Impact of FCAS Market Rules on Australia's National Electricity Market Dynamic Stability

Small governor deadbands on synchronous generators assist in maintaining power system stability by facilitating a fast primary control action. However, Australia's fleet of synchronous machines currently employ large governor deadband settings which has coincided with a deterioration in frequency control, threatening system security and reliability. An augmented 14-generator east Australian model is developed and used in a case study examining the effect on power system stability with a range of governor deadband settings and the impact of market operation on frequency control. The reintroduction of tight governor control is recommended to restore fast primary control action (hence system stability) which cannot be achieved using market principles.