A power conversion
system for driving a load is provided. The power conversion
system comprises a power
transformer having at least one primary winding circuit and at least one secondary winding circuit, the primary winding circuit being electrically connectable to an
AC power source. The
system further comprises at least one power
cell, each of the at least one power
cell having a power
cell input connected to a respective one of the at least one secondary winding circuit. Each power cell also has a
single phase output connectable to the load. A
power switching arrangement including at least one power switch is connected to the power cell input and a
DC bus, and a switch controller is connected to the
power switching arrangement and the power cell input. The power cell also has a PWM output stage having a plurality of PWM switches connected to the
DC bus and the
single phase output. A local modulation controller is connected to the PWM output stage. The switch controller is adapted for monitoring and controlling a
DC bus voltage according to a predetermined control methodology in both a motoring mode in which power from the
AC power source is supplied to the load by the at least one power cell and a regeneration mode in which power from the load is supplied to the
AC power source by the at least one power cell. The power conversion system also comprises a
master controller in communication with the switch controller and the local modulation controller of each of the at least one power cell. The
master controller is connectable to the load to monitor
power flow thereto.