Synchronous Rotating Equipment as Backbone for Renewables

The application of electric power generation based on renewable energy sources continues to grow worldwide. Future targets for most power producers include carbon free, zero emission energy systems. The operational demands placed on conventional power plants are also changing due to the increased use of highly-variable renewable energy sources. Their role is shifting more and more from base load power supply with slow and predictable power change gradients towards "back-up power plants", what need to support high flexible operating demands. Currently conventional power generation plants play a vital and necessary role in the power generation landscape. This paper discusses several new operating requirements and innovative configurations for convention power generation plants to support the large scale renewables integration as well as synchronously rotating equipment's contributions to ancillary grid services required for grid stability and security. Finally a technical comparison of various technologies with regard to their grid service capabilities is discussed too.