Electrical Systems group engineers at GE Research have achieved one of the world’s firsts in the power conversion sector, demonstrating a MW-scale modular, multi-level wind power converter in its lab in upstate New York. The demonstration successfully culminates the key objective of a five-year project through the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office’s Next Generation Electric Machines program. The initiative also advanced an early power conversion system for hybrid electric flight.

The modular, multi-level wind power converter was demonstrated at full scale in lab facilities with the equivalent power of a 3.5 MW wind turbine. Source: GE ResearchA laboratory on the GE campus was transformed into a virtual 3.5 MW wind turbine outfitted with an actual wind generator and gearbox from GE’s Renewable Energy business. A modular, multi-level “Tower of Power” was then developed and integrated into this virtual environment, allowing the converter to be tested under real conditions as if a 300+ ft high wind turbine was operating in the middle of GE’s Research campus.

GE’s new modular, multi-level power conversion architecture, according to Nathaniel Hawes, principal engineer in the Electrical Systems group at GE Research and project leader, was built like toy blocks, or bricks.

“As opposed to one big power conversion box, we create one or a few standard building block(s) and then build and 'stack up' multiple building blocks to make up a variety of power conversion systems that collectively control power output,” Hawes said. “If one building block goes down, I don’t need to worry because the other building blocks or boxes will continue to function just fine and I can even design my systems with extra boxes or ‘bricks,’ as redundancy, which I can activate to supplement those that are offline.”

Hawes noted that the repairs to the smaller boxes versus one big system can actually be made faster too, in addition to the reduced spare parts inventory and product life cycle cost.