Abstract: The firing phase of the power converter which can change power to be supplied to a load is determined by the firing angle instruction produced from the current control circuit in accordance with the magnitude of the current difference between the current target value and the current actual value flowing through the load. The nonlinear compensating circuit produces a correction angle instruction predetermined in accordance with the magnitude of the current actual value in the current intermittent region in which the load current becomes intermittent. In the current intermittent region, the sum of the firing angle instruction from the current control circuit and the correction angle instruction is used to determine the firing phase of the power converter and thereby to compensate for nonlinear response. The nonlinear compensation in the current intermittent region is made only in the transient state when the difference between the current target value and the current actual value exceeds a preset value.