Rainer Marquardt

Biography

A milestone achievement in power electronics, Rainer Marquardt pioneered the modular multilevel converter (MMC) concept, which has revolutionized the capabilities of power conversion technology. It has changed high-voltage DC (HVDC) conversion, which is important for future applications including electronically controlled transmission networks for long distances. MMC has become the most common type of voltage-source-controlled HVDC due to its scalability from the megawatt up to the gigawatt range, transformer-less operation, high efficiency, high reliability, and fault tolerance. Developed by Marquardt in 2002, the MMC has become important for medium-voltage drives, wind power and other applications, and regenerative energy sources. First, his MMC technology was successfully applied in the Trans Bay HVDC underwater cable connecting San Francisco, CA to Pittsburg, CA. As a worldwide standard, MMC topology has extended the application field and the capabilities of power electronics significantly.

Marquardt is a professor with the University of Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany.