Fluence has around 2,000 megavolt ampere worth of grid forming projects globally, with a significant focus in Europe and Australia.
Three major models of GFM implementation were discussed: Compensate, Cost-out, and Compel.
Ben Braun highlighted the challenges and costs associated with GFM projects, including control costs, need for overbuilding, and testing requirements.
Discussion on the technical capabilities of GFM and the economic considerations of implementing these capabilities.
Grid forming technology is still relatively new and presents challenges in commissioning and operation.
Concerns about the proposed ERCOT test framework for verifying GFM capabilities and the potential need for additional testing scenarios.
Comments from ERCOT representatives emphasized the need for a minimum set of tests to confirm GFM characteristics while balancing practicality and cost.
Andrew Isaacs raised the question about what specific outcomes Fluence would like to see from ERCOT regarding GFM requirements.
Ben Braun suggested that a hybrid approach with both compulsory and market-based incentives might be optimal.
▶️ 3 - Tesla’s GFM Capabilities Perspective on ERCOT’sfor ESR NOGRR272 & PGRR121 - Sai Gopal Vennelaganti and Mohammed Nassar
Sai Gopal Vennelaganti detailed Tesla's experience with GFM technology and its operational deployments globally, emphasizing the technical challenges associated with the static requirements imposed by ERCOT.
Mohammed Nassar proposed revised equations for achievable power changes based on impedance parameters, suggesting more flexible, site-specific technical requirements.
Discussion Points:
Technical challenges with phase angle and power change requirements imposed by ERCOT, considering the physics of total impedance.
Proposed need to rethink quantitative requirements over qualitative interpretations to avoid subjective compliance results.
Recommendations:
Add flexibility in requirements for phase angle testing outcomes.
Use quantitative requirements instead of qualitative interpretations.
Other Discussions:
Concerns raised over compensation mechanisms for providing grid reliability services and associated costs for stakeholders like ESRs.
General consensus on the need for more detailed market-based mechanism discussions regarding these requirements.
▶️ 4 - SMA’s GFM Capabilities Perspective on ERCOT’s Advanced Grid Support Requirements for ESR NOGRR272 & PGRR121 - Frank Berring
SMA focuses on grid forming capabilities, emphasizing its history and experience with over 17,000 central inverter units installed in North America.
SMA has pioneered grid forming technology for over 25 years, especially in the storage and transportation sectors.
Their latest converters feature silicon carbide MOSFETs for enhanced efficiency, mainly in charging and discharging applications.
Available models include different packages for distribution and transmission projects, each with various control levels.
Grid forming is tested extensively, exceeding proposed requirements easily but noting that passing tests doesn’t solve all stability issues.
SMA supports ERCOT's comprehensive approach and believes in compensation mechanisms to maintain stability.
SMA provides insights into cost implications, indicating firmware costs might be around 10%, without any substantial extra hardware required unless specific features like Black Start capability are necessary.
Unit testing requirements for ERCOT align with similar global standards, requiring no extraordinary efforts.
5 - PE’s GFM Capabilities Perspective on ERCOT’s Advanced Grid Support Requirements for ESR (NOGRR272 & PGRR121) Borja Perez (Power Electronics)
Not Discussed
▶️ 6 - BAL-001 TRE-2 PFR Responsibility Exclusion Process and PFR under Deep Curtailment - Abhi Masanna Gari, ERCOT
The new process allows for the exclusion of generating units' PFR performance during frequency measurable events if legitimate operating conditions prevent normal performance.
Market participants must request an exemption within 30 days of the posting of the Initial and Sustained Frequency Response Unit Performance.
An exclusion request form has been added for market participants to submit requests along with supporting documents.
Request forms should be sent to client service representatives or via email to compliance@ercot.com.
Discussion on PFR under deep curtailment highlights challenges faced by wind turbines and solar units when curtailed to low outputs.
Feedback from OEMs indicates varied limitations on providing PFR, particularly for wind turbines.
ERCOT is considering adding the inability to provide PFR under certain conditions as an exclusion to the process.
Discussions emphasized the need for case-by-case evaluations of exemption requests.
Current interconnection frequency response is stable, but ERCOT plans to gather more data to assess the impact of exclusion requests.
Stakeholders seek clarity on the impact of wind units' inability to respond to frequency events on system reliability.
▶️ 7 - Results of NERC IBR Alert on Model Quality - David Penny
