SSTAR project

The ongoing energy transition towards a decarbonized economy is changing profoundly the infrastructure of the power grids worldwide. Conventional high-power transformers are not fully prepared to overcome these challenges, as they do not have intrinsic capabilities regarding active system support. Instead, Solid-state Transformers (SSTs) have emerged in the last years as a disruptive technology able to extend the typical functionalities of a regular transformer, optimizing the power flows and introducing a high degree of digitalization and intelligence in the network. However, SSTs are not still amature technology and only prototypes of up to 15kV and 15 modules have been developed in the range of high frequency (40kHz) so far. Therefore, their use is currently restricted to low voltage applications. In this context, SSTAR aims to increase the operation voltage level of SSTs to enlarge their applications within the energy power sector while improving its performance in a reliable, cost optimized and sustainable way. Hence, SSTAR seeks to pave the way for the development of new disruptive HVSST devices more attractive for commercial purposes than the prototypes made so far, and able to be used in distribution and transmissions grids. SSTAR has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and Innovation programme under grant agreement N°101069702.