Review of Virtual Inertia Based on Synchronous Generator Characteristic Emulation in Renewable Energy-Dominated Power Systems
Fikri Waskito, F. Danang Wijaya, Eka Firmansyah
Abstract
The increasing integration of renewable energy sources is reshaping power systems from centralized, synchronous generator-based architectures to more inverter-dominated and decentralized architectures. This transition, however, results in a significant reduction in system inertia, posing challenges to frequency stability. To address this issue, various control strategies have been proposed to emulate the inertial response of traditional synchronous generators—commonly known as virtual inertia. This study reviews inverter-based virtual inertia and related control strategies that replicate or extend synchronous generator dynamics, covering five main approaches: droop control, synchronverters, virtual synchronous generators (VSGs), the swing equation-based approach, and data-driven grid-forming (GFM) methods. While all approaches enhance frequency nadir and RoCoF, they differ in complexity, robustness, and adaptability. Droop control offers simplicity but lacks true inertia support, whereas synchronverter and swing equation-based controls provide closer emulation of synchronous behavior for grid-forming or islanded systems. VSG offers a more practical grid-following solution, and data-driven GFM introduces adaptability through learning-based mechanisms. Overall, this study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of how these control strategies can be implemented through inverter control to maintain frequency stability in renewable-dominated power systems.