Grid-Forming Inverter (GFM)

In recent years, with the acceleration of decarbonization and the expanding integration of renewable energy, power grid operation has reached a major turning point. While solar and wind power generation are expanding rapidly worldwide, the proportion of traditional synchronous generators that have historically supported grid stability is declining.

To address this challenge, "Grid-Forming Inverters (GFM)" are attracting significant attention.

Traditional power grids have been built primarily around synchronous generators installed in thermal, hydro, and nuclear power plants.

In particular, the physical "inertia" possessed by the massive rotating mass of these generators has the effect of instantly suppressing frequency fluctuations (acting as a buffer) when sudden changes in load or power generation occur.

Most solar and wind power systems are connected to the power grid through power conversion systems (PCS) or inverters.

Because these systems lack a physical rotating mass directly synchronized with the grid (while wind turbines do rotate, they are electrically decoupled from the grid frequency by the inverter), they cannot provide sufficient inertia to the system.

Most inverters widely used today are classified as "Grid-Following Inverters (GFL)."

These inverters function as "current sources" that detect the voltage and frequency formed by the existing power grid and operate in synchronization with them.

Consequently, while they perform exceptionally well in environments with a stable power grid, they cannot form a grid on their own in the absence of a live grid or during large-scale blackouts.

In contrast, a Grid-Forming Inverter (GFM) is an inverter that operates as a "voltage source," capable of independently generating its own voltage waveform and frequency to serve as a reference for the power grid.

In recent years, control technologies such as Virtual Synchronous Generators (VSG) and Virtual Oscillator Control (VOC) have been actively researched and commercialized.

Grid-Forming Inverters (GFM) are primarily deployed in combination with energy storage systems in the following areas:

In the development of grid-forming inverters and BESS, testing environments capable of simulating various grid fluctuations and harsh conditions are indispensable.

In these testing and evaluation fields, high-precision DC power supplies, regenerative DC power supplies that minimize energy waste, and high-capacity bidirectional DC power supplies capable of two-way power control play a vital role.