Power electronics converters are essential for power generation, transmission, and distribution. The modular multilevel converter (MMC) is highly valued for its versatility, high efficiency, and robust control capabilities. Since MMC is composed of many components, its reliability is crucial for maintaining the availability of electrical power systems. The reliability of the MMC can be evaluated using different methods, such as the military handbook (MIL) and the Mission Profile (MP) methods. By comparing the reliability estimation of the MMC using the MIL and MP methods, this study offers insights into the effectiveness of these approaches. Also, it shows the significant difference in final results between the two applied methods. These findings contribute to the understanding and improvement of the reliability assessment of power electronics converters. Also, the impact of redundancy is scrutinized to make the comparison more thorough.

Modular multilevel converters are favorable for efficiently operating high-power usages. The required number of components significantly increases when higher modularity is introduced for the given voltage level, thus reducing the system's reliability. This article suggests a mixed redundancy strategy (MRS) that combines the operational concepts using active and spare redundant submodules. It is shown that more than 50% higher B10 lifetime (the point in time when the system has a 90% probability of survival) is achievable as compared to reliability improvement using fixed-level active redundancy strategy, load-sharing active redundancy strategy, and standby redundancy strategy with the same number of redundant submodules. The tradeoff between operational efficiency and investment cost is explored to define the boundary for selecting the MRS over other redundancy strategies with varying dc-link voltages and average converter loading, considering a ten-year payback period and equivalent B10 lifetime. The change in viability boundary for the MRS is established with increasing B10 lifetime and its sensitivity to power electronic component costs and assumed failure rate. The effect of power capacity with a higher switch current rating is evaluated. Also, the Monte Carlo simulation methodology is proposed to evaluate the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed MRS scheme. Finally, the insights of this study are applied to existing literature.

Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs) find increasing applications in medium to high-voltage systems. In such systems, reliability-oriented selection of power electronic switches becomes essential because higher modularity implies an increased number of components. The trade-off between the impact of higher modularity on converter reliability is quantitatively established, corresponding to redundancy costs for the given lifetime requirements. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for an optimal choice among available market switch voltage rating for the MMC. It is shown that the sub-modules (SMs) based on 1.7 kV switches are the most suitable (instead of 1.2 kV and 3.3 kV switches) for two case studies adapting data from the medium voltage grid in The Netherlands. Moreover, the insights from these case studies are generalized to DC link voltage in the range of 10-220 kV and average loading of 1-100%. The sensitivity analysis is performed for the different failure rates (FRs), required lifetime, components cost, and energy price. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to identify the impact of FIDES and Military Handbook (MIL-HDBK) methods. The impact of converter power capacity is studied under the variable current rating. Finally, a generalized form of the proposed method is presented and applied in the published works.

Power electronics converters are crucial for power generation, transmission, and distribution. The modular multilevel converter (MMC) is highly valued for its ability to handle high power levels, versatility in reconfiguration, high efficiency through small-capacity submodules (SMs), and robust control capabilities. A failure of a power electronics converter could result in disruptions in the flow of electrical power, which could have severe consequences for people and equipment relying on it. Thus, the reliability of power electronics converters is critical to maintaining the reliability of the electrical power system. Two well-known methodologies, the military handbook (MIL) and the more recent FIDES, can be used to evaluate the MMC's reliability. Both methods consider various factors to estimate the component's failure rate, resulting in different reliability parameters. In this paper, the reliability of the MMC is estimated using both methods, and the results are compared for standby and active redundancy strategies. Lastly, a generalized cost form that considers operational cost, capital cost, redundancy strategies, reliability methods (MIL and FIDES), and the MMC's annual average loading is presented.