Power System Inertia: Challenges and Solutions

The conventional synchronous generator has been the backbone of power system operation since its creation – simultaneously providing both the energy and ancillary services that ensure reliable customer supply. Chief among these essential ancillary services is synchronous inertia, a physical property that limits the rate of change of frequency following a large disturbance (e.g. loss of generator, load or interconnector).

Worldwide, levels of online synchronous inertia are in decline as more renewable asynchronous generation is added (e.g. wind turbines, solar photovoltaics) and the importance of associated new ancillary service technologies increases (e.g. demand response). As a consequence, new strategies are needed to ensure electrical grid operational security during times of low system inertia.

During this presentation Pádraig Daly will discuss:

The fundamentals of power system inertia
The impact of large-scale wind power generation and demand response deployment
Least-cost solutions to the challenges of declining synchronous inertia
Dynamic synchronous inertia scheduling
The potential for wind power emulated inertial response

Presented by:
Pádraig Daly is a PhD student at School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin. His research interests are currently centred on bridging the gap between power system stability and scheduling in high renewable power systems, with a focus on the creation of implementable research outcomes. More information on Pádraig can be found here.