Ingeteam develops medium voltage full power converter product range for up to 18MW offshore turbines

Ingeteam has developed the INGECON® WIND FULL CONVERTER MV, a new product range of medium voltage full power converters designed to improve the performance of the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbines. The converter is already available for offshore turbines up to 15MW and is projected to be ready for 18MW machines by 2024.

This latest innovation is part of Ingeteam’s suite of full power drive train components, including the high-performance INDAR generators. The company’s offshore wind converters and generators can be combined and integrated to form a highly optimized and competitive full power drive train solution suited for the most demanding offshore environments.

Advancing full power drive train performance

Ingeteam has developed a full range of drive train products for full power conversion topologies to meet the strong performance requirements in the offshore wind market. Its power converters and generators are designed with a common objective in mind: to maximise energy yield, lower turbine downtime and offer an optimised electrical system highly competitive both on costs and efficiency.

INGECON® WIND FULL POWER CONVERTER MV product range is the result of a continuous and evolutionary design based on HV IGBT semiconductors technology. The evolution of the HV IGBT during the past years has allowed to deliver a solution that increases the power density of the converters design with minimal changes, offering superior performance compared to other solutions in the market. Ingeteam’s HV IGBT is a widely used technology that has been proven during years of operation in harsh environments such as traction, marine propulsions and dredging applications.

The full power converters can reach up to a 18MW rating thanks to the parallelization of two conversion lines, which provides redundancy in terms of de-rated operation under a conversion line fault. Unlike other solutions, INGECON® WIND FULL CONVERTER MV operating with HV IGBT packages does not require a double cooling system, leading to unmatched energy density.

“One of the main electrical drive train topologies is based on two electrically independent connections, one per conversion line. The power converter redundancy increases turbine availability if one of the conversion line fails. This is a key advantage in the offshore market as it increases the energy yield and the return on investment.”, explains Carlos Gironés, R&D Director of Converters & Controls at Ingeteam Wind Energy.

Ingeteam also offers two different generator series for full power conversion topologies. The INDAR PMG series feature generators based on Permanent Magnet Technology, which require very low maintenance and offer high reliability. The INDAR PMG series can feature a wide range of cooling systems and voltage levels. They can accommodate for direct-drive, medium-speed and high-speed machines. On the other hand, the INDAR IG series work with a coupled 3-stage gearbox by means of a flexible and insulated coupling.

Next generation converters for giant offshore wind turbines

Ingeteam’s full power conversion solution comes as a response to some of the most important challenges facing the offshore wind market today. Next generation converters for giant offshore wind turbines must be able to guarantee the fulfilment of the most demanding grid codes and to meet ever increasing power quality standards. They need to operate reliably in the toughest offshore environments, to facilitate maintenance needs and are generally expected to make a meaningful contribution to lowering offshore wind LCOE.

“We wanted to provide our OEM customers working on next-generation offshore turbines with a power conversion solution that combines optimized cost, high efficiency, easy maintainability, and improved reliability, all combined into one rugged product. Years of R&D have led to a power conversion solution that, by parallelizing two conversion lines, can push the previous power rating boundaries at medium voltage past the 13MW limit to reach 18MW. Such a cutting-edge solution in the sector is already emerging as the new standard for future offshore wind mega turbines.”, concluded Carlos Gironés, R&D Director of Converters & Controls at Ingeteam Wind Energy.