Presentation title:

Medium Voltage Direct Current (MVDC): Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract:    

A large body of academic and industrial research work has been done in the field of medium voltage direct current (MVDC) power distribution networks, applicable to various applications. Despite that, commercialization is lacking. The talk will address this field in a broad sense and provide an overview of various power electronics technologies, existing or needed, to enable these applications. Among these are high-power AC-DC and DC-DC converters, realized either as monolithic blocks or as solid-state transformers, as well as various protection equipment and concepts. A critical overview will be provided as well as practical experiences from the Power Electronics Laboratory at EPFL, in managing medium voltage research projects, through several illustrative examples from past projects.

Biography:

Drazen Dujic is an Associate Professor and Head of the Power Electronics Laboratory at EPFL. He received the Dipl.Ing. and MSc degrees from the University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia in 2002 and 2005, respectively, and the PhD degree from Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK in 2008.

From 2003 to 2006, he was a Research Assistant with the Faculty of Technical Sciences at the University of Novi Sad. From 2006 to 2009, he was a Research Associate with Liverpool John Moores University. After that, he moved to industry and joined ABB Switzerland Ltd, where from 2009 to 2013, he was a Scientist and then Principal Scientist with ABB Corporate Research Center in Baden-Dättwil, and from 2013 to 2014 he was R&D Platform Manager with ABB Medium Voltage Drives in Turgi. He has been with EPFL since 2014.

His research interests include the areas of design and control of advanced high-power electronic systems and high-performance drives, predominantly for medium voltage applications related to electrical energy generation, conversion, and storage.

In 2018 he received the EPE Outstanding Service Award and in 2014, the Isao Takahashi Power Electronics Award for Outstanding Achievement in Power Electronics. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, EPE Member, and serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.