Recently, the IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine (Impact factor: 10.429 in 2017, IF ranking first in IEEE electric field) published a prospective article of a teacher in DEE Tsinghua University: A More Prospective Look at IGCT — Uncovering a Promising Choice for DC Grids, systematically stating the promising choice for the integrated gate commutated thyristors (IGCT) in the future DC grids. The first author of this article is Mr. Zhao Biao who is an assistant professor of DEE Tsinghua University, the corresponding author is Prof. Zeng Rong in the DEE, and co-authors include associate Professors Yu Zhanqing, Song Qiang and Huang Yulong, as well as graduate students Chen Zhengyu and Wei Tianyu.

Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC), DC Transformer (DCT) and DC Circuit Breaker (DCB) are the key equipments to construct the future DC power grid. However, most of the existing MMC, DCT and DCB adopt insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices, and the application of IGCT in these key equipments is rare. This paper considers that, unlike the power electronic equipment of AC power grid, the key equipments such as MMC, DCT and DCB in DC power grid have many new characteristics, which largely avoids the bottleneck of low switching frequency of IGCT, and brings many advantages such as low cost, high reliability and low loss. Thus, they have great potential application opportunities. In this paper, the feasible schemes, technical advantages and key difficulties of IGCT in these key equipments are systematically described and prospected.

Since 2014, depending on the Energy and Internet Research Institute of Tsinghua University, Prof. Zeng Rong of Tsinghua University has set up a research team with capacities of high-level academic research, forward-looking technological innovation and practical industrial development, that is, the DC Technological Innovation Research Center. The team conducted theoretical research, technological breakthrough and engineering application in the fields of HVDC transmission, medium-voltage DC distribution and data center DC power supply. The team members were committed to becoming the core idea disseminator, theory and technology leader, standard and application practitioner of the future DC power grid, so as to lay a solid physical foundation for clean energy transformation and new energy revolution. Up to now, the team has initially broken through many key technologies in DC field, such as customized IGCT, voltage source converter, DC transformer, DC circuit breaker, and the DC system control, protection and design. It has published more than 200 SCI/EI papers, applied for and obtained more than 100 patents and software copyrights, undertook more than 10 major research projects at the national level, and participated in the research and construction of DC transmission and distribution projects with the advanced-internationally technical parameters.