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Title: Inertia and the Power Grid: A Guide Without the Spin

Abstract

This guide provides an overview of inertia’s role in the evolving power system. It describes the sources of inertia in the grid, the intrinsic interplay of inertia and other grid services, the factors that impact the amount of and need for inertia, and the changes that can be made to maintain reliability as it declines. The guide is intended for nontechnical audiences. And it introduces accessible examples to illustrate the concepts of inertia and other grid services that are required to maintain system frequency, which is a key indicator of health in the current grid. The guide also discusses alternatives to traditional inertia and provides several takeaways that may be informative to power system decision makers, planners, operators, analysts, and other stakeholders.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; GridLab
OSTI Identifier:
1659820
Report Number(s):
NREL/TP-6A20-73856
MainId:6231;UUID:4f741b00-ff6a-e911-9c21-ac162d87dfe5;MainAdminID:13429
DOE Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; 24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; grid services; inertia; power system; reliability; renewable energy; system frequency

Citation Formats

Denholm, Paul, Mai, Trieu, Kenyon, Richard Wallace, Kroposki, Benjamin, and O'Malley, Mark. Inertia and the Power Grid: A Guide Without the Spin. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.2172/1659820.
Denholm, Paul, Mai, Trieu, Kenyon, Richard Wallace, Kroposki, Benjamin, & O'Malley, Mark. Inertia and the Power Grid: A Guide Without the Spin. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1659820
Denholm, Paul, Mai, Trieu, Kenyon, Richard Wallace, Kroposki, Benjamin, and O'Malley, Mark. 2020. "Inertia and the Power Grid: A Guide Without the Spin". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1659820. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1659820.
@article{osti_1659820,
title = {Inertia and the Power Grid: A Guide Without the Spin},
author = {Denholm, Paul and Mai, Trieu and Kenyon, Richard Wallace and Kroposki, Benjamin and O'Malley, Mark},
abstractNote = {This guide provides an overview of inertia’s role in the evolving power system. It describes the sources of inertia in the grid, the intrinsic interplay of inertia and other grid services, the factors that impact the amount of and need for inertia, and the changes that can be made to maintain reliability as it declines. The guide is intended for nontechnical audiences. And it introduces accessible examples to illustrate the concepts of inertia and other grid services that are required to maintain system frequency, which is a key indicator of health in the current grid. The guide also discusses alternatives to traditional inertia and provides several takeaways that may be informative to power system decision makers, planners, operators, analysts, and other stakeholders.},
doi = {10.2172/1659820},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1659820}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}