Consensus-based distributed model predictive control applied to modular multilevel converters

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) have the potential to improve the performance of high- and medium-power applications, such as renewable energy generation and fast charging stations. The functioning of MMCs relies on their ability to balance capacitor voltages across all modules. Motivated by the capacitor voltage balancing (CVB) problem, this paper studies consensus-based distributed model predictive control (DMPC) schemes. As a result, we propose an alternative cost function that enables output synchronization of linear systems and, consequently, solves the CVB problem. The advantages of the proposed method are demonstrated by proving its stability properties and comparing its computational time and performance with existing DMPCs. Simulation results for a benchmark multi-agent system example from the literature and an MMC AC/DC topology demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed consensus DMPC.