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Operability of a Power System with Synchronous Condensers and Grid-Following Inverters

Conference ·

Growing shares of inverter-based resources gener-ally correlate with a reduction in inertia as synchronous genera-tors are displaced. Along the path to high shares of inverter-based resources, in particular with only conventional grid-following inverter controls, a proffered solution is the use of synchronous condensers as a source of inertia to maintain the frequency-power balance relationship. An outstanding question is whether only grid-following inverters and synchronous condensers yield a viable power system; i.e., all frequency response is derived from inverters. A validated electromagnetic transient model of the Maui system, with many nonlinear elements such as load-shedding, line tripping, and inverter ride through criteria disabled, is used to investigate the stability of such a system. Two types of perturbations were applied, a 15% generation loss and a fault event, and it was found that the system remains stable.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1923491
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5D00-85223; MainId:85996; UUID:c4ea5b56-a132-4b31-90b4-bb52e77344d0; MainAdminID:68635
Resource Relation:
Conference: Presented at the the 2022 IEEE 49th Photovoltaics Specialists Conference (PVSC), 5-10 June 2022, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (8)

Potential solutions to the challenges of low inertia power systems with a case study concerning synchronous condensers conference August 2017
Open-Source PSCAD Grid-Following and Grid-Forming Inverters and A Benchmark for Zero-Inertia Power System Simulations conference April 2021
Frequency stability improvement of low inertia systems using synchronous condensers conference November 2016
Comparison of synchronous condenser and STATCOM for inertial response support conference September 2014
Validation of Maui PSCAD Model: Motivation, Methodology, and Lessons Learned conference April 2021
Grid-Following Inverters and Synchronous Condensers: A Grid-Forming Pair? conference March 2020
Impact of Low Rotational Inertia on Power System Stability and Operation journal January 2014
Stability and control of power systems with high penetrations of inverter-based resources: An accessible review of current knowledge and open questions journal November 2020