Voltage Support Capability Analysis of Grid-Forming Inverters with Current-Limiting Control Under Asymmetrical Grid Faults

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the voltage support capabilities of grid-forming inverters with current-limiting control during asymmetrical grid faults, providing theoretical insights and experimental validation for improved fault response.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis framework using positive- and negative-sequence models to optimize virtual impedance for better voltage support during asymmetrical faults.

Findings

Matching virtual impedance phase angle enhances voltage support.

Theoretical analysis aligns with experimental results.

Provides guidelines for inverter control under complex faults.

Abstract

Voltage support capability is critical for grid-forming (GFM) inverters with current-limiting control (CLC) during grid faults. Despite the findings on the voltage support for symmetrical grid faults, its applicability to more common but complex asymmetrical grid faults has yet to be verified rigorously. This letter fills the gap in the voltage support capability analysis for asymmetrical grid faults by establishing and analyzing positive- and negative-sequence equivalent circuit models, where the virtual impedance is adopted to emulate various CLCs. It is discovered that matching the phase angle of the virtual impedance, emulated by the CLC, with that of the composed impedance from the capacitor to the fault location can maximize the voltage support capability of GFM inverters under asymmetrical grid faults. Rigorous theoretical analysis and experimental results verify this conclusion.