1077-2618/12/$31.00©2012 IEEE High-power adjustable speed drive topologies BY SAMIR KOURO, JOSE RODRIGUEZ, BIN WU, STEFFEN BERNET, & MARCELO PEREZ T HE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED and more cost-effective industrial processes, driven mainly by the economy of scale and higher production rates, has boosted the presence of high-power (HP) drives in several industrial sectors. In addition, efficiency has become a major figure of merit in today’s industry because of the economical bene- fits along with the importance of sustainability. This has led to a higher demand for adjustable speed drives (ASDs), increasing their percentage of share in a market greatly dominated by standard direct grid-connected motor drives (still more than 80% in several industrial sectors). Other factors that have contributed to this recent shift in trend are the developments in power electronics, the increase in © COMSTOCK & DYNAMIC GRAPHICS Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2012.2192231 Date of publication: 10 May 2012 26 IEEE INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS MAGAZINE  JULY j AUGUST 2012  WWW.IEEE. ORG/IAS