Active power limiter for static synchronous generators in renewable applications

Abstract

Virtual Synchronous Generators (VSGs) are an interesting control approach for the connection of renewable energies to the electrical grid through power converters. These power devices have shown their ability to enable grid supportive services in terms of both voltage and frequency. The implementation form shown in the paper allows islanding as well as grid forming operation of the device. A challenging problem that arises is to make the grid supportive services compatible with the instantaneous power limits that renewable energies can provide. In this paper, an Active Power Limiter (APL) is proposed, designed and tested to manage output active power of power converters connected to a renewable source. The implementation of APL is tested on the Synchronous Power Controller (SPC) that emulates inertia and output admittance. The simulation and experimental results shown in the paper confirm that the proposed controller can efficiently control and limit the active power while still providing grid supportive services.