System Dynamics Modeling of Synthetic Power Grids with High Renewable Penetration Level

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to investigate the electrical response of inverter-based renewable energy resources to disturbances at the point of interconnection with the rest of the bulk power system, which falls under the category of power system dynamic stability analysis. As the electric power system utilizes more inverter-based renewable energy resources in the future, there will be a reduction in pollution, however, a number of problems may emerge. All the challenges and changes necessitate the development of large-scale power grid models, which have interconnection-wide large amounts of renewable energy resources, for analyzing and planning power systems over the medium- to long-term. These models should be generally applicable and flexible, and should be publicly available for the purpose of facilitating research in the power system.

As part of this dissertation, an algorithm is developed for integrating and validating dynamic behaviors of large-scale synthetic grid cases containing the amount of renewable generation that will occur in actual power grids in the near future. The proposed algorithm envisions a target level of renewable penetration, for which the following steps will be taken in order to attempt to achieve the target automatically. The considerations for each device and for the whole system are arranged in a hierarchy so that the system operates within specified stability criteria. These synthetic grid cases have been tested, tuned and validated to ensure that they are realistic and are useful for various studies. Multiple studies are conducted utilizing the developed synthetic grid cases in order to solve problems that may arise in the real world. The proposed algorithm can be used by researchers, engineers, and policymakers to simulate the dynamic response of any given power system cases incorporating large amounts of inverter-based renewable energy resources.