Abstract
This paper presents a MW-scale inductive coupler concept for offshore charging of battery-electric vessels. Feasibility is confirmed for a 5 MW system, with operating frequency of 20 kHz and weight of active material in the plug below 150 kg. To enable high sending-side voltage, the proposed system design relies on an LCC topology supplied by a Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). The receiving side has a low voltage winding and a diode rectifier for interfacing directly to a battery or an onboard low voltage dc (LVDC) distribution system. A new approach for introducing controlled ripple in the arm currents is proposed to enforce Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) of the MMC modules. The proposed inductive coupler design and the corresponding system configuration are demonstrated by a reduced-scale experimental setup where the pr