3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

A Six-Phase Wind Energy Induction Generator

System with Series-connected DC-links
H.S. Che1,2, W.P. Hew2, N.A. Rahim2, E. Levi1, M. Jones1, M.J. Duran3
1

Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom (e.levi@ljmu.ac.uk, m.jones2@ljmu.ac.uk)

University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (cehase@hotmail.com, w.p.hew@yahoo.com, nasrudin@um.edu.my)
3
University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain (mjduran@uma.es)

As discussed in [8], remote offshore wind farms favour the

use of dc grids for power transmission. In such a case, the
generator-side converters and the grid-side converter are
located far apart, and interconnected by a dc-grid consisting of
HVDC transmission lines with several dc-dc converter stages
[9]. Generator-side converters with series dc-links are still
advantageous due to the elevated voltage. However, the
structure in Fig. 1(b) requires three conductors between the
generator-side and the grid-side converters. For this reason,
the configuration without the third conductor, shown in Fig.
1(c), is elaborated. This structure requires dc-link voltage
balancing to be incorporated into the control of the generatorside converter. The paper shows that this can be achieved by
exploiting the additional degrees of freedom, available in a
six-phase generator. The grid-side converter is for simplicity
taken here as two-level, although it will normally be threelevel. This does not affect the validity of the study reported in
the paper.
The paper is organised as follows. Section II gives general
description of the system, including the control strategies of
the generator-side converter and the grid-side converter.
Analysis of the generation system with series-connected dclinks and the possible reasons for voltage unbalance are then

AbstractThe paper presents a study of a six-phase wind

energy conversion system (WECS) with series-connected dc-links.
The structure of the generation system requires the dc-link
voltages to be balanced at the generators side. To achieve this, it
is shown that a dc-link voltage balancing controller can be
realised by exploiting the extra degrees of freedom provided by
the xy plane of the six-phase machine. To facilitate the
controllers
implementation,
an
alternative
modified
transformation matrix is also suggested. The feasibility of the
studied system, including the operation of the dc-link voltage
balancing controller, is verified using Matlab/Simulink
simulations.
Keywordsmultiphase machines, six-phase, wind energy
conversion system, asymmetries.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Compared with conventional three-phase machines,

multiphase machines with sinusoidal spatial magneto-motive
force distribution have lower space harmonics, greater fault
tolerance, lower pulsating torque, and lower per phase power
ratings for given power [1]. Multiphase generators have been
studied much less than multiphase variable-speed drives and
this remains to be an interesting topic, especially for WECS.
In particular, multiphase machines with multiple three-phase
windings are very convenient for WECS and several studies,
employing asymmetrical six-phase [25] and nine-phase
generators [6], have been conducted recently. There is also a
commercialised wind energy conversion system offered by
Gamesa, using eighteen-phase generator with six back-to-back
three-phase converters [7]. The modularity of three-phase
windings in multiple three-phase winding machines can take
advantage of the well established three-phase technology,
allowing the use of off-the-shelf three-phase converters.
Due to the modularity of the converters, different
configurations are possible, giving generation systems of
different topologies. Fig. 1 shows several structures for wind
energy generation systems based on a six-phase generator.
Conventional multiphase generation systems [24] have the
generator side-converters connected in parallel, as depicted in
Fig. 1(a). In [5], a generation system with series-connected dclinks, as shown in Fig. 1(b), was presented. Two three-phase
converters are cascaded in series to give a higher dc-link
voltage, and a three-phase three-level neutral point clamped
(NPC) converter is used as the grid-side converter in back-toback manner with the generator-side converters. The use of the
back-to-back topology allows balancing of dc-link voltages
directly by the grid-side NPC converter.

978-1-4673-2023-8/12/$31.00/ 2012 IEEE

Fig. 1. Structures of multiphase (six-phase) wind generation systems.

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3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

dr = ( Llr + Lm )idr + Lmids

qr = ( Llr + Lm )iqr + Lmiqs

given in Section III. In Section IV, an alternative modified

transformation matrix, which facilitates implementation of the
dc-link voltage balancing controller, is introduced. Finally,
simulation results and conclusions are presented in Sections V
and VI, respectively.

Rs and Rr are stator and rotor resistance, while Lls, Llr and Lm
are stator- and rotor leakage inductance, and magnetising
inductance. Additional stator equations, which describe
machine in the xy plane, are:
v xs = Rs i xs + d xs /dt
(5)
v ys = Rs i ys + d ys /dt

II. GENERATION SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

A. System Overview
In the studied system, Fig. 1(c), the generator used is an
asymmetrical six-phase induction machine, i.e. its two threephase windings are mutually shifted in space by 30. The
neutral points of the two windings are isolated. As shown in
Fig. 1(c), the generator is controlled using the generator-side
converters, which consist of two series-connected three-phase
two-level voltage source converters. For the grid-side, a twolevel voltage source converter is employed. The generator-side
and grid-side converters are interconnected via a dc-link.
B. Generator Model
Using vector space decomposition (VSD) method [10], the
machines six phase variables (a1b1c1a2b2c2) can be
transformed into stationary reference frame quantities (xy),
which appear in two mutually orthogonal planes. Power
invariant transformation is used,

[T ] =

1
1 0

3 x 1
y 0

1
2
3
2
12
23

1
2
23
12
3
2

3
2
1
2

3
2
1
2

3
2
1
2
3
2
1
2

xs = Lls i xs
ys = Lls i ys

C. Indirect Rotor Flux Oriented Control (IRFOC)

With the VSD model, the six-phase generator can be
controlled using indirect rotor flux oriented control method in
a similar manner as a three-phase induction generator [1]. The
rotor flux angle, required for the rotational transformation, is
calculated from the estimated slip speed and the measured
rotor position. With the d-axis aligned to the rotor flux vector,
the flux and torque of the machine are controlled by regulating
the d- and q-axis currents, respectively. Using a maximum
power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm similar to that in [4],
the generators torque can be controlled according to the
varying wind speed, to generate maximum power.

(1)

D. Suppression of Asymmetries
One important consideration when operating six-phase
generator is the suppression of xy currents. Ideally, if the two
windings are supplied with two sets of balanced sinusoidal
three-phase voltages, which are symmetrical and phase-shifted
by 30, two sets of balanced three-phase currents of the same
amplitude would flow in each winding. In this case, there will
be no current flowing in the xy plane (except for the switching
harmonics related ripple current). However, if there are some
phase and/or magnitude deviations from this ideal condition,
xy currents will flow, and the machine is considered to have
asymmetries. As shown in [11], asymmetries due to pulse
width modulation (PWM) of the voltage source converter can
be minimised by choosing suitable modulation technique, such
as double zero-sequence injection method. However, the
compensation of asymmetries due to machine and/or supply is
not so straightforward. A comprehensive analysis of the
operation of a six-phase induction machine with machine
and/or supply asymmetries was presented in [12].
Conventional control method which utilises only one pair of
dq current controllers is incapable of suppressing the xy
currents, so additional current controllers must be added.
Several methods have been proposed in line with this. In
[13] and [14], it was suggested to control a six-phase machine
based on dual-dq model: the two windings are treated as

Here s is the angle of rotational transformation. The xy

quantities are not transformed. Assuming that the reference
frame is rotating at an arbitrary speed of , the model of the
induction generator can be described using the following
voltage and flux equations in the dq plane (indices s and r
indicate stator and rotor quantities, respectively; motoring
convention for the positive stator current flow is used):
vds = Rs ids + d ds / dt qs
0 = Rr idr + d dr / dt ( r ) qr

(3)

0 = Rr iqr + d qr / dt + ( r ) dr

ds = ( Lls + Lm )ids + Lm idr

qs = ( Lls + Lm )iqs + Lm iqr

Finally, equation of rotor motion is

d m
(8)
Te Tm = J
dt
where m is the rotor mechanical speed, J the inertia, and Tm is
the mechanical (prime mover) torque.

vqs = Rs iqs + d qs / dt + ds

(6)

For a machine with p pole pairs, the electrical torque, which

solely depends on the dq components, is given by:
Te = pLm idr iqs ids iqr
(7)

The torque and flux producing components are mapped into

the  plane, while the loss-producing components map into
the xy plane. Zero-sequence components have been omitted
because zero-sequence currents cannot flow due to the isolated
neutral points. A rotational transformation is then used to
transform the stationary reference frame variables into a
synchronously rotating reference frame (dqxy), suitable for
vector control:
d cos s sin s

q sin s cos s

(2)
[D] =
x

(4b)

(4a)

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3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

The currents Idc1 and Idc2 consist of two components: a

common component (-Idc3) and a differential component (Icap1
and Icap2). At any time instant, the common current component
will be drawn from both generator-side converters, while the
instantaneous difference between the converters currents and
the common current will be supplemented by each of the
converters capacitors. Ideally, the two sets of machine
windings are identical, so the average converter current should
be the same despite the spatial difference. Hence, the average
capacitor currents should also be the same.
The dc-link voltage balancing depends on the active power
balancing between the two converters. The equations for the
active powers of the generator-side converters are:
P1 = I dc1Vdc1
(11)
P2 = I dc 2Vdc 2
During steady state, the average converters currents will be
equal. Hence,
P1 Vdc1
=
(12)
P2 Vdc 2
If the grid-side converter provides perfect control, the total
dc-link voltage will be maintained at a constant value of Vdc.
Each individual dc-link voltage is expressed as a sum of its
ideal balanced value (Vdc/2) and a deviation from the ideal
value (Vdc1 and Vdc2). Since the sum of two dc-link voltages
is equal to Vdc, the voltage deviations must be equal but of
opposite sign, i.e. Vdc1 = Vdc2 = Vdc. Hence the power
equation (12) can be written as:
Vdc
+ Vdc
P1
(13)
= 2
P2 Vdc
Vdc
2
Rearranging (13), the voltage deviation can be expressed as a
function of the active powers,
P P2 Vdc

Vdc = 1
(14)
P1 + P2 2

separate three-phase windings and two sets of dq current

controllers are used. Some other authors prefer to control the
machine based on the VSD model (3)-(6), with two sets of
controllers used: one for the dq plane, and another for the xy
plane. In [15], xy current control was done in the stationary
reference frame, with the xy currents regulated by two
additional resonant controllers. In [16], synchronous reference
frame xy current controllers for five-phase induction machine
were considered. A modified rotational transformation matrix
d cos s sin s

q sin s cos s

(9)
Ddq =
x dq
cos s sin s

y dq
sin s cos s
was introduced to rotate the xy plane at the same synchronous
speed as the dq plane. PI controllers are then used to
compensate the asymmetries, making this method intuitively
simple and easy for implementation. The references for xy
controllers are set to zero to eliminate the asymmetries.
Structure of the current control scheme, based on (9), is shown
in Fig. 2, where ed , eq are the feed-forward terms for IRFOC.
In this investigation, this synchronous xy current control
method is adopted, with some modifications to the
transformation matrix and an addition of a dc-link voltage
balancing controller. Details of the controller are described in
Section IV.

[ ]

[D ] [T ] ia1b1c1
dq

ia2b2c2

ids
*

ids

iqs

ed

[D ]

dq

*
qs

[T ]1

eq

ixdqs
ixdqs = iydqs = 0
*

As can be seen from (14), the voltage deviation is a direct

result of the power imbalance between the two generator-side
converters. Under normal circumstances, there should be no

iydqs
Fig. 2. Current control with modified transformation (9) and additional PI
controllers for xy current suppression [16].

E. Voltage-oriented Control (VOC)

For the grid-side converter, the well known voltage-oriented
control (VOC) method is employed [17]. With the d-axis of
the control reference frame aligned to the grid voltage vector,
active and reactive powers delivered to the grid can be
controlled by regulating d-axis and q-axis currents,
respectively. The dc-link voltage can then be kept constant by
controlling the active power.
III.

ANALYSIS OF SERIES-CONNECTED DC-LINKS

To explain the operation of the generation system with

series-connected dc-links, the system can be simplified as
shown in Fig. 3, with the converters represented as
controllable current sources. By using Kirchhoffs current law
for points W and Z, the generator-side converters currents can
be written as
I dc1 = I dc3 I cap1
I dc 2 = I dc 3 I cap 2
(10)

Fig. 3. Simplified circuit diagram for generation system with series-connected

dc-links.

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3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

id = 1/ 2 (id1 + id 2 )

power difference between the two windings. However, as

discussed in [12], in an event of machine and/or supply
asymmetries, power imbalance will occur. This causes the dclink voltages to drift apart.
IV.

iq = 1/ 2 iq1 + iq 2
i ydq =

A. An Alternative Modified Transformation

Based on the discussions above, two additional control
aspects must be included in the control of the generator-side
converters, i.e. suppression of asymmetries and dc-link voltage
balancing. Both objectives are achieved by applying suitable
control in the xy plane. In particular, balancing of dc-link
voltages is achieved by controlling the power difference
between two windings via proper injection of the xy currents.
As will be shown in the section with simulation results,
suppression of asymmetries is still possible although the xy
currents are injected by the dc-link voltage balancing
controller.
To develop the dc-link voltage balancing controller, it is
important to establish the relationship between xy currents and
the power in each winding. With the VSD model, the
quantities in the two windings are not explicitly expressed,
while the powers of the two three-phase windings now need to
be controlled separately. In order to achieve separate power
control with the VSD model, it is insightful to at first establish
the relationship between dqxy components in the VSD model
and the d1q1d2q2 components in the dual-dq model, which
enables separate formulation of winding powers.
To start with, according to the stationary transformation of
the dual-dq model, the  components of the two windings are
separately treated as 11 and 22 currents, which can be
given with:

i 2 =

2
3

i 1 =

2
3

i 2 =

2 1i
3 2 a2

(
(

3
i
2 a2
3
i
2 b1

3
i
2 b2
3
i
2 c1

+ 12 ib 2 ic 2

id = 1 / 2 (id 1 + id 2 )

iq = 1 / 2 iq1 + iq 2

1
2

(i 1 + i 2 )

i =

1
2

(i1 + i 2 )

ix =

1
2

(i1 i 2 )

iy =

1
2

( i1 + i 2 )

i x ' = 1 / 2 (id 1 id 2 ) = 1/ 2 id

(20)

i y ' = 1 / 2 iq 2 iq1 = 1/ 2 iq
Transformed xy components in (20) are now both dc
signals and the difference between dq components of the two
windings can be controlled using xy components. Positive ix
will make id1 greater than id2, while positive iy makes iq1
smaller than iq2, and vice versa. Thus, power drawn from the
two windings can be controlled by the proper injection of ixy.
Moreover, since dq components are dc quantities, xy will
also be dc quantities which allow the use of simple PI
controllers. It is also worth noting that, from (20), injecting ixy
changes the difference between idq1 and idq2 but does not
change the overall flux and torque currents (idq). Hence the
injection of ixy will not adversely affect the overall operation
of the generator.
B. Strucutre of Dc-link Voltage Balancing Controller
There are several ways in which ixy can be injected to
change the power difference. Here, the following strategy is
adopted: iy is injected to manipulate the difference in the
active powers, while ix is kept at zero, to maintain the same
flux current in both windings. Fig. 4 illustrates the current
vector variation based on this strategy. Only the case with
negative iq is considered, since iq is limited to take only
negative values in the generator control.
From Fig. 4, increasing iq increases iq1, and causes more
power to be generated in winding 1. Decreasing iq will in
turn decrease iq1, and reduce power generated in winding 1.
On the basis of this reasoning, iq can be derived from the dclink voltage difference (Vdc1 Vdc2). The y current reference,
iy*, is obtained by multiplying iq with 1, based on (20).
Overall structure of the xy current controllers with dc-link
voltage balancing controller is given schematically in Fig. 5.
The ultimate controller outputs are the references for the xy
voltage components.

(15)

Comparison of (15) with (1) shows that the following holds

true:

i =

(18)

As can be seen from (18), the resulting xdqydq components

are not dc quantities. Hence, an alternative modified
transformation matrix is introduced,
d cos s sin s

sin cos

q
s
s

(19)
[D'] =
cos s sin s
x'

sin s cos s
y'
Instead of rotating the xy plane at the synchronous speed in the
same direction as the dq plane using (9), (19) provides rotation
in the inverse (anti-) synchronous direction. With this
alternative modified rotational transformation, a more suitable
form of xy components can be obtained,

(ia1 12 ib1 12 ic1 )

2
3

[
(
)
]
1/ 2 [( id1 + id 2 )sin 2 s + ( iq1 + iq 2 )cos 2 s ]

i xdq = 1/ 2 (id1 id 2 )cos 2 s iq1 iq 2 sin 2 s

DC-LINK VOLTAGE BALANCING CONTROLLER

i 1 =

(16)

For control purpose, it is more useful to have the control

variables in the dq synchronous reference frame, so that they
appear as dc quantities and can hence be easily dealt with
using PI controllers. For dual-dq model, currents in
synchronously rotating frame are given as:
id 1 = i 1 cos s + i 1 sin s
id 2 = i 2 cos s + i 2 sin s
(17)
iq1 = i 1 sin s + i 1 cos s iq 2 = i 2 sin s + i 2 cos s
For the VSD model, using the modified rotational
transformation defined in (9), the following is obtained:

29

3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

0.9 s ~1.1s), the generating electrical torque is clamped to zero

so that only the mechanical torque from the wind turbine is
used to accelerate the machine.
Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the total and the individual voltages
of the series-connected dc-links. Both the total and individual
dc-link voltages are well regulated at their references (1200V
and 600V, respectively). The two dc-link voltages are also
well balanced under this ideal operating condition. Fig. 11
shows the balanced six-phase stator currents of the machine,
while Fig. 12 shows the balanced three-phase current injected
into the grid by the grid-side converter. In this simulation, the
same two-level converters are used for machine-side and gridside converters, but the machine-side converters are operating
from a 600V dc-link, while the grid-side converter operates
from a 1200V dc-link. This causes the higher ripple in the
grids currents than in the generators currents.
In the second simulation, asymmetries are introduced at t =
0.1s, by adding a 5 resistor in phase a1 only (50% of stator
resistance). Figure 13 shows that the total dc-link voltage

Fig. 4. Current vectors in dq plane (for machine in the generating mode with
motoring convention for positive current flow).

ix'
ix'* = 0

Vdc2

iq

i y '*

vy'

Generator Speed (rpm)

Vdc1

vx'

iy '

Fig. 5. Structure of the xy current controllers (red dotted box) and dc-link
voltage balancing controller (blue dotted box), based on (19). Decoupling
terms (not shown) can be added to x-y current controllers.

2000
Reference speed
Actual speed

1500

1000

500

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

V.

SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Fig. 6. Generator's speed reference and actual speed.

Stator dq Currents (A)

A. Matlab/Simulink Simulations
The induction generation system is simulated using
Matlab/Simulink to examine the operation. Initially, the
system is simulated with just dq current controllers, to
visualise the operation of the WECS under ideal operating
conditions. Next, asymmetries are introduced in the machine
in the second simulation, and the effect on the dc-link voltage
drift is observed. In the third simulation, the xy current
controllers and the dc-link voltage balancing controller are
activated to suppress the asymmetries and achieve voltage
balancing. The last simulation is then performed to examine
the dc-link voltage balancing for the case when there are no
machine/supply asymmetries but there is an initial deviation
between the dc-link voltages. Parameters used for the
simulation are listed at the Appendix.
B. Simulation Results
The first simulation examines the ideal operation (no
asymmetries) of the generator system with varying wind
speed. With the use of MPPT controller, the generators speed
reference is varied accordingly, to allow optimal power
generation. Variation of the generators speed reference and
the actual speed are shown in Fig. 6. Once the generators
speed converges to the reference, the operation is considered
to be at the maximum power point and the speed does not
change until the next change in the reference. Fig. 7 shows the
dq currents of the generator. The flux-controlling d-axis
current is well regulated at its rated value, giving rise to a near
constant rotor flux in the machine, as depicted in Fig. 8. The
torque producing q-axis current is limited to take only
negative values, to prevent the machine from operating in the
motoring mode. When acceleration is required (in interval t =

-5
d-axis current
q-axis current
-10

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 7. Stator dq currents of the six-phase generator.

Rotor Flux (Wb)

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Total dc-link Voltage (V)

Fig. 8. Magnitude of rotor flux in generator.

1210
1205
1200
1195
1190

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 9. Total dc-link voltage.

Dc-link Voltages (V)

610
Vdc1
Vdc2

605
600
595
590

0.5

1
Time (s)

Fig. 10. Individual dc-link voltages.

30

1.5

3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

610
Dc-link Voltages (V)

Stator Currents (A)

4
2
0
-2
-4
0.1

0.11

0.12

0.13

0.14

0.15 0.16
Time (s)

0.17

0.18

0.19

600
595
590

0.2

Vdc1
Vdc2

605

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 11. Stator currents of the generator.

Fig. 16. Individual dc-link voltages (with xy current controllers and dc-link
voltage balancing controller as in Fig. 5).

4
Grid Currents (A)

4
Stator Currents (A)

2
0
-2
-4
0.1

0.11

0.12

0.13

0.14

0.15 0.16
Time (s)

0.17

0.18

0.19

0.2

Total dc-link Voltage (V)

1.41

1.415

1.42

1.425 1.43
Time (s)

1.435

1.44

1.445

1.45

Stator dq Currents (A)

-5
d-axis current
q-axis current
-10

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 18. Stator dq currents (with xy current controllers and dc-link voltage
balancing controller as in Fig. 5).
Rotor Flux (Wb)

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 19. Magnitude of rotor flux (with xy current controllers and dc-link
voltage balancing controller as in Fig. 5).

1205

yellow) due to the injected iy for dc-link voltage balancing.

Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 depict the dq currents and rotor flux of the
machine, respectively. These are in essence identical to those
in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, indicating that the overall generator
operation has not been affected.
Finally, a simulation is conducted to examine the effect of
the dc-link voltage balancing controller when there are no
physical asymmetries in the machine/supply. For this purpose,
the initial voltages of the dc-links are set to different values at
the start of the simulation (640V and 560V, respectively), and
dc-link voltage balancing controller is activated at t = 0.1s.
Fig. 20 shows that, with the use of the controller, the dc-link
voltages converge quickly to equal values and remain
balanced afterwards. The xy currents of the machine are
depicted in Fig. 21. At t =0.1s, y current is injected to balance
the dc-link voltages, while x current remains close to its
reference (zero). After the dc-link voltage difference is
eliminated, the y current returns to zero since there is no
asymmetry in the machine/supply. This is confirmed by the
enlarged view of the xy currents in Fig. 22, showing average
zero value with no observable low order harmonics (only
switching harmonics related ripple is evident). These
simulation results confirm that the dc-link voltage balancing

1200
1195

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 13. Total dc-link voltage (in the presence of asymmetry).

700
Dc-link Voltages (V)

1.405

1210

Vdc1
Vdc2

650
600
550

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 14. Individual dc-link voltages (in the presence of asymmetry).

4
Stator Currents (A)

-2

Fig. 17. Stator currents (with xy current controllers and dc-link voltage
balancing controller as in Fig. 5).

remains well regulated to the reference value. However, due to

the asymmetry, the individual dc-link voltages drift apart, as
seen in Fig. 14. The drift varies as the power changes. The
additional resistance also causes the imbalance in the
windings. Hence, stator currents are unbalanced and have
different amplitudes, as depicted in Fig. 15.
Next, the same simulation is repeated, now with current
control that includes xy current controllers and the dc-link
voltage balancing controller. Fig. 16 indicates that the
individual dc-link voltages are now well regulated and are
close one to the other, without any significant drift. The
additional control structure, while balancing the dc-link
voltages, also suppresses the asymmetries within the system.
This is shown in Fig. 17, where the stator currents are seen to
be much better balanced, when compared to Fig. 15. The
amplitude of currents in winding 1 (blue, green, red) is only
very slightly different compared to winding 2 (magenta, cyan,

500

-4
1.4

Fig. 12. Grid-side currents.

1190

2
0
-2
-4
1.4

1.405

1.41

1.415

1.42

1.425 1.43
Time (s)

1.435

1.44

1.445

1.45

Fig. 15. Stator currents showing unbalance due to asymmetries.

31

3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

controller does not introduce any problems in the operation of

the system and is in essence inactive if there are no
asymmetries.

APPENDIX - SIMULATION PARAMETERS

Machine parameters
Rs = 10 
Rr = 6.3 
Lls = Llr = 0.04 H
Lm = 0.42 H
p=2
r = 0.63 Wb (rms)
Controller gains
Generator-side dq and xy current controllers:
Kp = 77 Ki = 10000
Generator-side dc-link voltage balancing controller:
Kp = 0.01 Ki = 1.00
Grid-side dq current controllers:
Kp = 30 Ki = 500
Grid-side dc-link voltage controller:
Kp = 1100 Ki = 137500
Other parameters
Cdc = 1500 F
Vdc = 600 V

Dc-link Voltages (V)

640
Vdc1
Vdc2

620
600
580
560

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

Fig. 20. Individual dc-link voltages with dc-link voltage balancing controller
and xy current control activated at t = 0.1s.

x y currents (A)

REFERENCES

[1]
-2

0.5

1.5

Time (s)

[2]

Fig. 21. xy currents with dc-link voltage balancing controller and xy

current control activated at t = 0.1s.

[3]

x y currents (A)

1
0.5
0

[4]

-0.5
-1
0.5

x' current
y' current
0.502 0.504 0.506 0.508

0.51 0.512 0.514 0.516 0.518

Time (s)

0.52

[5]

Fig. 22. Enlarged view of the xy currents.

VI.

CONCLUSION
[6]

An induction generator system with series-connected dclinks has been discussed in the paper. The operation of the
system with series-connected dc-links has been elaborated. It
is shown that the power unbalance between machine windings,
caused by asymmetries, may result in dc-link voltage
unbalance. To design a dc-link voltage balancing controller, an
alternative modified rotational transformation matrix is
suggested, such that the xy plane is rotated in the inverse
synchronous direction. It is shown, by using the analogy with
the dual-dq model approach, that application of this
transformation enables implementation of a dc-link voltage
balancing controller as an integral part of the current control in
the xy plane. Simulation results confirm that the proposed
controller is capable of performing dc-link voltage balancing
and asymmetry suppression.
It should be pointed out that the topology of Fig. 1(c) does
have some serious drawbacks. First of all, the seriesconnection of the dc links seriously affects fault tolerance of
the system, since fault in any leg of a converter leads to singlephase operation of a three-phase winding. Hence the improved
fault tolerance of the system in Fig. 1(a) is here completely
lost. Secondly, since the two neutral points of the generator are
isolated and dc links are connected in series, there are two
different common mode voltages at different voltage levels.
However, the choice of a suitable topology is always a tradeoff between different features of the structure.

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

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