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HomePenetration of renewables and reduction of synchronous inertia in the European power system
Analysis and solutions
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The various efforts of promoting the use of renewables has resulted in a steady growth of electricity coming from renewable energy sources which is expected to continue even further into the future. From a physics point of view, many of these renewable energy sources behave quiet differently from the synchronous generators installed in conventional power plants. Synchronous generators have mechanical inertia and are therefore capable of storing kinetic energy in their rotating mass. Moreover, since the terminals of these generators are directly linked with the network, this energy is inherently exchanged with the system during disturbances which makes the network less prone to frequency fluctuations in case of an imbalance between generation and load. Renewable generation units (mainly photovoltaic solar and wind power) on the other hand, are equipped with a power electronic converter which decouples the generator from the grid and as such provide no inertia to the system. As it is projected that many of the conventional power plants will be gradually displaced by these renewable energy sources, the total inertia perceived by the system will thus decrease. As discussed in this study, it expected that inertia related issues will mainly arise in terms of frequency control as low system inertia results in high rate of change of frequency (ROCOF) values and substantial frequency deviations which can lead to instability of the system including load shedding or even a blackout. There are however many possible solutions available to cope with these issues, which are all described in more detail in the report, ranging from a simple redispatch to a modified control approach for converters. Within Europe, many efforts have already been made by ENTSO-E to deal with the inertia issues in a coordinated and harmonized way though their operational guidelines, network codes and system studies. However, as most of the guidelines and network codes related to system inertia are non-exhaustive, there is still a wide variety in the way each TSO implement them. TSOs in large interconnected synchronous areas, such as the Continental European system, currently only adapt the allowed ROCOF relay settings or include a ROCOF withstand capability (for new units) in their grid code. Island systems on the other hand, such as Ireland and GB, are already a step ahead as they expect to encounter high levels of converter penetration. Currently they mostly try to limit the ROCOF by limiting the largest credible loss or keeping the inertia above a certain minimum value. However, to reach even higher penetration levels, new system services will need to be procured. A prognosis of the future system inertia in 2030 within the synchronous area of Continental Europe is made based on the generation capacities of the EUCO30 scenario. Although it expected that there will be a substantial increase in converter connected penetration by 2030, the analysis shows that there remains enough inertia in the system to cope with imbalance which are much higher than the current reference incident. Nevertheless, in accordance with the operation guidelines of ENTSO-E, it is recommended that a tool to monitor and forecast the inertia at operational level is gradually put into place within the Continental European System. Furthermore, to be future proof, it is also necessary to already draft procedures to cope with a possible lack of inertia. In this respect, it is important to take into account the operational experience gained by TSOs in smaller systems such as the one of Ireland.
- Published:
- Corporate author(s): Directorate-General for Energy (European Commission) , Tractebel Impact
- Personal author(s): Tielens, Pieter ; Henneaux, Pierre ; Cole, Stijn
- Themes: Renewable sources of energy
- Subject: cost-effectiveness analysis , electrical energy , energy research , energy storage , energy supply , power plant , renewable energy , solar energy , wind energy
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| ISSN | ISBN 978-92-76-24738-8 | DOI 10.2833/35606 | Catalogue number MJ-04-20-645-EN-N |
- Released on EU publications website:
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