Fast voltage boosters to improve transient stability of power systems with 100% of grid-forming VSC-based generation

TL;DR

This paper introduces two fast voltage booster strategies to enhance transient stability in power systems with 100% grid-forming VSC-based generation, without altering primary control set points, thus improving system resilience.

Contribution

It proposes novel voltage booster control methods using local and global frequency measurements to significantly improve transient stability in fully converter-based power systems.

Findings

Both strategies significantly enhance transient stability.

The methods are compatible with existing control techniques.

Set points linked to primary energy sources remain unchanged.

Abstract

Grid-forming voltage source converter (GF-VSC) has been identified as the key technology for the operation of future converter-dominated power systems. Among many other issues, transient stability of this type of power systems remains an open topic of research because it is still a key limiting factor for stressed power systems. Previous studies have proposed control strategies for GF-VSC to improve transient stability of this type of systems by suitable current-limitation algorithms and/or control of active-power injections. As an alternative, this paper proposes two fast voltage boosters to improve transient stability of power systems with 100% of GF-VSC-based generation with virtual synchronous machine (VSM). One control strategy uses local measurements, whereas the other one uses global measurements of the frequency of the centre of inertia (COI). Both strategies improve transient stability of this type of systems significantly. The advantage of using fast voltage boosters for this purpose is that the set points linked to frequency/active-power injection (i.e set points linked to the primary energy source of the VSCs) will not be modified. Furthermore, strategies such as current-limitation, active-power control and fast voltage controllers for transient stability improvement are compatible and complementary.