Metrology for efficient grid-forming converters to stabilise future power grids

To meet the EU Green Deal’s 2050 net-zero emissions target, the proportion of energy generated by renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU must reach 60% by 2030 and 84% by 2050. RES currently rely on power converters to connect them to the grid which, unlike fossil fuel-based synchronous generators, lack an inbuilt ability to regulate voltage and frequency. Advanced grid-forming (GFM) power converters can address this problem, reacting to RES variability and maintaining grid stability. However, these require operational specifications, testing procedures, and traceable infrastructure to verify their performance in the laboratory and the field. Methods are also required to determine GFM converter losses under actual operating conditions, to ensure that the move to RES does not come at the expense of increased losses from the converters.

The project will address these issues, creating testbeds to evaluate grid-forming power converters under various grid conditions. An accompanying methodology will be developed and applied to at least two commercial converters. It will develop methods and equipment for traceable on-site testing of GFM converters under highly dynamic conditions and use these to assess at least two commercial converters. Equipment and procedures to characterise the efficiency of GFM converters under real operating conditions will also be produced and applied to at least three commercial converters.

The work of the project will help ensure that the grid-forming power converters needed to enable the transition to renewable energy sources are reliable, efficient and well characterised under realistic conditions. This will increase the take-up of RES across the grid, accelerating progress towards the net-zero emissions targets of the EU Green Deal.