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Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration
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Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A1: Smart Grids and Microgrids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 3 October 2024 | Viewed by 3815

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yongheng Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Rd. 38, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: power converter control; grid integration of renewable energy; photovoltaic power systems; reliability in power electronics and systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Minghui Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Interests: renewable energy generation; grid-connected converters; control of power electronic converters
Dr. Qiao Peng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Electrical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Interests: power system stability and control; renewable power generation; grid-connected energy storage system control; flexible DC power transmission
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As we move towards carbon neutrality, more and more renewable energy technologies will be installed across the globe. Power electronics are the key enabling technology for efficient and reliable utilization of renewable energy. In that context, the conventional power grid architecture is transitioning to renewable-based distribution generation (DG) and power-electronic-dominant systems, where early retirements and replacements of conventional synchronous generators (SGs) are common. In conventional grids, the frequency is governed by such SGs with large rotating inertia. By contrast, power electronics have fast dynamics and zero (low) inertia. That is, renewable-based DG systems are becoming low inertia or inertia-less, making the system’s frequency less robust. Hence, it requires the power converters that act as the interface for the renewable energy and the DG to provide advanced functions to maintain the grid stability and controllability. In recent years, many have developed grid-forming technologies, e.g., virtual synchronous generators (VSGs)/machines (VSMs), virtual oscillator control (VOC), and others schemes such as virtual inertia control to enable power-electronic-based DGs to provide frequency support. This, to enhance the grid robustness, is demanding. At the same time, there are certain challenges to be addressed. Hence, this Special Issue on Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration is proposed to collect recent research outcomes (both original contributions and reviews) on grid-forming technologies for power-electronic-dominant grids.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

  • Novel grid-forming control strategies;
  • Design and optimization of VSGs, VOC, and droop control;
  • Mechanism and design of grid-forming converters;
  • Modelling and stability of grid-forming systems;
  • Power electronic converter topologies and control;
  • Grid support of grid-forming and grid-following converters;
  • Renewable power generation control and operation;
  • Standards and requirements for testing and validation.

Prof. Dr. Yongheng Yang
Dr. Minghui Lu
Dr. Qiao Peng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • grid-forming
  • power electronics
  • power converter control
  • frequency control
  • grid support
  • power system stability
  • renewable energy

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 6358 KiB  
Article
Small-Signal Stability of Hybrid Inverters with Grid-Following and Grid-Forming Controls
by Xiaotong Ji, Dan Liu, Kezheng Jiang, Zhe Zhang and Yongheng Yang
Energies 2024, 17(7), 1644; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17071644 - 29 Mar 2024
Viewed by 421
Abstract
In the modern power grid, characterized by the increased penetration of power electronics and extensive utilization of renewable energy, inverter-based power plants play a pivotal role as the principal interface of renewable energy sources (RESs) and the grid. Considering the stability characteristics of [...] Read more.
In the modern power grid, characterized by the increased penetration of power electronics and extensive utilization of renewable energy, inverter-based power plants play a pivotal role as the principal interface of renewable energy sources (RESs) and the grid. Considering the stability characteristics of grid-following (GFL) inverters when the grid is relatively weak, the application of grid-forming (GFM) controls becomes imperative in enhancing the stability of the entire power plant. Thus, there is an urgent need for suitable and effective models to study the interaction and stability of the paralleled inverters employing GFL and GFM controls. Thus, the small-signal modeling with full-order state-space model and eigenvalues analysis are presented in this paper. First, the small-signal state-space model of the individual GFL and GFM inverters is obtained, considering the control loop, interaction, reference frame, transmissions, and time delays. Then, the models of the individual inverter are extended to the hybrid inverters to study the effects of the GFM inverters on the small-signal stability of the entire system. And the impacts of the inertia and damping are analyzed by the eigenvalues of the state-transition matrix. A case comprising three parallel GFL inverters and two GFL inverters with one GFM inverter, respectively, are studied to examine the effectiveness and accuracy of the model. Finally, the stability margin obtained from the eigenvalue analysis of the entire system is verified by time-domain simulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration)
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19 pages, 8204 KiB  
Article
Transient Synchronous Stability Analysis of Grid-Forming Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Inverters during Asymmetrical Grid Faults
by Wenwen He, Jun Yao, Hao Xu, Qinmin Zhong, Ruilin Xu, Yuming Liu and Xiaoju Li
Energies 2024, 17(6), 1399; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17061399 - 14 Mar 2024
Viewed by 512
Abstract
Compared with the traditional grid-following photovoltaic grid-connected converter (GFL-PGC), the grid-forming photovoltaic grid-connected converter (GFM-PGC) can provide voltage and frequency support for power systems, which can effectively enhance the stability of power electronic power systems. Consequently, GFM-PGCs have attracted great attention in recent [...] Read more.
Compared with the traditional grid-following photovoltaic grid-connected converter (GFL-PGC), the grid-forming photovoltaic grid-connected converter (GFM-PGC) can provide voltage and frequency support for power systems, which can effectively enhance the stability of power electronic power systems. Consequently, GFM-PGCs have attracted great attention in recent years. When an asymmetrical short-circuit fault occurs in the power grid, GFM-PGC systems may experience transient instability, which has been less studied so far. In this paper, a GFM-PGC system is investigated under asymmetrical short-circuit fault conditions. A novel Q-V droop control structure is proposed by improving the traditional droop control. The proposed control structure enables the system to accurately control the positive- and negative-sequence reactive current without switching the control strategy during the low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) period so that it can meet the requirements of the renewable energy grid code. In addition, a dual-loop control structure model of positive- and negative-sequence voltage and current is established for the GFM-PGC system under asymmetrical short-circuit fault conditions. Based on the symmetrical component method, the composite sequence network of the system is obtained under asymmetrical short-circuit fault conditions, and positive- and negative-sequence power-angle characteristic curves are analyzed. The influence law of system parameters on the transient synchronous stability of positive- and negative-sequence systems is quantitatively analyzed through the equal area criterion. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical analysis is verified by simulation and hardware-in-the-loop experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration)
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18 pages, 3979 KiB  
Article
Detailed Controller Synthesis and Laboratory Verification of a Matching-Controlled Grid-Forming Inverter for Microgrid Applications
by Edgar Diego Gomez Anccas, Kazem Pourhossein, Daniel Becker and Detlef Schulz
Energies 2023, 16(24), 8079; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16248079 - 15 Dec 2023
Viewed by 614
Abstract
Grid-forming inverters are the essential components in the effort to integrate renewable energy resources into stand-alone power systems and microgrids. Performance of these inverters directly depends on their control parameters embodied in the controller. Even the most conscientiously designed controller will exhibit suboptimal [...] Read more.
Grid-forming inverters are the essential components in the effort to integrate renewable energy resources into stand-alone power systems and microgrids. Performance of these inverters directly depends on their control parameters embodied in the controller. Even the most conscientiously designed controller will exhibit suboptimal performance upon implementation due to the presence of parasitic elements in the existing hardware. Hence, the controller has to be tuned and optimized. In the present article, the process of implementation, laboratory verification, and tuning of a matching-controlled grid-forming inverter is presented. In order to assess the efficiency of the grid-forming controller, its operation has been tested and analyzed in blackstart, steady state, and transient operation. For this purpose, a systematic sensitivity analysis has been conducted and the control parameters have been tuned in laboratory tests. The laboratory results verify proper operation of a 7 kW grid-forming inverter in all three test scenarios. After applying the proposed method on the tested grid-forming inverter in steady state operation, total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output voltage is less than 0.5% for its practical loading range (maximum THD is less than 1% in no-load condition). The system is able to blackstart and supply the loads. Finally, the studied grid-forming inverter is stable in the presence of severe step load changes and disturbances, i.e., voltage overshoot is managed well and compensated for with a low settling time using this approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration)
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16 pages, 8674 KiB  
Article
A Novel Grid-Forming Strategy for Self-Synchronous PMSG under Nearly 100% Renewable Electricity
by Pan Hu, Kezhen Jiang, Xiaotong Ji, Yuze Cai, Bo Wang, Dan Liu, Kan Cao and Wei Wang
Energies 2023, 16(18), 6648; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186648 - 15 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1137
Abstract
The demand for decarbonization calls for building up a nearly 100% renewable electricity resulting in Grid-forming (GFM) capability requirements. The foregoing paradigm shifts from synchronous AC systems to converter-based systems that need to remain stable and self-synchronous while providing GFM services. However, as [...] Read more.
The demand for decarbonization calls for building up a nearly 100% renewable electricity resulting in Grid-forming (GFM) capability requirements. The foregoing paradigm shifts from synchronous AC systems to converter-based systems that need to remain stable and self-synchronous while providing GFM services. However, as this article’s analysis in the introduction, achieving such goals inevitably necessitates the implementation of a PLL controller and energy storage in a wind turbine, whereas it is not suitable to operate in a weak energy system. To tackle this issue, a novel grid-forming method is proposed. The suggested idea calls for creating a DC voltage controller in a grid-side converter that mimics inertia response and applying a Rotor kinetic energy storage (RKES) controller in a Generator-side converter. Moreover, a coordinated controller of RKES controllers and conventional low voltage ride-through (LVRT) is proposed to gain increases in dynamic performance and maintain grid-forming capabilities in the transient process. Extensive modeling, experimental results based on a semi-physical platform, and an actual wind farm demonstration project are provided to validate the proposed controls. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented method when applied to the future 100% renewable electricity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grid-Forming Technologies for Renewable Energy Integration)
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