Reduction of Negative Effects of a Short Circuit Through Improved Converter Topology for Wind Energy Applications

This paper presents the effects of semiconductor failures in an Active-Neutral-Point-Clamped converter on the electrical and mechanical system of a wind turbine. To simulate the effects of the various short-circuit cases a simulation model of a wind turbine was developed, consisting of a back-to-back configuration of ANPC converters, a permanent-magnet synchronous machine and a mechanical model of a 3 MW wind turbine.