Influence of Governor Deadbands on Power Grids with High Renewable Penetration

Governor deadbands are essential for maintaining power system stability. The Australian power system utilizes large governor deadband settings across its fleet of synchronous generators, which is atypical compared to other international 50 Hz power systems. In this paper, the effect of governor deadband settings is investigated for the Australian system under the influence of different levels of renewable power penetration. Frequency studies facilitated by the use of a renewable-integrated, reduced-order, hybrid model demonstrate the significant impact governor deadbands have on system frequency. Renewable power penetration and the nature and location of active power imbalance have less impact on the system's frequency distribution. For hybrid power systems such as Australia's, implementation of small governor deadbands is recommended to improve system frequency regulation.