Normal Form for Grid-Forming Power Grid Actors

Abstract

Future power grids will be operating a large number of heterogeneous dynamical actors. Many of these will contribute to the fundamental dynamical stability of the system, and play a central role in establishing the self-organized synchronous state that underlies energy transport through the grid. We derive a normal form for grid-forming components in power grids. This allows analyzing the grids’ systemic properties in a technology neutral manner, without detailed component models. Our approach is based on the physics of the power flow in the grid on the one hand, and on the common symmetry that is inherited from the control objectives grid-forming power grid components are trying to achieve. We provide an initial experimental validation that this normal form can capture the behavior of complex grid-forming inverters without any knowledge of the underlying technology, and show that it can be used to make technology-independent statements on the stability of future grids.