Analysis and comparison of national and international validation methods to assess the quality of DG simulation models

Abstract:
Replacing conventional thermal power plants with distributed generation (DG) requires reliable and sufficiently accurate simulation models, to make grid calculation and assessment of stability possible. Validation procedures like provided in the german FGW TR4 or in the international standard IEC 61400-27-1 shall ensure a quick yet fair evaluation of manufacturer specific models in that respect. In this work, it is assessed how the validaton procedures in both standards compare. For this, first a short overview is provided, which is followed by the analysis of similarities and differences in the procedures. Attention is invited to the fact, that the IEC standard does not provide any tolerances, leaving this to the national authorities (i.e. the lawgiver) or ultimately to the parties responsible for the reliability of the public energy supply (i.e. TSOs and DSOs). To inform the search for adequate tolerances, a rough estimate for TR4 equivalent limits is provided. While an in-depth analysis of feasible limits for the IEC validation procedure is left to Future work, some recommendations to improve validation procedures in general are given.