Search Results (12)

The increasing participation of photovoltaic sources in power grids presents the challenge of enhancing power quality, which is affected by the intrinsic characteristics of these sources, such as variability and lack of inertia. This power quality degradation mainly generates variations in both voltage magnitude and frequency, which are more pronounced in microgrids. In fact, the magnitude problem is particularly present in the distribution systems, where photovoltaic sources are spread along the grid. Due to the power converter’s lack of inertia, frequency problems can be seen throughout the network. Grid-forming control strategies in photovoltaic systems have been proposed to address these problems, although most proposed solutions involve either a direct voltage source or energy storage systems, thereby increasing costs. In this paper, a photovoltaic injection system is designed with a virtual synchronous machine control strategy to provide voltage and frequency support to the grid. The maximum power point tracking algorithm is adapted to provide the direct voltage reference and inject active power according to the droop frequency control. The control strategy is validated through simulations and key experimental setup tests. The results demonstrate that it is possible to inject photovoltaic power and provide voltage and frequency support. Full article

Grid-forming inverters (GFMs) have emerged as crucial components in modern power systems, facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources and enhancing grid stability. The significance of GFMs lies in their ability to autonomously establish grid voltage and frequency, enabling grids to form and improve system flexibility. Discussing control methods for grid-forming inverters is paramount due to their crucial role in shaping grid dynamics and ensuring reliable power delivery. This paper explores the fundamental and advanced control methods employed by GFMs, explaining their operational principles and performance characteristics. Basic control methods typically involve droop control, voltage and frequency regulation, and power-balancing techniques to maintain grid stability under varying operating conditions. Advanced control strategies encompass predictive control, model predictive control (MPC), and adaptive control, which influence advanced algorithms and real-time data for enhanced system responsiveness and efficiency. A detailed analysis and performance comparison of different control methods for GFM is presented, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and suitability for diverse grid environments. Through comprehensive studies, this research interprets the ability of various control strategies to mitigate grid disturbances, optimize power flow, and enhance overall system stability. Full article

Weak grid conditions challenge the grid integration of offshore wind farms. Especially grids with low inertia and large grid impedance questions frequency and voltage compliance capabilities. Grid-forming wind turbines are a promising technology for weak grids due to the nature of their control strategy. This paper explains the difference in how weak grid conditions are described in the literature and shows how the voltage stability margin changes with the short-circuit ratio and X/R ratio. With that knowledge, the frequency and voltage compliance capabilities of three grid-forming controls in an offshore wind farm are investigated and benchmarked. These three controls are a droop control, a virtual synchronous machine, and a synchronverter. This was done by quantifying their performance during a frequency disturbance with sensitivity to the short-circuit ratio, X/R ratio, and the inertia constant, H. It is concluded that the virtual synchronous machine is the most compliant grid-forming control and that DC-link modeling is of great importance when testing compliance during frequency disturbances. Full article

With the large-scale centralized penetration of renewable energy represented by wind turbine and photovoltaic power generation, the equivalent inertia and synchronous torque of traditional power grids have decreased, which is worsening the frequency dynamics and threatening the stability and reliability of power grids. Virtual synchronous generators (VSGs) are a type of grid-friendly inverter in microgrids (MGs) that mimic rotational synchronous generators (SGs) to maintain system stability with the increasing penetration of power electronic converters. In this paper, the stability analysis method of one type of VSG, synchronverter, is investigated based on internal voltage dynamics. The torque components affecting the stability mechanism of synchronizing, inertia, and damping torque is introduced, which offers a physical insight into transient stability and dynamic performance. Insufficiency in either damping or synchronizing torque would increase the unstable possibility. The characterization method of stability mechanisms can be illustrated by the phasor diagram of synchronverter internal voltage. Some cases under different disturbances which change the pattern of synchronizing and damping torque and in turn influence the internal voltage dynamics of synchronverters, are also discussed. In addition, an auxiliary correction control loop is proposed and added in the synchronverter control loop to enhance the robustness of the synchronverter against disturbances. The tunable coefficient of the correction loop is analyzed based on the internal voltage method. Simulation results verify the validity of the internal voltage stability method in synchronverters. Full article

Synchronized converters are being studied as a viable alternative to address the transition from synchronous generation to power-electronics-based generation systems. One of the important features that make the synchronous generator an unrivaled alternative for power generation is its stability properties and inherent inertial response. This work presents a stability analysis of a synchronverter-based system conducted through the bifurcation theory to expose its stability regions in a grid-connected configuration with an aggregate load model conformed by a ZIP model and an induction motor model. One and two-parameter bifurcation diagrams on the gain, load, and Thévenin equivalent plane are computed and analyzed. All the results confirm the strong stability properties of the syncronverter. Some relevant findings are that the reduction in a droop gain or time constant results in Hopf bifurcations and inertia reduction, but the increase in the time constant leads to decoupling between the reactive and active power loops. It is also found that the increment of a specific time constant (${\tau }_f>0.02$ s) increases the stability region on the droop gains plane to all positive values. It is also found that a low lagging power factor reduces the feasible operating and stable operating regions. For a lagging power factor above 0.755, subcritical Hopf bifurcation disappears, and also, the feasible operating solution overlaps the stability region. Finally, it is also found how the Thévenin equivalent affects the stability and that the stability boundary is delimited by Hopf bifurcations. The bifurcation diagrams are numerically computed using XPP Auto software. Full article

To reduce the allocation of energy storage capacity in wind farms and improve economic benefits, this study is focused on the virtual synchronous generator (synchronverter) technology. A system accompanied by wind power, energy storage, a synchronous generator and load is presented in detail. A brief description of the virtual synchronous generator control strategy is given. The capacity allocation is based on different optimization goals and the optimal energy storage capacity configuration of the coordinated frequency modulation (FM) control strategy. The detail of the dual-loop control strategy is carried out by establishing the grid-connected transfer function model of the synchronverter energy storage and a theoretical model of life cycle cost is established. The optimal control strategy of coordinated FM for wind storage is implemented using MATLAB software. The simulation showed that the proposed strategy provided the energy storage capacity at high wind speed, which is configured to be 5.9% of the installed capacity of the wind turbine, marking a reduction of 26% compared with the 8% capacity required for independent support. In addition, the proposed method has improved the energy storage capacity configuration of the coordinated FM control strategy. Full article

This paper proposes an enhanced control strategy for mitigating state-transition oscillations in active and reactive power responses of self-synchronized converter system to secure the islanded power system stability. The self-synchronized converter is well known for “grid-forming” that is able to operate to stand-alone mode (SAM) providing grid voltage and frequency without phase synchronization units. Although the grid-forming (GFM) is self-synchronized, the inherent synchronization principle causes system degradation in which should maintain a point of common coupling (PCC) voltage for critical loads as well as transitions from grid-connected mode (GCM) to SAM and vice versa. Therefore, this paper focuses on resolving the inherent oscillatory issues in GFM self-synchronized converter system (especially adopted ‘synchronverter’ principle), and proposes a control strategy for controllability improvement based on stability analysis for smooth state-transition under islanded power system. The efficacy of the proposed control method is verified through a high-fidelity electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation with case studies on 30kW synchronverter system and further experimental hardware-in-loop system (HILS) test with Opal-RT (OP-5707) platform. Full article

The paper investigates the stability of a power system with synchronverters. A synchronverter is a control strategy for voltage source converters that introduces virtual inertia by mimicking synchronous machines. The authors picked a commonly known IEEE 9 bus and IEEE 39 bus test case systems for the test case studies. The paper presents the power system’s modal analysis with Voltage Source Converters (VSCs) controlled as synchronverters, vector control, or Rate of Change of Frequency-based Virtual Synchronous Generator, thus comparing different approaches to VSC control. The first case study compares selected control algorithms, the IEEE 9 bus system, with one VSC in the paper. The results demonstrate the benefits of synchronverters over other control strategies. The system with synchronverters has a higher minimal damping ratio, which is proven to be the case by numerical simulations. In the second case study, the effects of virtual inertia placement were investigated. The computations showed that placement is indeed important, however, the control strategy is as important. Besides, the system with synchronverters exhibits better stability characteristics. The paper demonstrates that the application of synchronverters is feasible and can meet the demand for algorithms that bring the benefits of virtual inertia. Full article

This paper proposes adaptive virtual inertia for the synchronverter model implemented in a wind turbine generator system integrated into the grid through a back-to-back converter. A linear dynamic system is developed for the proposed adaptive virtual inertia, which employs the frequency deviation and the rotor angle deviation of the synchronverter model as the state variables and the virtual inertia and frequency droop gain as the control variables. In addition, the proposed adaptive virtual inertia uses a linear quadratic regulator to ensure the optimal balance between fast frequency response and wind turbine generator system stress during disturbances. Hence, it minimizes frequency deviations with minimum effort. Several case simulations are proposed and carried out in MATLAB/Simulink software, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed adaptive virtual inertia synchronverter based on a linear quadratic regulator. The maximum and minimum frequency, the rate change of the frequency, and the integral of time-weighted absolute error are computed to quantify the performance of the proposed adaptive virtual inertia. These indexes are reduced by 46.61%, 52.67%, 79.41%, and 34.66%, in the worst case, when the proposed adaptive model is compared to the conventional synchronverter model. Full article

Generally running with frequent braking over short distances, the urban rail transit train generates great quantities of regenerative braking energy (RBE). The RBE feedback system can effectively recycle RBE and give it back to the AC grid. However, the lack of damp and inertia of generators makes conventional PWM RBE feedback system more sensitive to power fluctuations. To address this issue, a synchronverter-based RBE feedback system of urban rail transit is designed in this paper. First, the structure of the feedback system is presented. Then, the synchronverter-based control strategy with greater flexibility and higher stability is fully discussed. Furthermore, the parameter design of the system is analyzed in detail. Finally, simulation results and experimental results are provided to show the good dynamic performance of the system. Using this synchronverter-based approach, the system supplies traction power to the traction network when the train accelerates and gives the RBE back to the AC grid when the train brakes, in light of the variation of the DC bus voltage. Moreover, the system can be self-synchronized with the AC grid and make corresponding power management on the basis of changes in the voltage amplitude as well as the frequency of the grid. In this sense, the RBE feedback system becomes more flexible, effective and robust. Full article

This study paper presents a comprehensive review of virtual inertia (VI)-based inverters in modern power systems. The transition from the synchronous generator (SG)-based conventional power generation to converter-based renewable energy sources (RES) deteriorates the frequency stability of the power system due to the intermittency of wind and photovoltaic (PV) generation. Unlike conventional power generation, the lack of rotational inertia becomes the main challenge to interface RES with the electrical grid via power electronic converters. In the past several years, researchers have addressed this issue by emulating the behavior of SG mathematically via pulse width modulation (PWM) controller linked to conventional inverter systems. These systems are technically known as VI-based inverters, which consist of virtual synchronous machine (VSM), virtual synchronous generator (VSG), and synchronverter. This paper provides an extensive insight into the latest development, application, challenges, and prospect of VI application, which is crucial for the transition to low-carbon power system. Full article

This paper proposes a modified self-synchronized synchronverter for unbalanced power grids. Small signal analysis of the conventional synchronverter shows that its stability margin around 50 Hz is very limited. Thus, power ripples will be caused at the frequency of 50 Hz. Filter- based current feeding loops are adopted in the conventional synchronverter in order to enhance its stability and eliminate power ripples. In addition, the characteristics of the conventional synchronverter in unbalanced power grids are analyzed, and an improved strategy using a resonant controller is proposed to restrain the current harmonics and power ripples. The parameter design is also studied for the proposed synchronverter. Experimental studies prove that the proposed strategy can achieve precise self-synchronization when the grid voltage is unbalanced, and the power-control performance is also improved significantly. Full article