An Inverter-Based Resource Hosting Capacity Method for Microgrids

There is no question microgrids have increasingly gained attention from customers, utilities, and academia. The conceptual premise is to increase reliability, enable greater renewable resource integration, and advance technology. This also results in a range of technical challenges that often stem from a mix of rotational base generation (often fossil-fuel-based) and inverter-based generators. Not always a battery energy storage system can be introduced immediately or eventually to stabilize the configuration, which can expose the system to instability in case the inverter-based generators experience a disturbance. If not managed appropriately, disturbances that affect the renewable generation plant can lead to an unintentional microgrid-wide blackout. This paper presents a general study addressing the amount of renewable generation that can be integrated in a microgrid configuration that does not include batteries (i.e., its hosting capacity) prior to experiencing severe frequency stability degradation.