Study on Grid-connected Renewable Energy Grid Code Compliance

Abstract

Since requirements for renewable power are set in grid codes, power plant operators should take the responsibility to guarantee grid code compliance, and system operators on the other hand should evaluate the effect of specific power plants on power system operation in various situations. Non-compliance of power plants with grid code may lead to subsidy curtailment even after its disconnection from the grid. In order to unify the understanding level and measurement scale of grid code compliance, objective and systematic standards about compliance testing and assessment are necessary. The objective of renewable power testing is to outline measurement methods for the determination of reliable and comparable data for power generating units and plants based on state-of-the-art technology. The process of testing the electrical behavior of renewable power plants meet specific technical requirements in grid codes is also needed to be specified. Generally, grid compliance test of renewable energy mainly includes power quality test, control performance test, low-voltage ride through test, voltage/frequency response test and anti-islanding protection test. It is available to test the capability of the whole renewable plant for the performance of power quality and control performance. Some items such as low-voltage ride through test, voltage/frequency response test or anti-islanding protection test that can not be tested for the entire power plant for the reasons that the capacity of test facilities does not as large as the entire plant or testing will cause an unacceptable impact on the grid. Therefore testing the wind turbine or PV power unit then making the simulation to assess grid compliance of the whole plant is well alternative method. This paper provides an introduction about the study on grid code compliance testing of renewable energy grid integration on both technologies and standardization aspects, and tries to explore potential challenge caused by the integration of RE generation into power systems in compliance testing methods used by different countries, the future study on technologies and standardization are introduced.