Abstract
The increasing amount of renewable energy sources in the electrical energy system leads to an increasing number of converter-based generators connected to the electrical power grid. Other than conventional power plants that are often connected to the grid via synchronous generators, converter-based generators do not provide mechanical inertia intrinsically. Therefore, ensuring frequency stability in the electrical power grid might become even more difficult in the future. With the concept of synthetic inertia, the converter-based generators partially imitate the behavior of conventional generators. By implementing such a concept in converters, they are capable of contributing to frequency stability as well. This paper compares two strategies to realize synthetic inertia by modeling converter-based generators in MATLAB/SIMULINK and simulating their behavior in a small Microgrid. The results prove that any kind of realization of synthetic inertia helps to improve frequency stability. Each of the two investigated strategies may have their scope of application in a future electrical energy system.
Highlights
Generators in conventional power plants provide mechanical inertial response due to their rotating masses
An active power load-step in the Microgrid is the simplest way to compare the behavior of the two presented control strategies of synthetic inertia
The first strategy is based on a converter control that provides grid-forming character, while the second strategy relies on the measurement of the frequency in the grid and the determination of a corresponding power reference for a conventional grid-following converter control based on this frequency measurement
Summary
Generators in conventional power plants provide mechanical inertial response due to their rotating masses. The entirety of all rotating masses results in a network inertia constant, which represents a characteristic value of how the electric power grid instantaneously reacts to power disturbances caused by imbalances between load and generation. The globally desired goal of reducing greenhouse gases by integrating renewable energy sources (RES) into the power grid generally leads to a displacement of conventional power plants. The network inertia constant in the electric power system decreases, since a high amount of RES is mainly based on converter-based generators, which do not inherently provide an inertial response. A decreased network inertia constant may lead to critical stability challenges [1]. Results of a reduced inertia in the system are more frequent large frequency deviations which may affect system operation, security and reliability by overloading transmission lines, damaging equipment or triggering system defence plans and protection relays [2]
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