NoMIS joins ARPA-E DC-GRIDS consortium
SiC specialist NoMIS Power Corporation has announced its participation in a three-year, $2.5 million DC-GRIDS project led by Michigan State University's Omid Beik.
The aim is to develop high-voltage SiC-based Neutral Point Clamped Power Electronics Building Blocks (NPC-PEBBs) as vendor-agnostic, plug-and-play submodules for modular valves in multiport multiterminal HVDC (MT-HVDC) converters.
The project was selected under the US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) Disruptive DC Converters for Grid Resilient Infrastructure to Deliver Sustainable energy (DC-GRIDS) program and will leverage NoMIS Power's 3.3 kV SiC MOSFET portfolio, including its upcoming 25 mΩ 3.3 kV device (pictured above).
The project consortium includes NoMIS Power, EPRI, OPAL-RT Technologies, GE Grid Solutions, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Salt River Project, and Minnesota Power.
The DC-GRIDS program targets transformative HVDC technologies that could substantially expand US transmission capacity to support electrification, surging demand from data centres, and integration of resources such as offshore wind. MT-HVDC converters are the backbone of long-distance, high-capacity power transmission and the leading architecture for high-capacity data centre power delivery, cross-region grid links, and offshore wind interconnection.
The NPC-PEBB submodules at the core of this project — rated 6.6 kV / 2.5 kA — will be built using NoMIS Power's US-designed 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs and power modules. The architecture is designed to capitalise directly on NoMIS' expanding 3.3 kV roadmap, anchored by the previously released NoMIS N3PT080MP330 (3.3 kV, 80 mΩ, 34 A) and extending through the forthcoming 50 mΩ and 25 mΩ 3.3 kV MOSFETs that will complete the suite.
The 25 mΩ 3.3 kV device is expected to be a particularly strong fit for HVDC submodule applications, where the lowest possible on-resistance translates directly into reduced conduction losses, higher converter efficiency, and improved thermal headroom at MT-HVDC valve current levels.
NoMIS Power will lead the program's SiC device-level packaging, coordinating all packaging tasks and supporting NPC-PEBB assembly. NoMIS engineers will also lead electrical testing, screening, and performance characterisation of SiC devices and power modules feeding into NPC-PEBB assembly and demonstration. The work will be performed at NoMIS Power's facility within the Albany Nanotech Complex in Albany, NY.
The NPC-PEBB approach is said to deliver a step-change over conventional Si IGBT-based half-bridge submodules, including a 3-level 6.6 kV output (versus 2-level 4.5 kV), full DC fault current blocking, a 60 percent reduction in submodule capacitor size via an advanced multilevel space vector modulation strategy, and improved efficiency, power density, and reliability across the valve and converter.
"MT-HVDC is foundational to the future of the US grid, and our 3.3 kV SiC portfolio — culminating with the upcoming 25 mΩ device — is purpose-built for exactly this class of application," said Adam Morgan, co-founder and CEO of NoMIS Power. "We're proud to support Dr. Beik and the Michigan State-led team with US-designed SiC MOSFETs, modules, and packaging expertise, and we welcome the opportunity to supply other DC-GRIDS teams advancing modular valves and converter substation technologies for multiterminal HVDC."
