SCCER-FURIES Dynamics


After an initial review of the literature and testing the dynamic ENTSO-E model characteristics, different scenarios of investigation were selected, including:

  • Share of converter-based renewables. The more synchronous machines are replaced, the more fragile the ENTSO-E system becomes during transients.
  • Variation of the initial load flow distribution between the areas of the system split. The higher the power exchange before the split, the larger the disturbance impact becomes.
  • Converter control approaches of the renewables (with and without grid support)
  • Continental ENTSO-E dynamic model with initial load and generation conditions and different split scenarios. The focus is a reproduction of the 2006 system split, but also the identification and simulation of consecutive split scenarios during transients.

The objectives were as follows:

  • Modification and simulation of the dynamic ENTSO-E model
  • Investigate the sensitivities w.r.t. the different scenarios (e.g. share of renewables, load flow exchange between areas)
  • Definition and computation of stability metrics for different disturbance scenarios 
  • Quantitative assessment and definition/computation of a stability indicator for potential disturbances (e.g. used by the TSOs)
  • Dynamic power system stability
  • Critical large-scale disturbances of the future ENTSO-E system (system split, partial black-out)
  • Challenges from reduced inertia in the system during transients
  • Potential of dynamic support from converter-based generation

Dynamic power system stability is a growing concern for large transmission grids, due to challenges from reduced inertia as converter-based generation replaces traditional synchronous machines. Depending on the time of day and the load flow situation, the continental ENTSO-E transmission already faces several dynamic challenges, ranging from inter-area oscillations, temporary frequency violations, to system splits into multiple synchronous areas. Investigations in previous projects, simulations of the full ENTSO-E dynamic model and work by the project partner ZHAW showed that the system is quite robust to small disturbances. Individual outages of generators, lines or loads may trigger some inter-area oscillations but are currently not seen as critical scenarios endangering the security of the system. This may change in a future with an increased share of renewable generation and less system inertia. However, a more crucial and present system scenario is the risk of a system split caused by a cascade of line outages in a system with large power transmission between different areas. Technical meetings with the project partner Swissgrid have confirmed this assumptions.

Consequently, a detailed investigation of the ENTSO-E system split was selected as a focus of the dynamic stability investigation at ETHZ-FEN.

Simulated system split of the continental ENTSO-E grid (similar to 2006 event).
Simulated system split of the continental ENTSO-E grid (similar to 2006 event).
  • Implementation of the ENTSO-E dynamic model in a modular simulation framework combining symbolic and numerical methods. Runs approximately realtime for large continental ENTSO-E dynamic model (about 10’000 buses and 1’000 generators). [Tool: in-house FlexDYN with Python based interface]
  • Implementation of various converter models (impedance, current-controlled capacitor, Virtual synchronous machine)
  • Development of a two-step initialization approach to simulate different inter-area power exchanges (important for feasible Voltage/reactive power setpoints): 1. Solve OPF problem (with bounds on PG,QG,VG), 2. Solve dynamic initialization problem (with bounds on AVR,Turbine,Generator)
  • Simulations of the ENTSO-E system split and identification of cascading splits (Figure 1).
  • Post-processing of simulation results, computation of performance metrics (ROCOF, Nadir, relative deviation, ...) , visualization as parametric stability indicator (Figure 2)
Figure: Split of the ENTSO-E grid with 10GW shifted from North to South-West. Two synchronous groups (orange, yellow) in the South-West.
Split of the ENTSO-E grid with 10GW shifted from North to South-West. Two synchronous groups (orange, yellow) in the South-West.
Figure: Mean ROCOF values (rate of change of the average grid frequency) in South-West as a function of generation power shifted to the region. Case with 0% and 40% RES production share. Higher power imbalance before the system split (along the x-axis) and higher RES-share (dashed lines vs. solid lines) entail higher ROCOF values.
Mean ROCOF values (rate of change of the average grid frequency) in South-West as a function of generation power shifted to the region. Higher power imbalance before the system split (along the x-axis) and higher RES-share (dashed lines vs. solid lines) entail higher ROCOF values.

Partners: ETHZ (FEN), ZHAW (IEFE), Swissgrid AG
Duration: 01/2017 - 12/2020
Funding: Innosuisse, Swissgrid
Project Team: Dr. Alexander Fuchs, Dr. Turhan Demiray

external pageProf. Petr Korba at ZHAW and Dr. Walter Sattinger at Swissgrid

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