Webinar Recording: Advances in IBR Plant Frequency Regulation

In this concise and informative webinar, Mahesh Morjaria, Ph.D. (EVP, Operational Technology at Terabase Energy), shares his expertise on the advancements in frequency regulation capabilities of solar power plants, a type of Inverter-Based Resource (IBR). Drawing from his extensive experience at First Solar, Morjaria highlights how utility-scale solar PV can provide essential grid stability, reliability, and flexibility services traditionally supplied by conventional generation. Through real-world examples and pioneering studies, he demonstrates the significant role smart power plant controllers play in enabling solar plants to deliver fast and accurate frequency response, participate in ancillary service markets, and support high renewable penetration grids.

Key Takeaways:

1. Solar PV plants equipped with smart power plant controllers can provide essential reliability services, such as voltage regulation, active power control, fault ride-through, and primary frequency response, making them grid-friendly resources.
2. In a groundbreaking demonstration with California ISO and NREL, a 300 MW First Solar PV plant exhibited highly accurate and fast-responding frequency regulation, outperforming conventional generation by 27 percentage points when following Automatic Generation Control (AGC) signals.
3. Treating solar PV as a flexible resource capable of providing regulation reserves can significantly reduce solar curtailment, lower system operating costs, and create additional value in high-renewable penetration scenarios, as proven by simulation studies.
4. The new IEEE P2800 standard for IBR interconnection establishes minimum performance requirements for frequency response, including Fast Frequency Response (FFR) to counter the impact of declining system inertia. Solar PV plants with power reserves can rapidly increase output in response to frequency deviations.