Prospects of new technologies for power electronics in the 21st century

The emergence of power semiconductor devices such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or injection-enhanced gate transistors (IEGTs) and gate-commutated turn-off (GCT) thyristors or integrated gate-commutated thyristors (IGCTs) enables power conversion systems to expand into utility, leading to FACTS controllers. This paper describes prospects and directions of power electronics in the 21st century, with much focus on silicon-carbide devices suitable for the next-generation FACTS controllers.