Synchronisation of the power systems of Ukraine and Moldova with the power association of countries from Continental Europe is possible, this is a key conclusion of the studies conducted by the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) within preparation for the integration of Ukraine’s power system into the European grid, scheduled for 2023.
Other than investigating the possibility of synchronisation, the research aimed at identifying possible technical obstacles to synchronisation and countermeasures to eliminate them.
The studies were preceded by significant work performed by Ukraine’s TSO Ukrenergo during 2019-2020. In particular, from the steady-state stability point of view, synchronous interconnection should be possible without any reinforcements or additional infrastructure.
A possible obstacle identified are the weakly damped low-frequency inter-area oscillations occurring during summer off-peaks. In this regard, the Consortium identified a combination of countermeasures necessary for implementation, including the retuning of the existing power system stabilisers, the retuning of existing excitation systems at nuclear power plant (NPP) units and the installation of compensating devices at the facilities of the Integrated Power System (IPS) of Ukraine.
The next step to be taken in the framework of integration of Ukraine and Moldova into ENTSO-E is to conduct system tests of the Ukraine/Moldova control block in an isolated mode, independently of the power systems of Russia, Belarus and ENTSO-E.
