Synthetic Inertia from Wind Turbines for Large System Stability

In this paper, the implementation of an innovative synthetic inertia control mechanism for a wind generator is presented. Basically, it emulates the inertial response provided by traditional generators during frequency events, exploiting the energy content of the DC link, suitably sized. Such mechanism can be applied to whatever type of plant connected to the grid through a fully rated converter, provided that a sufficient energy buffer is available. This strategy can enhance the grid stability after under-frequency events, especially in low-inertia networks. The proposed control strategy has been first studied in a simplified network and then, to corroborate its effectiveness, tested on a portion of the Italian Transmission Network (Sicily).