Intelligent, Grid-friendly 1MVA Medium Voltage Extreme Fast Charger

Srdjan Miodrag Lukic
Kenneth Allan Dulaney
Iqbal Husain

Project runs from 10/01/2018 to 12/31/2021
$2,675,952

North Carolina State University (NC State), ABB, and New York Power Authority (NYPA) will develop and demonstrate an intelligent, medium voltage (MV) extreme fast charger with integrated generation and storage capabilities that will help avoid negative impacts of extreme fast charging on the nation’s electric grid. The charger will be capable of delivering a combined 1 MVA to five vehicles, while enabling a charge rate of up to 350 kW per stall. The system will consist of a solid-state transformer (SST), which connects directly to the medium voltage (MV) and delivers power to a shared, 1,000 V DC bus, to which multiple vehicles, generation (PV), and storage units can be connected through partial-power DC/DC converters. The DC bus will be protected using novel intelligent solid-state circuit breakers, developed by ABB for this effort. Each vehicle will interface to the DC bus through a correctly sized DC/DC converter, allowing charging in the 50 kW to 350 kW range at the vehicle battery voltage. Therefore, this station will be capable of supporting state-of-the-art electric vehicles as well as the next generation of vehicles operating at higher voltages and faster charging rates.