Reactive Power Compensation from Single-Phase Low Voltage Inverter Based Resources to Improve Voltage Stability in the Australian Power System

The energy landscape in Australia is undergoing a significant transformation, characterized by the growing adoption of consumer energy resources (CER), particularly rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and the retirement of traditional synchronous generators in favour of grid-scale inverter-based resources (IBR) such as wind and solar. This transition brings about fundamental changes to the operation of the Australian power system, with system strength emerging as a critical concern. While synchronous generators are inherently a strong source of system strength, IBR, by contrast, are a weaker source that require external compensation. As the retirement of synchronous generators progresses, Australia is beginning to witness system strength issues, resulting in the need for network operators to procure costly compensation services. This paper investigates the potential of single-phase CER, prevalent in many Australian households, to provide compensation. If proven successful, this will replace the need for some amount of costly compensation, reducing the energy bills of the end consumer. To test this, a single-phase CER model was developed in PSCAD/EMTDC, to provide compensation during a disturbance. Results show that the proposed reactive power injection scheme provides marginally better results than the Volt-VAr characteristics in AS/NZS 4777.2:2020, and is significantly more effective than a case with no compensation.