Comparative Analysis of Grid-forming Controls Impact on Stability of Energy Islands

Energy Island (EI) is proposed as a solution to increase the penetration of offshore wind energy. Being a fully converter-based system, new challenges arise regarding their stable operation. This paper investigates the effects of the two most common grid-forming (GFM) controls on the stability of such a system. To ensure the stable operation of the EI, a minimum required number of converters to operate in GFM control mode is determined. Simulations are performed in MATLAB/Simulink using a test system replicating an EI. The results show the stability of EI varies depending on the specific GFM control (whether a cascaded current control loop is used or not).