A Practical Comparison of Two Algorithms for Inverter Control with Virtual Inertia Emulation

Renewable energy sources are environmentally appealing in electrical power grids. However, distributed energy resources (DER) are typically connected to the grid through converters that do not have the same properties as synchronous generators which have high participation in power generation. Some of these properties like inertial response are important and must not be lost with higher DER penetration. The present paper analyses two converter control algorithms that are capable of emulating inertial response in DER: the Virtual Synchronous Generator control (VSG) and the Synchronverter. Both algorithms are described, implemented and tested in a practical experiment and a comparison of both algorithms is assessed in terms of frequency nadir achieved, settling time and implementation complexity. The findings can give useful insights to help decide which algorithm should be implemented in a future real application.