Blackstart and Restoration of 100% Renewable Power Systems with Grid Forming Converters

Blackstart (BS) is one of the most challenging processes in power system operations planning. The availability of resources, determining the order of element energization while adhering to the grid's operational constraints, makes this problem extremely complex. This task can become even more daunting in the future, where the majority of the available generation will be converter-based. In this work, we demonstrate the energization process of the IEEE 14-bus system with 100% renewable penetration, by utilizing grid-forming converter-enabled PhotoVoltaic (PV) plants. This work demonstrates a BS sequence, driven by grid-forming enabled PV plants in a network comprised of passive/motor loads and a grid-following plant. The utilized system is implemented in PSCAD. The focus of this work is to highlight the most impactful steps of this process and demonstrate that the utilized controls keep the system within acceptable operational bounds. In addition, the impact of droop control tuning on synchronization and frequency response is discussed and finally, the transient stability and voltage ride-through capability of the system following a severe fault is presented.