Energy Storage Summit 2023

Grid Forming
Solutions
Friedrich Piontek-Helms, Head of Business Development Large Scale
SMA Solar Technology AG
SMA Solar Technology 1
London 22/02/2023
Disclaimer

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 Agenda

1 Company introduction

2 The need for grid forming solutions

3 Grid forming and other inverter control

modes

4 References & projects

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 1. SMA Company
Introduction

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 SMA = “energy transition company” and pioneer for
decarbonization solutions since 1981.

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SMA today
Key financials 2021 Guidance 2022

Sales: MEUR984 Sales: MEUR 975 to MEUR1,050

At a glance: EBITDA: MEUR9 EBITDA: MEUR 60 to MEUR 75

Inverter power sold: 13.6 GW
>120 GW of installed SMA More than 5 GW of SMA
solar inverter power battery inverter power
help to prevent almost 76 million ensure round-the-clock sustainable
tons of CO2 emissions per year in electricity supply worldwide and
over 190 countries and are proof make us a global leader in
of SMA‘s strong market position battery system technology.
over many years.

1,700 patents and 3,500 SMA employees

utility models are working with our partners
granted worldwide prove our and customers to pave the way
high innovative strength. for the energy supply of
tomorrow, today.
1.Calculation: 113 GW accumulated installed SMA inverter capacity x 1,512 kWh power generaton/ year/ kW x 0,475 kg
prevented CO2 emissions/ kWh

SMA Solar Technology Made in 6Germany

SMA = “Energy transition company in the power conversion
business”, operating in three segments and five energy sectors:

5 SECTORS
PV Storage Market e-Mobility P2G
Integration

Home
x
3 SEGMENTS

Commercial &
Industrial x
Large Scale
x H2 Focus for today

Core Growth No focus

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Large scale product portfolio offering: Power Conversion
Systems for different applications…

H2

Solar Power Plants Storage Hybrid Plants Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer

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 Large scale product portfolio offering: Power Conversion
Systems for different applications…

H2

Solar Power Plants Storage Hybrid Plants Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer

Decentral Inverters Central Inverters & 20” Power Station

DC/DC Converter 40” Power Station for
& Converters Converters for all applications
Electrolyzers
(MVPS)
COMPONENTS SYSTEMS

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 2. Where does the need
for grid forming solutions
come from?

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A) Solar power, storage systems and digitalization are
revolutionizing the world of energy.

Decentralized solar power is becoming increasingly cost-effective. Storage systems and digital solutions balance out generation and
consumption, and enable households and businesses to share their electricity with other consumers.

Solar has become cheapest Annual growth in PV installations Storage systems compensate
way to generate power1 is set to increase further2 for fluctuations3
Global electricity generation costs Annual growth in PV installations Cumulative global storage capacity
$/MWh GW/a GWh
400 Wind 750 500
Gas 300-630
Coal 400
Solar 500
300
200
200
250 200-225
138
100

0 0 0
2010 2020 2030 2020 2025p 2030p 2020 2025 2030p

1.Bloomberg: “Solar Could Beat Coal to Become the Cheapest Power on Earth”, 2.SMA Market Model Q2-2021, IEA Sustainable Development Scenario (dark blue) 3.BNEF Energy Storage Outlook 2019: Global market small and utility scale batteries
January 3, 2017 and SMA estimates and Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (shaded blue); p - prelim. projections (dark blue); IHS, Feb. 2021: Global Electrolyzer Market (cumulative installed
SMA Solar Technology capacity in GW; light blue) 11
 B) Energy generation transformation: increasing RES with
decreasing share of rotating masses to provide grid stability.

Chart für 2020-2040 für Weltregionen

Renewable Zubau
>60% of
electricity
generation from
Inverter-Based
Resources (IBR)

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C) Increasing probability of critical grid events globally.

Europe Texas

2006, November 4th

Emsland system split
2021, February 15th

2021, January 8th Rolling blackouts in the ERCOT grid

Southeast Europe system due to unusual cold weather
split conditions, non winterized gas
plants in southern states and missing
2021, July 24th grid interconnections.
Fire induced system split
of Iberian Peninsula

Sources: ENTSOE; Energy Information Administration ERCOT

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Why the need for Grid Forming Inverters?

- Increasing share of inverter-based generation from RES.

- While generation on all levels of the power grid + increasing transits on
distribution / transmission lines.
- Phase-out: Decreasing availability of conventional generation with their
inherent provision of ancillary services and grid stability measures (rotating
mass, frequency control, reactive power provision, …).
- Increasing number of critical grid events / system splits.

 Increasing need for GRID STABILITY, especially in power grids with high RES
share and phase-out of conventional power plants.

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Grid Forming inverters can contribute to…

ANGLE VOLTAGE FREQUENCY

STABILITY
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 3. Different types of
inverter control modes

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 What different types of inverter control modes are there?
Grid Following vs. Grid Supporting vs. Grid Forming
0% 20%…30% INVERTER PENETRATION 60%…70% 100%

Grid Following Grid Supporting Grid Forming

PAST PRESENT FUTURE: Today / Tomorrow

 Maximum energy yield due to highest  Increase of connected RES capacity by grid-  Enables 100% renewable penetration by
Aim

Aim

Aim
possible active power feed-in friendly active & reactice power contribution voltage and frequency provision & stabilization

 Current source behavior  Current source behavior  Voltage source behavior

Control Tasks

Control Tasks

Control Tasks
 Synchronization to U + MPP operation  Synchronization to U + MPP tracking  Independent U & f provision
 Acts as „negative load“ to grid  Stabilizing P & Q adaption to stationary & (in harmony with other U & I sources)
 P limitation for own protection only transient grid conditions or per remote control  P & Q results automatically & with same priority
 P priority over Q (with Q≅0)  Q has priority over P in extreme cases  Ideal for support of system strength (SCR↑)
Disadvantages

Disadvantages

Disadvantages
 Challenges in weak grids (SCR↓)  Challenges in very weak grids (SCR↓)  Challenges in very strong grids (decoupling)
 Depends on an available grid voltage  Depends on available voltage source (or grid)  Appropriate overload protection necessary
 Uncontrolled influence on U & f stability in weak  Possible loss of earnings due to Q provision  Stabilization contradicts max. energy yield
grids or P reduction for grid stabilization (unless appropriate storage & control solutions
are used)

Grid Supporting  Ideal for power & energy applications in strong grids with high system strength.
Grid Forming  Ideal for stabilizing weaker grids + for applications which technically require GFM (inertia, blackstart, …).
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Knobloch, A. et al: “Grid stabilizing control systems for battery storage in inverter-dominated island and public electricity grids”, 13th ETG/ GMA-
Symposium on Energy Transition in Power Supply – System Stability and System Security , Berlin, 2019
Overview: SMA Grid Services, with and w/o Grid Forming:
Grid Service Capability

Inertia

System
STATCOM
Strength (SCL)

Fast Fault
Islanding
Current

System
Secondary
Restoration
Reserve
(Blackstart)

Fast
Frequency
Reserve
only with Grid Forming

No Grid Forming needed but possible

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Key message 1: Differences between a Grid Following (GFL) and
a Grid Forming (GFM) inverter in a nutshell:

Source: 50Hertz Transmission GmbH

„After 1 second you can’t differentiate a GFL from a GFM inverter.“ 50Hertz Transmission GmbH
„But the first 100ms make all the difference in case of a fault/system split/blackout.“ SMA Solar Technology AG
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Invitation to deep dive and discuss at our booth: “Inertia (transient) is NOT a
fast version of primary frequency control based on a droop controller (static)!”

U1∠ϑ1
Grid Forming Droop Control U2∠ϑ2 Grid Forming Inertia Control
ΔU
Δϑ
I

ϕ1 ϕ2

DISTURBANCE

STATIC
RESPONSE

TRANSIENT
RESPONSE

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 Key message 2: SMA has over 20 years of experience with
inverter-based Grid Forming solutions.

Sunny Island 4500 X60/X61 Sunny Island 5048 MSA125 Sunny Island 8.0H Sunny Central Storage

2000 2005 2007 2017

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 4. References &
Projects

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Utility-Scale PV Power Plant – Australia, 2018
Karadoc Solar Farm – 112 MW PV (Grid Following)

The Karadoc Solar Farm in Victoria was built

by BayWa. The company is also going to take
on operation of the farm. 19 Medium Voltage
Power Station ensure smooth solar power
production in the 112MW project.
Part of the energy generated here is consumed
by the Australian brewery Carlton & United
Breweries. In the future, it wants to supply all its
power from renewable energy sources. To this
end, it procures around 74,000 gigawatt
hours of solar power from the PV power plant
every year.

Project Plant information SMA System Technology

• Location: Victoria, Australia • Nominal power: 112 MWp • 19 MVPS 5000SC-EV
• Commissioning: December 2018 • 1 Power Plant Controller

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Utility-Scale PV Power plant – Chile , 2015
Luz del Norte– 137 MW PV (Grid Following -> Grid Supporting)

The Luz del Norte PV power plant was

installed in the driest desert of the world and
has to withstand the extreme climate conditions
there. Luz del Norte is the largest PV power
plant in Chile and also the largest in South
America.
The PV power plant features 172 Sunny
Central inverters converting the DC current
from more than 1.7 million thin film modules
into AC current. The energy produced there is
enough to supply 174,000 households.

Project Plant information SMA System Technology

• Location: Atacama desert, 58 km from • Inverter power installed: 137.6 MVp • 172 SMA Sunny Central 800CP-XT
Copiapó • CO2 reduction: more than 185,000 tons/year • 1.7 million thin film PV modules from First Solar
• Commissioned: 2015 • Area: 478 ha
• Challenges: desert climate

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Hybrid Energy System – NL Antilles, 2017
Large-Scale Island Electrification, St. Eustatius – 5MW (Grid Forming)

Today, solar energy covers 46% of St.

Eustatius’ total electricity need. Grid forming
SCS 2200 inverters allow to operate the island
grid for 10.5 hours in Diesel Off-Mode
operation with 100% Solar Power Fraction. In
total a 5.9MWh Li-Ion storage facility has
been integrated for energy shifting and grid
services. Thanks to the SMA Solution, about
4,560 tons CO2 per year can be saved. The
project has been designed and implemented
by the SMA Sunbelt Energy GmbH.

Project “St. Eustatius Phase 1+2” Plant information SMA System Technology
• Location: St. Eustatius, Caribbean • Installed PV power: 4.15 MWp • Battery: 2 x SCS 2200 grid forming in 2 x
• Commissioning: November 2017 • Installed storage capacity: 5.9 MWh MVPS 2200 and 1 x SCS 1000 in MVPS
• Requirements: grid forming • Diesel capacity: 4 MVA 1000
inverters, overall power and • Annual energy yield: 6,400 MWh • PV: 2 x SC CP XT1000 in 1 x MVPS 2000 and
energy management system • Annual diesel savings: > 1,700,000 liters 74 SMA Sunny Tripower 25000TL-30
• Island load: ~2 MW

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Energy Storage Application – Germany, 2019
Bordesholm - 15 MW (Grid Forming)

Project Plant information SMA System Technology Made possible with a storage system from SMA,
Bordesholm became the first ever town in Germanyto
• Location: Bordesholm, Germany • Storage power: 15 MWh • 7 SMA Sunny Central Storage be disconnected from the utility grid and supplied
• Commissioning: May, 2019 • The storage system supplies primary control battery inverters exclusively with renewable energy (solar, wind,
• Partners: Renewable Energy Systems energy or energy for intraday trading or direct • 1 SMA Hybrid Controller biomass) for an hour, before being discreetly
(RES), Versorgungsbetriebe marketing. In addition, it secures the power • Battery storage with 48,000 reconnected to the transmission line.
Bordesholm (VBB) supply in the event of power outages. Samsung SDI cells
In addition to a grid formation function, the SMA battery
inverters are also equipped with an optional “black
start” function, which allows the entire electricity supply
to be restarted aftera power outage.
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26
Energy Storage Application – Australia, 2021
Torrens Island Power Station – 250 MW (Grid Forming)

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AGL begins process of powering up Torrens Island battery, biggest in South Australia | RenewEconomy
Storage Application – United Kingdom, 2017
Pelham Storage Plant – 64 MVA Frequency Control (Grid Supporting)

The Pelham Storage project was the largest

battery project in Europe in a single location at
that time.
The complete project timeline from contract
signature till commissioning was reached within
5.5 months.
The main applications of the project are the
capacity market and to deliver frequency
response services, but it also features other
applications like Triads management and
reactive power provision.

Project Plant Information SMA System Technology

• Location: Berden, Bishop’s Stortford, UK • Installed battery power: 64 MVA • 26 SMA Sunny Central Storage 2475 with
• Commissioning: November 2017 • Installed battery storage: 50 MWh of Li-Ion noise reduction packages
NMC batteries for frequency regulation • 26 Medium Voltage Block 2475
• Batteries installed in customized containers • 7 Customized SMA E-houses
• Connected at 132 kV • 1 SMA Plant Controller

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UK Stability Pathfinder Phase 2 (Scotland)
Tender results
224 projects proposals
10 winners
____ 5 projects Grid Forming Battery
____ 5 projects Synchronous Condenser
Source National Grid ESO

6.7 GVAs INERTIA 11.5 GVA SCL ANNUAL COST

BESS SynCon BESS SynCon BESS SynCon

21% 19%
35%

65%
79%
81%

SMA Solar Technology Shares derived from Tender Results from 29

Source National Grid ESO
16th February 2023, Zenobe Energy Ltd. announcement:

SMA to provide its large scale battery inverter (Sunny Central Storage) as a part of their
system offering “Medium Voltage Power Station” (MVPS). Thereby enabling the planned
grid forming battery for the provision of inertia, SCL and blackstart.
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 In 2023 SMA is building a second giga-factory at HQ in Germany, mainly
for boosting the large scale product-portfolio capacities.

Almost doubling today’s production capacity to

40GW/a = Our commitment to being an “energy
transition company” with solutions for solar,
storage, e-Mobility, P2G and grid integration.

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Thank you SMA Solar Technology AG

for your Friedrich Piontek-Helms

Head of Business Development

attention!
Large Scale

Sonnenallee 1
34266 Niestetal, Germany
Tel. +49 561 9522 - 423 791
SMA.de

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