Because the availability of renewable energy is highly variable and the power demand by the consumers could have a very different characteristic, it is very desirable to connect a renewable generation system to the grid. In this respect, the 11 kV multilevel Voltage Source Converter (VSC) has no heavy transformer and is the cost effective solution to interfacing a renewable generation system to the local grid directly. This paper presents the design and comparison of a Five-Level Neutral Point Clamped (5L-NPC), a Five-Level Flying Capacitor (5L-FC), a Five-Level Series Connected H-Bridge (5L-SCHB), an Eleven-Level Neutral Point Clamped (11L-NPC), an Eleven-Level Flying Capacitor (11L-FC), and an Eleven-Level Series Connected H-Bridge (5L-SCHB) VSC for an 11 kV local grid based converter. The cost of power semiconductors and capacitors, modulation schemes and harmonic spectra of the converters are the bases for comparison.