Black-start capability of PV power plants through a grid-forming control based on reactive power synchronization

Power system restoration is a critical process for any power system. As synchronous generators are being replaced by power electronic converters used in renewable energy generation, the contribution of renewable energy power plants to power system restoration (PSR) after a black-out is becoming more relevant, the so-called black start capability. Existing solutions for providing black start capability to photovoltaic (PV) power plants rely on the use of energy storage systems (ESS) in a hybrid PV plant. In contrast, this paper proposes a solution for the contribution of PV power plants to the PSR that allows a completely autonomous black start process. Reactive power synchronization is used for controlling the PV inverters as virtual synchronous generators (VSG), providing grid-forming control and ensuring synchronism. During the black start process, the PV power is regulated to match the demand using a decentralized solution to share the load between multiple PV inverters. The solution has been validated to handle the most critical situations during the black start process such as the variation on the power source, i.e. irradiance, or on the supplied load and the connection to the main grid. ; This paper was supported by the Spanish Research Agency under project reference PID2019-106028RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011 033.