On 26 October, the Australian Power Quality and Reliability Centre (APQRC) hosted an online workshop, to present the final outcomes of the Investigation of the Impact and Management of Harmonic Distortion for Large Renewable Generators project which was supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) along with 8 industry partners. The workshop was a huge success, with over 125 attendees. Guests heard from APQRC speakers Jason David, Research Fellow, Sean Elphick, Research Coordinator, and Duane Robinson, Director about harmonic distortion in power systems.
Harmonic distortion is a topic of growing interest and importance due to the ongoing connection of renewable energy generation in Australian power grids. Existing practices for managing harmonic distortion is complex and can be shown to lead to inefficient solutions. Such inefficiencies are capable of increasing capital costs and slowing down the connection of renewable energy assets into the power system. Therefore, this research is of great concern to Australian Distribution Network Service Providers, renewable energy advocates and consumers alike.
The workshop provided a detailed overview of the APQRC’s project findings in collaboration with ARENA, regarding:
- Harmonic distortion trends throughout Australia and internationally
- Harmonic emission limit allocation procedures and the impacts of renewable energy generators
- Suitable and practical considerations for harmonic allocation in systems with high penetration of renewable energy
- Harmonic source aggregation and impacts of emission diversity
- Revised mitigation strategies
- Introductory evaluation of compliance assessment