phase.
In figures it is seen that in case of the basic switching scheme the THD value is lower when
a higher number of submodules is used. However, it is in all cases higher than with PWM
switching scheme. The THD value in case of the basic switching scheme closes to the one of
the PWM switching schemes only in the case where the number of submodules is 50 pieces
per phase. Opposite to this, in case of the PWM switching scheme the amount of low
frequency harmonics is approximately the same in all cases and not depending on the
switching frequency (PWM5kHz / PWM7.5kHz) or number of submodules (10/30/50) used per
phase.
Based on this it can be concluded that when the lower number of submodules is used, it is
advantageous to use the PWM switching. First, this leads to a lower amount of low frequency
harmonics in the STATCOM output voltage. It is advantageous to have harmonics at higher
frequencies when these are filtered using a passive HF-filter since smaller filter components
can be used. The second reason is that it is easier to design a HF-filter when the harmonics are
concentrated on the narrow range of frequencies.

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 0.05 0.05

0.04 0.04
Voltage [pu]

Voltage [pu]
0.03 0.03

0.02 0.02

0.01 0.01

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Frequency [kHz] Frequency [kHz]

Fig. 9: Output voltage harmonics when the Fig. 10: Output voltage harmonics when the
fundamental component equals to 1 pu. 10 sub- fundamental component equals to 1 pu. 10 sub-
modules per phase. Basic switching scheme. modules per phase. PWM5kHz switching scheme.
0.05 8

7
0.04
6
[%]
Voltage [pu]

0.03 5
2.5kHz

4
THD

0.02 3

2
0.01
1

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Frequency [kHz] Voltage [pu]

Fig. 11: Output voltage harmonics when the Fig. 12: THD2.5kHz of the output voltage as a function
fundamental component equals to 1 pu. 10 of fundamental voltage component. 10 submodules.
submodules per phase. PWM7.5kHz switching scheme. Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz (green)
switching scheme.
8 8

7 7

6 6
[%]

[%]

5 5
2.5kHz

2.5kHz

4 4
THD

THD

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Voltage [pu] Voltage [pu]

Fig. 13: THD2.5kHz of the output voltage as a function Fig. 14: THD2.5kHz of the output voltage as a function
of fundamental voltage component. 30 submodules. of fundamental voltage component. 50 submodules.
Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz (green) Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz (green)
switching scheme. switching scheme.

5
SWITCHING LOSSES INSPECTION

Although the PWM switching scheme has several benefits compared with the basic
switching scheme, there is an issue that also has to be taken into account. The PWM
switching increases switching frequency of the switching components used in the MMC. This
may not be an issue in the low-power converters, but in the converters used in STATCOMs,
where the switching component voltage and current ratings reach kV/kA level this is a matter
that has to be taken into account carefully.
When the switching characteristics of the switching component are defined as in Fig. 15, its
average switching power loss can be approximated as in Equation (1) [4].

Ts= 1/fs

Vdc

Io

Ts,on Ts,off Ts,on

= , + , = , + , = , + , , (1)

where Ps,on is the average switching loss during the turn-on switching of a component, Ps,off
the average switching loss during the turn-off switching of a component, Vdc is the dc-link
voltage, Io the current through the switch, fs the switching frequency and Ts,on and Ts,off
lengths of the turn-on and turn-off time periods of the switching component.
In this equation it is seen that the switching losses are directly related to the switching
frequency fs. What this means is that doubling the switching frequency also doubles the
switching losses if other parameters in equation remain the same.
However, in the case where the PWM switching schemes are used, it has to be noticed that
the average switching frequency in the converter is not increased so dramatically when
compared with the basic switching scheme. As was discussed, in the PWM switching scheme
only one of the submodules in each phase is switched using the PWM switching. The
remaining 9, 29 or 49 submodules are still switched using the basic switching scheme. Now,
since the components in only one submodule are switched with higher frequency, it can be
chosen which one of the several submodules this is. In addition to this, this decision can be
changed several times in a fundamental cycle. Therefore, all switching components can be
used for a short time period in the PWM mode in order to share the additional switching loss
burden between the switching components of the converter.
Figs. 16-18 show the average values of the switching frequencies per switching component
as a function of the STATCOM output voltage when using the presented switching schemes.
The switching frequencies are scaled to per unit (pu) values, where 1 pu equals to average
switching frequency in the case where 10 submodules are used with basic switching scheme
and the output voltage equals to 1 pu. Fig. 16 shows that when there are 10 submodules per
phase and PWM5kHz switching scheme is applied, the average switching frequency is about 8
times higher than in case of the basic switching scheme. In the case of PWM7.5kHz this ratio is
close to 12. However, Figs. 17 and 18 show that, when the number of the submodules is
higher (and the dc-link voltage in submodules respectively lower), also the switching

6
frequency using PWM switching schemes is relatively lower. For example, using 50
submodules per phase and PWM5kHz switching scheme the average switching frequency is
only about two times higher than the average switching frequency using the basic switching
scheme.
6
12
5
Switching frequency [pu]

Switching frequency [pu]

4 2

2 1

0 0
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Voltage [pu] Voltage [pu]

Fig. 16: Average value of the switching frequency Fig. 17: Average value of the switching frequency
per switching component as a function of the per switching component as a function of the
fundamental voltage component. 10 submodules per fundamental voltage component. 30 submodules per
phase. Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz phase. Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz
(green) switching scheme. (green) switching scheme.
4

3.5
Switching frequency [pu]

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
Voltage [pu]

Fig. 18: Average value of the switching frequency per switching component as a function of the fundamental
voltage component. 50 submodules per phase. Basic (blue), PWM5kHz (red) and PWM7.5kHz (green) switching
scheme.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper presented a comparison of the switching schemes of the STATCOM using a
modular multi-level converter. The conclusions were done based on the simulation results of
the STATCOM simulation model. The principles of the switching of switching components in
the cases of basic and PWM switching schemes were discussed and the simulation model of
the STATCOM presented.
First the fundamental frequency performance of the STATCOM was inspected using the
presented switching schemes. With basic switching scheme it was seen that the error between
the actual STATCOM output voltage and its reference value is decreased when the number of
the submodules is increased. In case of the PWM switching scheme the voltage error was less
dependent on the number of submodules and was always lower than in the case of the basic

7
switching scheme. The chosen switching frequency had no remarkable influence on the result
in case of the PWM switching scheme.
After this the harmonic frequency performance of the STATCOM was inspected similarly. It
was noticed that the PWM switching scheme has two benefits compared with the basic
switching scheme. First, in PWM switching scheme less low-frequency harmonics are
generated. Second, the harmonics produced in the PWM switching scheme are concentrated
on the narrow frequency band which makes the design work of the HF-filter easier.
Last, the switching losses of the STATCOM were inspected. It was seen that the price of the
better output voltage quality when using the PWM switching scheme is increased switching
frequency, which induces additional switching losses. However, the difference in the average
switching frequency between the basic and PWM switching schemes was noticed to be lower
when the number of used submodules in converter is higher.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Akagi, H. “Classification, Terminology, and Application of the Modular Multilevel Cascade
Converter (MMCC)”, IEEE Transactions of Power Electronics, Vol. 26, No. 11, November
2011.
[2] Hagiwara, M., Akagi, H., “PWM Control and Experiment of Modular Multilevel Converters”,
Proceedings of Power Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC), pp. 154-161, 2008.
[3] Holmes D. G. and Lipo, T. A., “Pulse Width Modulation for Power Converters – Principles and
Practice”. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New Jersey, USA, 2003.
[4] Mohan, N., Undeland, T., Robbins, W., “Power Electronics – Converters, Applications and
Design”, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.