Grid Strength Assessment Method for Evaluating Small-Signal Synchronization Stability of Grid-Following and Grid-Forming Converters Integrated Systems

Abstract

Oscillations caused by small-signal instability have been widely observed in AC grids with grid-following (GFL) and grid-forming (GFM) converters. The generalized short-circuit ratio is commonly used to assess the strength of GFL converters when integrated with weak AC systems at risk of oscillation. This paper provides the grid strength assessment method to evaluate the small-signal synchronization stability of GFL and GFM converters integrated systems. First, the admittance and impedance matrices of the GFL and GFM converters are analyzed to identify the frequency bands associated with negative damping in oscillation modes dominated by heterogeneous synchronization control. Secondly, based on the interaction rules between the short-circuit ratio and the different oscillation modes, an equivalent circuit is proposed to simplify the grid strength assessment through the topological transformation of the AC grid. The risk of sub-synchronization and low-frequency oscillations, influenced by GFL and GFM converters, is then reformulated as a semi-definite programming (SDP) model, incorporating the node admittance matrix and grid-connected device capacities. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through a case analysis.