Investigating the Effects of Inverter Based Resources on an Electrical Grid System

Abstract

The addition of renewable generation to the electricity grid, with either the reduction or retirement of conventional generation, is increasing due to the impending climate crisis. Advancements in power electronics technologies are also contributing to the increased connection of renewable energy. Despite the increased commonality of renewable generation and the use of inverter-based resources (IBRs) and reactive power components, will system stability hold in a primarily renewable electricity grid? This thesis investigates how the addition of IBR models affected a system that previously had only conventional generation, if the IBRs could improve system stability, if reactive power components were needed in conjunction with renewable generation, how renewable generation variability affected the system, and if flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices were more beneficial than fixed shunt capacitors and inductors. The system used was a pre-existing example network from the power systems software for engineers (PSS®E), created by Siemens, which had an adequate combination of generation, load, reactive power components, and a swing bus. Steady state analysis showed that the addition of IBRs and reactive power components increased the stability through maintaining system voltage and avoiding thermal loading violations. Expected behavior was displayed when investigating renewable generation variability through which the importance of compensating for lost reactive power, properly distributing it throughout the system, and the probability of thermal loading issues were seen.