Evaluation of DC wind turbine concepts for coupling wind energy with electrolysis

• DOI: 10.1007/s10010-025-00796-0
• Publication Date: 2025-02-25T16:26:46Z
• Authors: Florian Andresen; Fabian Herzog; Benedict J. Mortimer; Rik W. De Doncker
• Keywords: info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/600; 600

Abstract Increasing energy generation from renewable energy sources results in a larger number of power electronic converters and filters, which introduce additional cost, losses and downtimes due to failures. Furthermore, hydrogen is becoming increasingly relevant as an energy carrier, both for storing energy and for decarbonizing industry production. Since wind turbine converters and electrolyzers operate internally with dc voltage, dc collector grids have become a promising solution with lesser conversion stages and simple integration of electrolyzer systems. First, this paper introduces three wind turbine configurations for energy collection by dc grids: A full-scale converter concept, a partial-scale converter concept and a novel concept based on the galvanically isolated three-phase dual active bridge. The wind turbine concepts are evaluated for their feasibility in a wind energy system connected to an electrolysis plant based on dc technology. Each concept is analyzed for its electrical characteristics, torque ripple, efficiency and investment cost. In contrast to a traditional ac system, the number of conversion stages and filters is reduced while coupling with other dc-based technologies like photovoltaic or batteries.