CSIRO GPST Stage 5: System Restoration and Black Start

Power systems are transitioning from conventional synchronous generation to renewable energy generation connected to the grid through inverters. Increasing penetration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) not only reduces grid inertia but also results in weaker grids. This increases the likelihood of blackouts, which may become inevitable especially in the transition period. To improve power system resilience, we need fast and robust restoration strategies. This proposal addresses these challenges by enhancing black-start capabilities explicitly under weak-grid scenarios within Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM), with the aim of validating new methods and procedures experimentally using real-world data, realistic scenarios, advanced testbeds, and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) methodologies. The project is designed to focus on both system current conditions and anticipated future scenarios within the NEM, ensuring adequate black-start readiness in response to blackout events. The outcomes will assist industry stakeholders, including AEMO, in establishing robust and adaptive procedures for system restoration following blackouts. These procedures will be developed for the evolving NEM, based on Integrated System Plan (ISP) scenarios, including those in which the system is fully powered by IBRs. The main objectives of our proposed research activities include assessing the self-start capability of Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) as System Restart Ancillary Service (SRAS) sources, evaluating the dynamic behaviour of critical system elements during restoration, developing innovative solutions that address both technical and regulatory requirements, and validating these solutions using testbeds and HiL platforms, alongside EMT dynamic simulations on realistic scenarios.