Volts How inverters can stabilize a renewables-heavy grid
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Sep 5, 2025 Daniel Duckwitz from SMA Solar Technology, and Katerina Augusto, a renewable energy engineer with Solar Power Europe, dive into the crucial role of inverters in stabilizing modern electricity grids. They discuss the shift from traditional fossil fuels to inverter-based resources like solar and wind. The conversation covers the concept of grid-forming versus grid-following inverters, the advantages of synthetic inertia, and the need for robust policies to support these vital technologies. They also touch on real-world examples of successful grid stabilization efforts.
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Why Inertia Matters
- Inertia from spinning masses acts as a millisecond shock absorber that stabilizes frequency when supply and demand suddenly mismatch.
- Replacing those machines with inverters removes that inherent buffer unless we emulate it electronically.
Inverters Can Emulate Inertia
- Modern inverters can mimic spinning masses by injecting or absorbing energy in milliseconds, providing synthetic inertia.
- Batteries are especially suited to this because they can rapidly supply or absorb power under inverter control.
Grid-Following Versus Grid-Forming
- Grid-following inverters observe and sync to grid voltage and frequency, so they cannot create the grid's reference waveform themselves.
- Grid-forming inverters instead make the voltage and frequency, acting as a stiff voltage source that other devices sync to instantly.