The future global energy transition favour renewables such as wind power, which is predicted to be one of the predominant sources harvesting abundant amounts of energy onwards. Consequently, causing several conventional synchronous generators to be decommissioned in a near future to achieve an overall reduction in greenhouse gases related to electricity generation. However, this evolution comes with new challenges regarding power system stability that could jeopardize the reliability of the grid as we today know it. Therefore, this thesis will examine how high penetrations of wind power are impacting each fundamental criterion regarding power system stability. For this purpose, are two different scenarios being carried out in Siemens PSS/E, representing a futuristic case as well as a present one. The simulation results themselves are being compared with analogies drawn from previous studies conducted within the field to determine if it can be improved.

[pt] A constante busca pelo desenvolvimento sustentável, com o uso de fontes de energia limpa e renováveis, tem fomentado o crescimento da energia eólica no cenário mundial. Como resultado, a produção de energia elétrica por meio de aerogeradores atingiu um estágio de maturidade que a coloca como participante da matriz energética em vários países onde esse recurso natural é disponível, com projeção para vir a ter participação expressiva na matriz energética mundial nas próximas décadas. A integração de grandes usinas/parques de energia eólica ao sistema elétrico tem despertado preocupações em relação a seus impactos sobre questões de controle/estabilidade de frequência, visto que os parques eólicos com gerador de indução com dupla alimentação (DFIG) e turbinas com conversor de potência não contribuem para a inércia do sistema. Como resultado disso, a substituição de unidades geradoras convencionais por fazendas eólicas resulta na redução do momento total de inércia, acarretando uma deterioração da qualidade da frequência frente a grandes distúrbios no SIN. A indústria de energia eólica desenvolveu um controlador para permitir a resposta inercial em geradores de turbinas eólicas, chamada de Inércia Sintética. Logo, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é descobrir o impacto da integração da energia eólica na estabilidade/manutenção da frequência do sistema e avaliar os efeitos da emulação de inércia em turbinas eólicas com base em conversores de potência e seu impacto no momento de inércia total do sistema após a ocorrência de distúrbios de frequência. / [en] The constant pursuit of sustainable development through the use of clean and renewable energy sources has fostered the growth of wind energy on the world stage. As a result, the production of electric energy through wind turbines reached a maturity stage that places it as a participant in the energy matrix in several countries where this natural resource is available, with a projection to have a significant participation in the world energy matrix in the coming decades. The integration of large wind power plants and wind farms into the electricity system has raised concerns about their impacts on frequency control and stability issues, as wind farms with doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) engines and turbines with power converters do not contribute to system Inertia. As a result, the replacement of conventional generating units by wind farms results in the reduction of the total moment of inertia, causing a deterioration of the quality of the frequency in front of major disturbances in the SIN. The wind power industry has developed a controller to allow inertial response in wind turbine generators, called Synthetic Inertia. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to discover the impact of integrating wind energy into the stability / maintenance of the frequency of the system and to evaluate the effects of the inertia emulation in wind turbines based on power converters and their impact at the moment of total inertia of the System after the occurrence of frequency disturbances.

The power grid faces stability problems due to loss of inertia. The ancillary services balancing the system must be improved to maintain stability. In contrast to earlier studies, this thesis estimates how the future grid frequency quality in both the short and long term is affected by different control methods, using an ensemble of quality measures. The thesis uses conventional one-area models for the power grid and FCR-N (frequency containment reserve – normal operation) but develops new models for FCR-D (– disturbed operation), FFR (fast frequency reserve), and synthetic inertia (SI). To acquire proper input data the thesis uses an inverse model of the power grid to compute the momentary load disturbance, i.e., the difference between load and generation, from the grid frequency. The thesis makes a difference between proportional and derivative SI, where the latter is the one commonly associated with the term SI. The results show that derivative SI can improve some quality measures but requires very high power capacity. In contrast, proportional SI improves almost every measure the most, for a fraction of the required capacity. Derivative SI is therefore worth less from a system perspective. However, it is shown that the quality measures improved by derivative SI are related to hydropower wear and tear, making it more interesting for hydro power owners. Moreover, FFR gives no benefit to long time quality measures. Considering the short-term analysis where a large disturbance occurs, FFR gives almost no benefit and risks worsening the stability. Also, for the large disturbance, proportional SI performs the best. The results are limited by the small number of simulations that were performed and can only provide indications of trends. A more solid conclusion, however, is that one cannot expect transmission system operators (TSO) to introduce an ancillary service that builds on derivative SI.

There is a trend in Sweden towards increasing the electricity production from renewable energy sources in the electric grid. The increased share of renewables could be seen as essential for Sweden to be able to meet the obligated climate goals. Integration of renewables will enable Sweden to be a progressive part in reducing greenhouse gases and decreasing the global warming. However, one issue with renewable energy sources is the inverter governed production. This, together with the decommission of larger synchronous generators, results in decreasing the inertia and increasing the instability inthe grid.  This thesis is dedicated to elaborating on frequency stability issues and investigating how Variable Speed Wind Turbines (VSWT) could contribute towards stabilized operation when included in frequency support services.  The study is generated through an extensive research process where focus areas are identified. Questions are purposed and then discussed through interviews with experienced people in the field. Estimated power production series from a wind turbine park (WTP) are applied in a constructed model to study the possibilities appearing when  including VSWTs in frequency support services. The income generated from including VSWTs in different regulation power market services is with the model compared against solely procuring the production capacity on the day ahead market. The studied frequency support services are then compared altogether to generate favorable solutions. The study examines both economic as well as technical features of the inclusion of VSWTs in frequency support services.  Results found in the study were that inclusion of wind turbines for power regulation purposes could be seen as increasingly manageable and needed in the electric grid. The maturity of technical solutions alongwith a transition in the regulation power market could be observed as leading factors. The diversification of regulation abilities and the increasing economic incentives in the regulation power market was also found to be important reasons for including wind turbines in the regulation power market. In the study, it was also found thataggregating the power production from several VSWT could increase the ability to deliver the studied services.  It was concluded that inclusion of VSWT in the frequency containment reserve during disturbed operation for down-regulation purposes as well as the fast frequency reserve was the most promising frequency support products for the inclusion of wind turbines. When including battery energy storages and to a larger part managing the durability demands for the services then the frequency contain reserve for normal operation and the frequency containment reserve for disturbed operation for upregulation purposes could be observed as preferable alternatives. Regulation abilities were concluded as achievable with the use of pitch and torque regulation techniques available in the variable speed wind turbine.

Variable renewable energy sources are today increasingly integrated in the power system as a step towards the renewable society. The large-scale introduction of converter-based energy sources brings challenges in terms of reduced damping to the power system due to the reduced number of synchronous generators. This can be manifested as high rate-of-change-of-frequency and decreased grid stability. To forestall this reduced performance, it is suggested that the grid-following control of today’s converters are restructured to a grid-forming control, enabling the converter to behave closer to a synchronous machine.   This thesis compares grid-following and grid-forming control and seeks to further describe this grid-forming behavior by applying a grid-forming control method on an energy storage enhanced STATCOM-system. A continuous time model and a linearized model based on state space representations are constructed in order to investigate the grid-forming behavior but also how the converter stability is affected by a restructure from grid-following to grid-forming control.   The results indicate that the investigated grid-forming control method displays a behavior similar to synchronous machines and incorporates the ability to provide frequency response services and so called “synthetic inertia” to the grid.  The results also show that the stability of the converter (the ability to provide a bounded output when the system is perturbed) is ensured when the control method is restructured from grid-following to grid-forming and that the investigated grid-forming method is stable also in weak grid situations.

L’intégration croissante de la production éolienne ne participant pas au réglage de fréquence induit de nouvelles difficultés de gestion des systèmes électriques. Ces problèmes sont d’autant plus significatifs que le réseau est faible. La présente thèse vise à évaluer la performance et la fiabilité du réglage de fréquence des éoliennes à l’échelle du système électrique. Les études sont appliquées sur un réseau insulaire.D’abord, l’impact d’un fort taux de pénétration de la production éolienne sur l’allocation de la réserve primaire et sur le comportement dynamique du réseau est caractérisé. Il est montré que la participation des éoliennes au réglage de fréquence est techniquement indispensable pour le maintien de la sûreté du système électrique à partir d’un certain taux de pénétration. Deux solutions permettant aux éoliennes de contribuer au réglage de fréquence sont ensuite étudiées par simulations dynamiques. La performance d’une inertie émulée est caractérisée en considérant l’impact du point de fonctionnement initial des éoliennes et des paramètres du contrôleur. La contribution de la réserve éolienne à l’amélioration de la performance dynamique du système est également identifiée.Afin d’évaluer le potentiel et la fiabilité de la réserve éolienne, la dernière partie de ce travail est consacrée aux études statistiques prenant en compte la variabilité et l’incertitude de la prévision de la production. Deux stratégies du placement de réserve sont proposées et comparées. L’impact des erreurs de prévision sur le potentiel de réserve éolienne est également mis en évidence. Enfin l’énergie réglante d’une ferme et la plage de réglage du statisme éolien sont caractérisées / The increasing development of wind power that does not participate in frequency control leads to new challenges in the management of electrical power systems. The problems are more significant in weak power grids. The present thesis aims to evaluate the performance and the reliability of frequency response from wind turbines on a system-wide scale. Studies are applied onto an isolated power grid.First of all, the impact of high levels of wind penetration on primary reserve allocation and on grid dynamic behaviour is characterized. It is shown that the participation of wind turbines in frequency regulation is technically required for maintaining power system security from a certain wind penetration rate.Two solutions allowing wind turbines to contribute to frequency control are then studied through dynamic simulations. The performance of emulated inertia is characterized by taking into account the impact of initial wind operating point and controller parameters. The contribution of wind power reserve to system dynamic performance improvement is also identified.In order to assess the potential and the reliability of wind primary reserve, the last part of this research work is devoted to statistical analyses considering the variability and the prediction uncertainty of wind generation. Two strategies for reserve allocation are proposed and compared. The impact of forecast errors on the potential of wind power reserve is also highlighted. Finally the power frequency characteristic of a wind farm as well as the droop adjustment range is characterized

This report travels through multiple disciplines to seek innovative and sustainable energy solutions for wastewater treatment plants. The first subject is a report about increased global temperatures and an over-exploitation of natural resources that threatens ecosystems worldwide. The situation is urgent where the current trend is a 2°C increase of global temperatures already in 2040. Furthermore, the energy-land nexus becomes increasingly apparent where the world is going from a dependence on easily accessible fossil resources to renewables limited by land allocation. A direction of the required transition is suggested where all actors of the society must contribute to quickly construct a new carbon-neutral resource and energy system. Wastewater treatment is as required today as it is in the future, but it may move towards a more emphasized role where resource management and energy recovery will be increasingly important. This report is a master’s thesis in energy engineering with an ambition to provide some clues, with a focus on energy, to how wastewater treatment plants can be successfully integrated within the future society. A background check is conducted in the cross section between science, society, politics and wastewater treatment. Above this, a layer of technological insights is applied, from where accessible energy pathways can be identified and evaluated. A not so distant step for wastewater treatment plants would be to absorb surplus renewable electricity and store it in chemical storage mediums, since biogas is already commonly produced and many times also refined to vehicle fuel. Such extra steps could be excellent ways of improving the integration of wastewater treatment plants into the society. New and innovative electric grid-connected energy storage technologies are required when large synchronous electric generators are being replaced by ‘smaller’ wind turbines and solar cells which are intermittent (variable) by nature. A transition of the society requires energy storages, balancing of electric grids, waste-resource utilization, energy efficiency measures etcetera… This interdisciplinary approach aims to identify relevant energy technologies for wastewater treatment plants that could represent decisive steps towards sustainability.