A Technical & Economic Evaluation of Inertial Response From Wind Generators and Synchronous Condensers

Abstract

Frequency stability in today's power systems has become more critical than ever due to the growing contribution of renewable energy sources. This situation has arisen because of the electro-mechanical decoupling between renewable generation sources and the main grid caused by their connection through power electronic converters. This paper designs two synthetic inertia controllers that adhere to the grid code requirements from two different countries and then to utilize them to aid in the integration of high levels of wind power penetration in a test power system. The controllers are designed for a full converter wind turbine generator and are validated in an EMT real-time simulation with isolated testing at different wind speeds and different wind power penetration. The role of synchronous inertia in maintaining frequency stability is also explored through the use of synchronous condensers. Finally, the economic aspect of inertia is discussed, using the real-world example of the Bornholm island power system.

Keywords

• Converter-dominated systems
• frequency stability
• synthetic inertia
• synchronous condenser
• wind power plant