State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia

The ever-increasing integration of power converter-coupled renewable energy sources reduces carbon footprints yet weakens power system inertia due to the retirement of synchronous generators. Inertia shortage makes modern power systems sensitive to frequency variations, thereby leading to undesirabl...

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Main Authors: Han Deng , Jingyang Fang 
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Energy Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.833387/full
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author Han Deng 
Jingyang Fang 
author_facet Han Deng 
Jingyang Fang 
author_sort Han Deng 
collection DOAJ
description The ever-increasing integration of power converter-coupled renewable energy sources reduces carbon footprints yet weakens power system inertia due to the retirement of synchronous generators. Inertia shortage makes modern power systems sensitive to frequency variations, thereby leading to undesirable load shedding, cascading failures, or even large-scale blackouts. To address the inertia concern, distributed virtual inertia from grid-tied power converters is emerging as an attractive solution. On top of that, there are upcoming standards of grid-tied power converters, such as PV inverters, that require grid formulation. As such, this paper proposes flexible distributed virtual inertia delivered by grid-forming converters without additional energy storage units. It is revealed that virtual inertia control may possibly cause stability problems. Through the derived state-space model and sensitivity analysis, the mechanism of instability is disclosed. Although droop control may stabilize converters, it inevitably necessitates extra energy storage, and is hence not cost-effective. Instead, a lead compensator, together with its design procedure, is proposed. Finally, simulation and experimental results validate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed model and compensator. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the proposed grid-forming converters allow significant improvements in inertia and frequency regulation.
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spelling doaj.art-f1c04ba586a04cbca5d1cc3ec1f9308a2022-12-22T01:53:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Energy Research2296-598X2022-04-011010.3389/fenrg.2022.833387833387State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual InertiaHan Deng 0Jingyang Fang 1Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeSchool of Control Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, ChinaThe ever-increasing integration of power converter-coupled renewable energy sources reduces carbon footprints yet weakens power system inertia due to the retirement of synchronous generators. Inertia shortage makes modern power systems sensitive to frequency variations, thereby leading to undesirable load shedding, cascading failures, or even large-scale blackouts. To address the inertia concern, distributed virtual inertia from grid-tied power converters is emerging as an attractive solution. On top of that, there are upcoming standards of grid-tied power converters, such as PV inverters, that require grid formulation. As such, this paper proposes flexible distributed virtual inertia delivered by grid-forming converters without additional energy storage units. It is revealed that virtual inertia control may possibly cause stability problems. Through the derived state-space model and sensitivity analysis, the mechanism of instability is disclosed. Although droop control may stabilize converters, it inevitably necessitates extra energy storage, and is hence not cost-effective. Instead, a lead compensator, together with its design procedure, is proposed. Finally, simulation and experimental results validate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed model and compensator. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the proposed grid-forming converters allow significant improvements in inertia and frequency regulation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.833387/fulldistributed generatorsgrid-forming convertersstabilitystate-space modelingvirtual inertia
spellingShingle Han Deng 
Jingyang Fang 
State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia
Frontiers in Energy Research
distributed generators
grid-forming converters
stability
state-space modeling
virtual inertia
title State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia
title_full State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia
title_fullStr State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia
title_full_unstemmed State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia
title_short State-Space Modeling, Stability Analysis, and Controller Design of Grid-Forming Converters With Distributed Virtual Inertia
title_sort state space modeling stability analysis and controller design of grid forming converters with distributed virtual inertia
topic distributed generators
grid-forming converters
stability
state-space modeling
virtual inertia
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2022.833387/full
work_keys_str_mv AT handeng statespacemodelingstabilityanalysisandcontrollerdesignofgridformingconverterswithdistributedvirtualinertia
AT jingyangfang statespacemodelingstabilityanalysisandcontrollerdesignofgridformingconverterswithdistributedvirtualinertia