Fault Diagnosis and Fault-tolerant Control of Modular Multi-level Converter High-voltage DC System: A Review

Modular Multilevel Converter based High Voltage Direct Current (MMC-HVDC) configuration is a promising solution for the efficient grid integration and bulky power transmission over long distance. However, the large number of series connected identical modules in MMC may increase the probability of failures and lower the reliability of the MMC-HVDC system. Therefore, research on the fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control of MMC-HVDC system is of great significance in order to enhance the reliability of the system. This paper provides a comprehensive review of fault diagnosis and fault handling strategies of MMC-HVDC systems for the most common faults happened in MMC-HVDC systems covering MMC faults, DC side faults as well as AC side faults. An important part of this paper is devoted to a discussion of the vulnerable spots as well as failure mechanism of the MMC-HVDC system covering switching device fault, DC line faults as well as AC grid faults. Special attention is given to the comparison of the corresponding fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control approaches. Further, focus is dedicated to control/protection strategies and topologies with fault ride-though capability for MMC-HVDC system. In addition, a case is studied to illustrate the performance of the MMC-HVDC system under various faults.