'High Frequency Wind Power'.

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The proposed project aims at enabling technology for climate-friendly energy and reduction of CO2 footprint. The focus area is wind energy utilization and integration of individual wind generators in larger wind parks. The project is based on a wind park HVDC series collector and a high frequency energy conversion system. This is an alternative to conventional parallel AC systems and can potentially lead to cheaper, simpler, and more flexible solutions. A high frequency converter-transformer solution can intentionally be placed in the wind mill nacelle since it would be lighter and simpler. This will facilitate wind power integration. In order to realize the up to now theoretically investigated system more research is required in the following areas: - High frequency transformer. Study alternative core materials and aim for 10 kHz frequencies. Investigate losses and capacitive effects. Build a prototype. - System studies. Study the system behavior in electromagnetic transient programs and how it respon ds to switching, harmonics, faults, and by-pass. Compare the DC collector system with conventional AC solutions. Study coherency and interaction. - Power Converter. Study how the AC/AC and AC/DC converters respond to the high frequency transformer charact eristics and switching for high power conversion in wind turbines. Build a prototype of the reverse-blocking IGBT converter. Three PhD projects are proposed to cover these areas. It is believed that the cost of offshore wind energy will be high compare d to conventional land-based solutions. It thus seems important to aim at technology with potentially reduced costs and losses in order to realize the idea of Norway as a supplier of green energy to Europe. The proposed project precisely addresses this ch allenge.