Assessment of Sequence Extraction Methods Applied to MMC-SDBC STATCOM Under Distorted Grid Conditions

Under grid distortions, Modular Multilevel Converters (MMC) must adopt proper control strategies to fulfill the power system requirements and ensure a stable operation. An inappropriate control under such conditions may lead to energy unbalances between the MMC legs, inaccurate current injection, and failure in the synchronization process. In this context, sequence extraction methods play a critical role in enhancing the performance of the control, firstly, by aiding the Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) to maintain the synchronization with the AC grid by following the positive sequence fundamental component of the voltage, secondly, by allowing accurate active and reactive currents injection via the decoupled Voltage Oriented Control (dVOC), thirdly, by properly managing the internal energy of the MMC through the circulating current control. In prior researches, some sequence extraction methods have been used for MMC STATCOM. However, the sequence extraction was not the core of the performed studies and their impact on the system behavior has not been highlighted or tested in several grid conditions. This work fills this gap by first assessing the performance of a Single Delta Bridge Cell MMC (SDBC-MMC) STATCOM with four well-known sequence extraction methods (i.e., Decoupled Double Synchronous Reference Frame (DDSRF), Dual Second Order Generalized Integrator (DSOGI), Improved DSOGI, and Fortescue matrix-based (FMB) filter under normal and abnormal grid conditions, then, finding the most suitable one in terms of stability, dynamics, and functionalities.