Smaller Yet More Powerful, GE's MV7-Series Drive with UWave Technology Brings More Energy-Efficient Performance

It has been said that energy efficiency is the invisible fuel to “keep the world turned on.” Demonstrating a commitment to helping customers extract, generate, convert or transport energy more efficiently, GE’s Power Conversion business (NYSE: GE) is proud to unveil its new powerful MV7-Series, ultimate waveform, multilevel, high-power drive, the MV7-Series Drive with UWave technology.

Proven technology

The water-cooled UWave drive is based on GE’s Power Conversion business’ proven MV7 technology, which has an impressive 10-gigawatt installed base worldwide. A total of 1,600 units installed around the world have been operating in fields for more than 10 million hours. Therefore, customers from industries with the highest reliability and safety standards can be assured of its reliability and safety.

Move to 5-level topology

GE adopted the same MV7 technology and used the same components, but arranged them in a different way, shifting from 3 level to 5 level.

“And it is this 5-level topology that makes all the difference,” said Vincent Schellings, product line leader, power electronics, GE’s Power Conversion business.

The increased number of levels means increased voltage and power output. As an extension of the existing MV7 drive platform, the new UWave drive can operate at up to 13.8 kilovolts with a power capacity of up to 40 megawatts in a single thread, thus an ideal choice for high-power and high-voltage applications across different industries, including oil and gas, marine, renewables and power generation.

Cleaner power, smaller filter

The MV7 UWave drive produces cleaner power with fewer harmonics. When feeding into motors, it reduces motor stress and can help increase its life expectancy. Higher power quality also results in cleaner electrical signals making the drive more compatible with the grid, which allows smoother grid integration and a more resilient grid network.

“If you look at the diagram, you can see the electricity, produced from the drive and feeding into the motor, has a smoothed voltage waveform. That is where the name—Ultimate Waveform—comes from,” said Schellings.