Owing to a large number of power semiconductors in the modularized multilevel converter (MMC) and its complicated coordinated control

the physical verification for MMC faces many difficulties. To solve this problem

a hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform for high level MMC is established between the real-time digital simulator (RTDS) and the physical MMC controller. On this platform

the converter valve is simulated with the small time step of 2.5 microsecond

which is quite qualified for high precision simulation of a hundred level MMC system. By adopting multicore technology and distributing the parallel valve control between different cores

the designed controller meets the requirements of real-time control. Several steady and transient state experiments are carried out to verify the functions of the designed platform and the rationality of the designed controller. The results show that different modulation and control strategies can be implemented on the simulation platform and each control objective has good tracking accuracy and quick dynamic response. The proposed platform can be used in many fields

such as the design of main circuit for MMC-high voltage direct current (HVDC)

the study and test of control strategies

the optimization of control parameters

the research on interaction between MMC-HVDC and large power grid and so on. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51277068)

Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-12-0846) and Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (“111” Program) (No. B08013).