Primary Frequency Control in the Power System of Continental Europe including the Dynamics of the HVDC Link France-Great Britain

The paper presents a study of primary frequency control within the power system of Continental Europe (CE) including the dynamics of the high voltage direct current (HVDC) link between France and Great Britain (GB). The large-scale dynamic model of the CE system originally provided by ENTSO-E is extended with a more detailed representation of the whole HVDC interconnection. The dynamics of the GB synchronous area is also considered in the analysis, implementing a system equivalent suitable for primary frequency control studies. The opportunity of frequency containment reserve exchange between the two areas through the link is also investigated, considering supplementary frequency controls within the HVDC control system, namely synthetic inertia and fast frequency response. The overall system is then simulated in two different scenarios: a base case of all synchronous generation, and a reduced inertia scenario with the introduction of a given amount of non-synchronous generation share. The reference incident for the CE system of 3 GW loss is considered for the analysis. The specific effects on the frequency dynamics of the system in the different operating conditions are illustrated and discussed.