Experiences in modelling the performance of generating plant for frequency response studies on the British transmission grid

Abstract

Significant changes to the generation mix on the British transmission system have occurred in the past 10 years, and this trend is expected to continue in the future with an increase in renewable generation. This change, in conjunction with market changes, has driven the need to establish suitable generator models for thermal plant used in dynamic response studies. These studies are presently used to quantify the dynamic requirement that secures the transmission system against large instantaneous losses of power. This paper provides an account of the experiences gained in modelling the performance of generators based in Great Britain. Established governor models to represent the behaviour of traditional coal and oil fired plant already exist and comments are made on their performance against system incidents. Models of combined cycle units using traditional open cycle gas turbine models have shown poor correspondence with monitored grid data in simulations. A gas and steam turbine governor model to represent combined cycle plant was developed, and is presented, with results from validation trials against recorded test data. Improvements in simulating grid frequency have been demonstrated using the developed models in a full network simulation of a recent generator loss event.