Synthetic inertia estimation in the presence of measurement noise and delays: An application to wind turbine generators

Synthetic inertia generation is essential in power grids with high penetration of renewable energy sources (RES). The inverters interfacing the RES with the grid are equipped with dedicated controllers that set a power reference proportional to the rate of change of the electrical frequency (RoCoF) of the grid. In the grid following configuration, the RoCoF must be evaluated in real-time, but measurement noise and delays make the real provided inertia deviate from the imposed one. This work aims to quantify the effects of measurement noise and delays on the synthetic inertia provided by a grid-following inverter equipped with a virtual hidden inertia emulator, connected to a wind farm. Both simulations and experimental tests exploiting a hardware prototype and a real-time simulator are carried out in different scenarios. • Synthetic inertia is essential in power grids with renewable energy sources. • Measurement noise and delays affect the real provided inertia. • These effects are quantified on a grid-following inverter, connected to a wind farm. • Experimental tests with a hardware prototype and a real-time simulator are done.