Internal-Model-Control-Based Virtual Admittance Emulation for Enhanced Grid-Forming Performance

Abstract

The large-scale integration of renewable energy into electrical power systems places a growing reliance on grid-forming converters (GFMs) to overcome critical stability and control hurdles. By emulating a slowly varying voltage source behind a tunable resistive?inductive impedance, GFMs enable precise setpoint tracking and vital grid support. In this regard, virtual admittance (VA)-based inner-loop control provides exceptional flexibility in shaping the converter's small-signal immittance at connection terminals, allowing for advanced GFM functionalities. This article addresses a novel internal-model-control-based VA approach, which inherently accounts for the effects of the inner current-control loop and the voltage feedforward. Unlike the state-of-the-art VA control, the proposed VA control ensures that, at frequencies outside the influence of outer loops, the converter's terminal admittance closely matches the target admittance, which is shown to be relevant for stability. It is revealed how, with the state-of-the art VA control, a small-signal instability in the harmonic range may arise if a low-pass filter with a high cut-off frequency is used for the voltage feedforward. However, the proposed VA control ensures stable operation regardless of this cut-off frequency. The methodology is experimentally validated using a laboratory prototype that features three-phase voltage-source converters.