FLAGCHIP’s Sister Project: MoWiLIFE

 

MoWiLIFE is a 36-month project that was funded in the same call as FLAGCHIP by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) under the Horizon Europe Programme (2021-2027). The project’s consortium comprises of 10 partners from 6 countries with Rostock University being the project coordinator.

About the Project
The MoWiLIFE project explores the integration of Wide Bandgap (WBG) power electronics with advanced condition and health monitoring concepts across key technical systems for renewable energy generation and distribution. The project features four WBG pilot applications, including two wind power converters, an HVDC circuit breaker, and a medium-voltage DC-DC converter for solar energy. The foundation of the four MoWiLIFE pilots is a 2.3 kV SiC MOSFET, developed by project partner Infineon. This innovative device incorporates a source-gate PiN diode, whose on-state voltage varies significantly with temperature. This characteristic enables real-time monitoring through the gate drive, which is being developed by Rostock University. Additionally, the SiC chip will feature built-in self-protection mechanisms for enhanced robustness, while direct water cooling will be implemented to support higher output power.

Wind Energy Converter Pilots
MoWiLIFE is realizing two wind energy converter pilots in collaboration with industrial partners:
• Vestas, a technology leader in wind energy, supported by Aalborg University, is developing a TRL 6 SiC converter with a 20% increase in power density and an integrated digital twin for Condition and Health Monitoring.
• RKL, a start-up working with Rostock University, is designing a TRL 5 wind energy power stack. This system will feature Condition and Health Monitoring by measuring online chip temperature and on-state voltage.
Solar and HVDC Grid Technologies
To support the transition to solar medium voltage DC collection grids and meshed high-voltage DC transmission networks, MoWiLIFE is developing two additional pilots:
• A TRL 5 DC-DC converter, developed by KTH Stockholm.
• A TRL 5 DC circuit breaker with condition monitoring, led by the University of Aberdeen.

Future Semiconductor Innovations
While SiC is currently the leading wide bandgap (WBG) material for high-power applications, future HVDC converters could achieve even greater efficiency with ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors. To explore this potential, MoWiLIFE’s industrial partner DiamFab, in collaboration with two IUNET universities, is researching diamond as a next-generation semiconductor material. Although the TRL for diamond-based technology is still low, its potential for energy savings is significant.

 

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