Fast frequency markets under high penetrations of renewable energy in the Australian national electricity market

摘要: Frequency stability is a vital indicator of the health of a power system, reflecting the momentto-moment balance between generation and load, and therefore overall power system security. Frequency deviations, and particularly fast frequency variations, threaten ongoing system operation and can be difficult to control. Growing penetrations of renewable energy generation in electricity industries globally, including the Australian National Electricity Market (‘NEM’), are raising new challenges for very short-term frequency management, and these form the focus of this paper.Following a contingency event in a power system, system frequency begins to change. The mechanical inertia inherent in the rotating machinery of a conventional synchronous generating plant is electrically coupled to the power system, and hence acts to slow the rate of change of frequency. Synchronous generators thus immediately and inherently respond to such contingencies, and their inertia is therefore extremely valuable for maintaining frequency stability and hence system security. Furthermore, inertia is useful as a regulation service, slowing the rate of change of frequency due to imbalances during normal operation.