Impact of Turbine Governor on Stability of Variable-Speed Pumped Storage Units with Full-Size Converter

The variable-speed pumped storage with full-size converter (FSC) technology, which can effectively provide services to a power grid and ensure the safe and stable operation of a power system, is one of the two mainstream variable-speed pumped storage technologies. In this paper, a simplified numerical simulation model for small disturbances of a system of a variable-speed pumped storage plant (VSPSP) with FSC under the power control strategy is built by applying MATLAB/Simulink. The state matrix of the system is derived, and a damping ratio is calculated to determine the stability region of turbine governor parameters. Numerical simulations of model power generation conditions are conducted to analyze the dynamic characteristics and investigate the impact of turbine governor parameters on system stability. The results demonstrate that, unlike conventional synchronous generators, under grid-connected conditions, inappropriate turbine governor parameters may still lead to governor instability in the system. This paper could contribute to a method for exploring the influence of parameters on the stability of VSPSPs with FSC.