Synthetic Inertia Provision for Load Frequency Control in Networks with High Penetration of Renewable Energy Sources

Abstract

The integration of renewable energy sources (RESs) such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy has become a promising solution as the world shifts toward clean energy. Solar PV and wind resources are increasingly replacing conventional synchronous generators, leading to reduced system inertia and increased vulnerability to frequency instability during disturbances. To address this challenge, this study proposes a novel synthetic inertia provision strategy using a battery energy storage system (BESS) integrated alongside solar PV. The proposed method dynamically compensates for the loss of inertia by considering the variability of solar PV output due to changes in irradiance and temperature. Simulation results obtained in MATLAB/Simulink demonstrate that the proposed strategy significantly improves system stability, with a reduction in the rate of change of frequency (RoCoF) by up to 86.6% and an improvement in frequency nadir by 0.91% under high PV penetration scenarios. These results confirm that incorporating synthetic inertia via BESS enhances the frequency response and resilience of low-inertia power systems with high renewable penetration.