Renewable energy as dominant power source and its grid integration: Considerations and empirical study

The rapid development of wind and photovoltaics (PV) has gradually become the dominant power sources in the new power system in terms of installed capacity. However, renewable energy has yet to fully assume the responsibilities of dominant power source. Therefore, this article points out that self-synchronous voltage source grid-forming technology is a feasible technical pathway for developing dominant power-type renewable energy generation equipment. A systematic review is conducted on key technologies, including grid-forming control, active frequency response, transient voltage support, and grid adaptability. The concept, composition, technical specifications, and critical challenges of dominant power-type renewable energy plants are proposed, forming a comprehensive technical framework that integrates power generation units, energy storage, and system-level control. The Ganhekou dominant power-type wind farm in Gansu and the Nileke dominant power-type PV plant in Xinjiang were implemented and comprehensively tested, validating the technical feasibility and economic viability of this approach. All of the evidence above proves that it is an economically feasible way to construct the new power system by having the dominant power-type wind farms/PV plants to undertake the transient power balance of power system, by having the power market and demand response to reshape the load characteristics, and by having various types of energy storage and wide-range conventional units to realize the power electricity balance.