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FrequencyControlWhitePaper Final
FrequencyControlWhitePaper Final
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Executive Summary coupled to the grid and contains inertia stored within the
rotating masses.
Frequency control within Australia’s power system has
become increasingly challenged over the past few However, modern-day power systems (and those of
years. This paper examines some of the current topical the future) contain increasing amounts of renewable
issues and associated literature, which poses four open energy sources connected through power electronic
questions: converter (PEC) interfaces, owing to the need for
cleaner generation to tackle the issue of climate change.
1. Are large governor deadbands and inactive
governors on synchronous generating units PEC interfaced renewable energy sources present a
contributing to frequency control issues? range of challenges when compared to traditional
2. Are market frameworks overriding the technical synchronous generators such as different dynamics,
design of the system resulting in deterioration of stochastic generation profiles, and a lack of inertia.
frequency control?
3. What changes are necessary for the future to For example, PEC interfaces effectively decouple
overcome the effects of reduced system inertia? renewable generators from the system, which
4. How can renewable energy generation be better contributes to reduced system inertia. Consequently,
utilised to participate in the provision of frequency new control methods will increasingly be required in
control ancillary services? the future to overcome this issue. Moreover, when
compared to traditional, large synchronous generators,
To improve frequency control in the Australian power PEC interfaced sources have faster dynamics.
system recommendations are made to both mandate
governor response and ensure governor deadbands do The provision of ancillary services, such as voltage and
not exceed 100 mHz (±50 mHz). frequency control, is also challenged as synchronous
generators are displaced. Therefore, new ways to utilise
renewable power generation and power electronic
converter technologies will be required to ensure
Background system stability and security is maintained or improved.
The control of frequency in power systems deals with Changes to the vertically integrated structure of the
the instantaneous balance of active power demand and power system, as well as market dynamics further
generation. If generation exceeds demand, frequency challenges power system operation.
increases, conversely, if demand exceeds generation,
frequency decreases. Having an unstable power system containing
predominantly synchronous generation will also
Traditionally, power systems have contained large challenge the transition towards a cleaner, PEC
amounts of synchronous generators found within dominated system. Power system frequency control
fossil-fuelled power stations. Such equipment is directly is crucial to the quality and security of electrical
power systems [1]. Therefore, such issues require minutes. On the other hand, tertiary responses refer to
examination in the Australian context - a system which manual variations in unit commitment.
is currently undergoing rapid change while grappling
with control issues concerning its fleet of traditional In 2001, the Reliability Panel reported that “frequency
synchronous generators. must be managed on a second-by-second basis, far
faster than any market mechanisms can deliver” [1]. As
will be shown in the following sections of this document,
the frequency profile of the Australian system has
Frequency Control in Power
progressively flattened over the past few years, which
Systems indicates that the control philosophy of the system
Three frequency control responses are typically applied requires reform.
within a system to maintain and restore active power
balance, each with varying operational timescales, As we transition to a power system centred around the
which forms what is known as frequency control. The use of PEC interfaced renewable energy sources, the
frequency of a system will vary from its equilibrium if an need for new types of technologies to participate in
imbalance in active power occurs as a result of a system frequency control will increase. Furthermore, tapping
event — for example, a sudden change in load or a loss into renewable energy generation to provide ancillary
of generation. services will be essential to ensure power system
security and stability.
the frequency drop and stabilise the system. Primary 50.2 NOFB - Upper Limit
Frequency (Hz)
c School of Engineering RMIT University 2019
4
four open questions are examined in the remainder of size used before the implementation of the FCAS
this paper. markets [5].
350
250
200
Figure 4: Frequency (Hz) control deterioration in the
NEM from 2011 to 2019 [6]. 150
100
50
Open Question 1
0
Are Large Governor Deadbands and Governor Australia Ireland Great Britain ERCOT
(50 Hz) (50 Hz) (50 Hz) (60 Hz)
Inactivity Contributing to Frequency Control Power System
Issues?
Figure 5: Comparison of absolute governor deadband
sizes by region [13], [14], [15].
c School of Engineering RMIT University 2019
6
power systems across the world, as shown in Table 1. NEM System Separation Event on
Therefore, when coupled with the previously mentioned
frequency control issues which are challenging the
25th August 2018
system, the adequacy of the market frameworks are On 25th August 2018, a single lightning strike occurred
increasingly questioned. on a supporting structure of the Queensland-New
South Wales Interconnector (QNI) which resulted in the
In addition to the degradation in frequency control, tripping of both its circuits [12].
FCAS costs for both contingency and regulation
services have risen rapidly in recent times, signalling An 835 MW power mismatch between Queensland
that the market is insufficient. Figure 6 presents the (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW) followed the event
FCAS costs from 2014 to 2018. causing QLD’s frequency to rise and the collective
frequencies of the rest of the NEM to fall. South
Australia later disconnected from Victoria.
$250
Para (SA) Sydney West (NSW) South Pine (QLD)
$200
51.0
50.8
Millions (AUD)
50.6
$150
50.4
50.2
Frequency (Hz)
$100 50.0
49.8
$50 49.6
49.4
49.2
$0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 49.0
Time (Quarterly) 48.8
:38
:39
:40
:41
:42
:43
:44
:45
:46
:47
:48
:49
:50
Contingency Regulation
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
13:11
The costs associated with maintaining system The event highlighted the inadequate provision of
frequency within the existing normal operating primary frequency control. Figure 7 presents the
frequency band were considered in 2001, as were system frequencies.
the cost savings available from reducing system
requirements for regulating ancillary services [1]. In such instances, the uniform provision of primary
However, the costs associated with poor frequency frequency control is essential. System stability is
control have not. challenged owing to the use of digital governors
and a lack of mandatory governor response as the
10000
The event highlighted the importance of power system
9000
control, especially in the presence of more significant
8000
rates of change of frequency (RoCoF).
Installed Generation (MW)
7000
6000
5000
50.4
4000
50.2
50 Hz restored 3000
50.0 Hornsea loss
737 MW
2000
49.8
Frequency (Hz)
1000
49.6
Little Barford 0
49.4 GT1b trip
187 MW 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Aug-19
49.2 Solar PV Wind Battery Total
c School of Engineering RMIT University 2019
8
14000 80000
H = 3.2 s
60000 50
10000
50000 49.98
8000
Frequency (Hz)
40000
6000 49.96
30000
4000 49.94
20000
2000 10000 49.92
0 0
49.9
Apr-01
Apr-02
Apr-03
Apr-04
Apr-05
Apr-06
Apr-07
Apr-08
Apr-09
Apr-10
Apr-11
Apr-12
Apr-13
Apr-14
Apr-15
Apr-16
Apr-17
Apr-18
Apr-19
49.88
Cumulative Installation (MW) Number of Monthly Installations 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s)
Figure 10: Installed solar PV capacity and number of
monthly installations in the NEM [22]. Figure 12: Effect of reduced inertia on system frequency.
10000
Battery energy storage systems are increasingly used
within power systems to overcome more significant
5000
rates of change of frequency owing to their fast
0 dynamics. The question remains, what other
Solar PV Wind Battery considerations need to be made to overcome the effects
Generation Sources
of reduced system inertia in the future?
Figure 11: Proposed PEC interfaced renewable energy
generation capacity to be installed within the NEM [20].
Open Question 4
How Can Renewable Energy Generation Be
As the integration of PEC interfaced renewable energy
Better Utilised?
sources increases, power system security and stability
will become increasingly challenged. System inertia
opposes changes in frequency and is abundant in
networks with large amounts of synchronous machines
owing to the direct connection of the rotating masses to
Utilising Power Electronic
the system. Converters and Renewable Energy
The use of power electronic converters decouples
Generation
renewable generation sources, such as wind and solar In power systems of the future, the utilisation of
PV, from the network. Consequently, inertia is low power electronic converters will be imperative to ensure
within systems containing large amounts of renewable renewable energy sources contribute to the provision
energy, resulting in a greater RoCoF and more dynamic of ancillary services. While less inertia results in
behaviour during system events. more dynamic behaviour, power electronic converters
can respond much faster than traditional synchronous
Figure 12 illustrates the effect of the reduced system generators which have the potential to mitigate the
inertia on frequency. Observe that halving the amount issue of more significant rates of change of frequency.
of system inertia results in a larger RoCoF and a less Furthermore, tapping into renewable power generation
damped response. will be a necessity to ensure system stability.
containing wind farms, whereby the behaviour of Controls voltage magnitude and
Controls current and phase angle
frequency
traditional directly-coupled synchronous generators is No standalone operation Standalone operation
imitated [24]. The implementation of such a control 100% penetration not possible 100% penetration possible
strategy allows turbine power output to be increased by
approximately 5-10% of rated power in response to a
decline in frequency [25]. Such a response assists in
stabilising systems following frequency excursions.
Increasing Use of Energy Storage Systems
Energy storage solutions are increasingly utilised in
Emulated inertial control strategies are broadly power systems to deal with more significant rates of
classified into three main categories [26]. These are: change of frequency. Within Australia, the Hornsdale
Power Reserve (HPR) was the first battery installed
(i) 4F response which is dependent on the in the NEM [31]. The energy storage system has a
frequency deviation. speedy response to system frequency declines and is
(ii) Fixed trajectory response which is triggered by a registered for participation in all eight FCAS markets
specific threshold of frequency deviation. (regulation and contingency responses).
(iii) df
dt
response which is triggered by RoCoF.
ElectraNet’s 30 MW / 8 MWh grid-scale battery [32]
Long-term deloading methods are another strategy has also recently been connected to Australia’s NEM,
for the provision of frequency support from wind as has the 30 MW / 30 MWh Ballarat Battery Storage
resources, where the wind turbine is operated in System [33]. Other storage technologies examined
a non-optimal state to provide a power margin for within the research domain include supercapacitors [34]
frequency reserves [27]. Using such a scheme results to complement traditional energy storage technology. In
in generators incurring costs owing to reductions in the future, supercapacitors could be widely used within
energy market revenue. The optimal control of a the industry.
coordinated wind and energy storage scheme has been
investigated to reduce the economic burden associated
with the deloading scheme [28].
Frequency Control in the NEM
c School of Engineering RMIT University 2019
10
Security issues
50.05 ±50mHz Governor Deadband
• ±150mHz Governor Deadband
system stability may be compromised;
• 50
impedance measurement may affect stable
control of voltage; 49.95
Frequency (Hz)
• feedback through stabilisers may affect voltage;
• Larger
interconnectors may deviate away from their 49.9
steady-state
dispatch targets and during a contingency may frequency
49.85 deviation
lead to cascading failure;
• measurements of quantities that require a certain 49.8 Worse frequency nadir
level of accuracy may be compromised; owing to late primary
control action
49.75
Price issues 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s)
• dispatch of energy and interregional loads may no Figure 13: Effect of governor deadband size on system
longer be optimised owing to measurement error; frequency.
• local measurement and its billing may be affected;
Quality issues
c School of Engineering RMIT University 2019
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