High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converters are composed of hundreds of semiconductor switches connected in series to sustain the rated voltage of the converter (several hundred of kilovolts). Because of the large number of switches, it is highly probable that at least one of them will fail during the lifetime of the converter. Such failure should not cause the entire converter to shut down, despite the series connexion of the switches. As a consequence, each switch should be designed so that upon failure, it becomes a short circuit and keeps carrying the current (“fail-to-short” behaviour).