INERTIA, A CHALLENGE FOR THE TRANSITION OF THE NATIONAL POWER SYSTEM OF ROMANIA

Abstract: Starting from the latest findings in Europe and Australia with regard to the importance of inertia in power systems in which Invertor Based Resources/Power Park Modules gradually but rapidly replace Synchronous Power Generating Modules with Grid Forming Capabilities, authors discuss the implications for the Romanian power sector. The policy options for procuring inertia in Romania are discussed with pro and con arguments. Romania belongs to the South-Eastern part of the Continental Europe Synchronous Area that had difficulties to restore frequency upon the system split of 08.01.2021. Since that incident other power systems connected to such region, with war strikes likely to bring additional disruptions. It is essential that the inertia in the Romanian power system be measured often if not continuously with close attention to regions that have different characteristics of the power generation parks and relatively weak interconnections. Given the Romanian power system and market characteristics authors recommend creation of an inertia market using lessons learned from countries like Germany, UK, Ireland, Australia.