ASPECTS OF PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANT INTEGRATION IN THE

ROMANIAN POWER SYSTEM

BANU IOAN VIOREL
*
, ISTRATE MARCEL, MACHIDON DRAGOS,
PANTELIMON RAZVAN

Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Bd. Dimitrie Mangeron 67, Iasi, 700050,
Romania


Abstract: The photovoltaic (PV) generation in Romania as an important source of
distributed generation (DG) is just at the beginning. Some theoretical aspects regarding
integration of Photovoltaic Power Plants (PVPP) in the Romanian Power System (RPS) are
analyzed in the paper. In this context, the status and current trends of grid-connected PV
arrays, as well as the technical requirements for PVPP and the regulations from the
Romanian legislation are presented.


Keywords: renewable energy sources, solar energy, photovoltaic generation, photovoltaic
power plants, grid requirements



1. INTRODUCTION

The conditions for support schemes of large-scale grid integration of photovoltaic (PV) systems in Romania are
favorable. The legal environment for such support schemes was improved in 2012. Government support for
renewable energy production is expected to decline in the next years. The legal support to encourage small-scale
deployments of PV systems is still pending. If the approval process is not expedited, the market can become
overheated [1]. The electricity produced from renewable energy sources (E-RES), including PV arrays, plays an
increasing role in Europes electricity system and present a challenge for the grid operators [2]. 31.1GW of PV
capacity was installed around the world in 2012, whereas in 2011 were installed only 30.4GW. 17.2GW of PV
capacity was connected to Europes grid in 2012, compared to 22.4GW in 2011. The decline of relevant
European PV markets in 2012 hides various realities at national level. The market evolution was different from
one country to another. Romania has still untapped potential in this area. In 2012, the Romanian market brought
only 26MW in the power system. As many analysts have predicted this market grew in 2013 [1]. The
decentralized PV electricity can be produced close to the location where it is needed. Furthermore, PV
generation has a strong seasonal correlation and also an average daily correlation with wind generation. Together
these two energy sources can provide up to 45% of Europes electricity needs in 2030 if exploited properly.
When the PV and the wind generations are used together (considering from a Europe-wide perspective rather
than a local or national one), they provide realistic solutions to the technical challenges involved in the
integration of this large share of renewable electricity into the power grids [2]. Limiting factors of PV
penetration into the power grids are the increasingly stringent grid requirements imposed by grid operators
aiming to maintain grid stability [3].

This paper presents some aspects of the PV systems integration in the Romanian Power System (RPS). The PV
potential and the Romanian support mechanisms, as well as the grid requirements for PVPP according to the
recent grid codes are covered. The paper is structured as following: Section 2 shows the solar potential and the
installed PV capacity in Romania; the legal and regulatory framework for PV in Romania is presented in Section

*
Corresponding author, email ibanu86@yahoo.com
3; in section 4 the grid requirements for PVPP in Romania are given; Section 5 outlines the major conclusions of
this paper.


2. SOLAR POTENTIAL AND INSTALLED PV CAPACITY IN ROMANIA

Romania has significant PV electricity potential. In the next years, PV power generation would be an important
part of the electricity production in Romania. The level of solar irradiation in Southern Romania, which covers
more than half of the countrys surface, is similar to the one of countries with tradition in developing PV projects
[4]. The capacity of solar energy in Romania is predicted to reach 1.2TWh by 2020. Currently the power
installed is a little bit lower than 2GWh. Romania estimated to have an important solar energy potential in
Europe, by ranking on 11th place in the 30 EU countries as global yearly irradiation from horizontal and
optimum angle for vertical mounting [5]. The solar map of Romania [6, 7] with yearly sum of global irradiation
and solar electricity potential on optimally inclined surface of PV modules is depicted in Figure 1. The data
values are given in kWh/m
2
.


Fig.1. Solar radiation and PV electricity potential of Romania *Source PVGIS European Union, 2001-2012.

The map of Power Transmission Grid (PTG) and PVPP commissioned in Romania at 02/18/2014 with the data
from 01/31/2014 is given in Figure 3 [11]. Due to the large number of PVPP from 01/01/2014, the map shows
only the PVPP commissioned (put into operation) that are authorized by National Authority of Regulation in the
field of Energy (ANRE). Each locality shows the sum of all commissioned power plants, containing PVPV
commissioned according to National Power Dispatcher (NPD) and PVPP connected to the power distribution
network (PDN). The current status of PVPP projects is given in Table 1 [11].

Table 1. Current status of PVPP projects
TOTAL (MW) PTG (MW) PDN (MW)
With technical connection approval 2245.032 193.6 2051.432
With connection contract 2957.491 93.798 2863.693
OVERALL TOTAL 5202.531 287.398 4915.125
From which commissioned according to NPD 859.638 24.562 835.076
Additional commissioned according to issuers 174.523 0.6 173.923

Fig.3. The map of PTG and PVPP in Romania.

The total installed capacity of E-RES from certified production units (wind, hydropower <10MW, biomass and
solar PV) at the end of 2010, 2011 and 2012 is 520.4MW, 1134.3MW, and respectively 2327.76MW of which
2028.7MW with production license and 299MW with establishment and operation authorizations (Figure 2).
During the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, the installed capacity of E-RES production units is 113.4MW, 597.6MW
and respectively 1072.83MW [8, 9, 10]. The number of E-RES producers in 2012 increased from the previous
years. At the end of 2012, 147 E-RES producers were licensed by ANRE, from which 41 are PV producers [10].


Fig.2. The total installed capacity of E-RES, in Romania in 2010, 2011 and respectively in 2012.


3. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR PHOTOVOLTAICS IN ROMANIA

Comparing to other European states, Romania offers not only similar weather conditions, but a more attractive
support scheme, as well as economic stability, very skilled technical personnel and in general a friendly business
environment. Among European Economic Area (EEA) countries, Romania is one of the most promising
emerging markets for PV energy investments. With the introduction of support mechanisms in the law in 2008
and the subsequent amendments in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Romanian PV energy market will significantly grow in
next years. The cumulative PV installed capacity of Romania in 2012 was only 29MWp, and it was expected to
reach several hundred MWp at the end of 2013 [4].

In Romania, the PVPPs have priority access to the electric grid and there are simplified connection procedures.
In Romania a compulsory quota system combined with Tradable Green Certificate (TGC) is active for the
promotion of E-RES. The TGC system has been introduced with the Government Decision (GD) no. 1892/2004
[12] of the Romanian Government [4, 13]. The main legal framework for (renewable energy sources) RES
development in Romania is the Electricity Law [14]. The Electricity Law established ways to promote electricity
produced from RES and the rights and obligations of the persons involved [13]. The Parliament passed the Law
no. 220/2008 [15] in order to improve the promotion system of E- RES. The Law no. 220/2008 creates the legal
framework for the implementation of the mechanisms to promote of E-RES. Through the adoption of the GD no.
1479/2009 [16], the Government of Romania decided to implement the combination of compulsory quota
combined with the trading of green certificate (GC) instead of the mechanism of feed in tariffs [4] as
promotion mechanism of E-RES. As stipulated by [15], after the E-RES producers received from Romanian
Energy Market Regulator (ANRE) the license to produce electric energy, they must request also from ANRE to
be qualified as beneficiaries of the promotion system of GC. In order to receive GCs, the next step is the register
of E-RES producers at the transmission system operator (TSO). The E-RES producers will receive monthly from
TSO a number of GC according to the type of RES and to the amount of electricity provided to the electricity
supplier or/and to the final consumer [4]. As stipulated by Law no. 220/2008, modified by Law no. 139/2010
[17], the energy generated by E-RES producers may be provided using the national grid system or through an
isolated grid system [4]. The functioning of the GC system in Romania is depicted in Figure 4 [8, 9, 18].


Fig.4. The structure of the green certificate system in Romania.

According to [9], the PV generating less than 10MW were offered 6TGC/MWh in 2011 [15], while in 2012 the
amount was decreased to 3TGC/MWh [22]. In Romania, the electricity produced by PV generation is also
eligible for the net metering system. The net metering system is applied for less than 50% of the PVPP with
power rated less than 1MW [12]. In addition to the GC schemes, the PV technology in Romania is supported by
investment subsidies and tax incentives [12]. Romania has enacted the necessary legislation on the GC support
scheme and Law 220/2008 is fully applicable [19]. According to law 220/2008, republished, for the electricity
produced from PVPP until 01.01.2014 [4], Romania gave 6GC/MWh [4, 9, 15] over a period of 15 years [9]. For
the period 2008-2025, a GC may be traded within a minimum value for 2012 of 27/MWh and a maximum
value of 55/MWh. These values are adjusted yearly by ANRE according to the average annual inflation index,
calculated by Eurostat [4]. New institutions introduced by Law 134/2012 [20] still need further clarification from
the competent authorities, mainly ANRE [19]. With the enactment of Law 123/2012 [21] the conclusion of
privately negotiated power purchase agreements (PPAs) is forbidden [19]. The consequence of this measure is
that new investors are not able to conclude any PPAs before obtaining the production license. To this end, as
PPAs are generally requested by credit institutions for granting financing of the projects, the new investors face
more difficult times in obtaining financing for their projects in Romania. This has limited the development of the
E-RES market, especially for solar PV technology [19]. It is widely agreed by the industry players that the
interdiction on privately negotiated PPAs had significant negative impact on E-RES development in Romania
and therefore it is expected that in 2013, Law 123/2012 will be amended to better address this issue [19].

As per the provisions of Law no. 220/2008 as amended and completed by Law no. 134/2012, any reduction of
GCs amount should not be implemented for solar PV facilities before 1 January 2014 [19]. The number of GCs
received by the producers depends upon the RES that they use. For the newly installed PVPP, a number of
6GC/MWh is offered for the next 15 years. Furthermore, the producer is entitled to 1GC for the trial period,
subject of the preliminary accreditation [19]. As per the latest amendments brought by Law 134/2012, no GCs
reduction caused by overcompensation will be imposed upon solar PV before 2014 [19, 20]. According to [22],
starting 1 January 2014, the measures to reduce the number of GCs for power plants/ energy groups held by
renewable energy producers, accredited by ANRE, are approved as follows: 3GC for each 1MWh produced and
delivered by solar power producers [22, 23]. Between 07/01/2013 and 31/12/2016 a number of 2GCs/MWh is
temporarily postponed for solar PV. The recovery of the GCs postponed will be returned to the renewable energy
producers starting with 1st of April 2017 [24, 4].

The evolution of installed capacity of power plants that benefited from the promotion system of E-RES in
2010[8], 2011 [9] and respectively in 2012 [10] and the energy produced depending on the type of source are
depicted in Figure 5. According to [10], the amount of E-RES production that benefited from the GC in 2012
was 3365035MWh (78.45% wind energy, 16.64% hydropower energy, 4.67% biomass energy, and 0.24% solar
energy) and its related electrical capacity was 2298.204MW (78.19% for wind units, 18.37% for hydropower
units, 1.24% for biomass units, and 2.20% for PV units).


Fig. 5. Installed capacity and electricity produced from E-RES that benefitted from green certificates (GCs) in
2010, 2011 and respectively in 2012.

The annual change in the number of GC emitted between 2010 and 2012 are shown in Figure 6 [10]. A number
of 7GC were issued for the first time in 2010 to electricity produced from PV sources through the promotion
system of E-RES [9, 10]. The electricity produced from RES in 2011 was 1509637MWh, being issued
1752794GC for it, 0.1% out of that was the PV generation (1815GC). The installed capacity of E-RES
production units mentioned above were 1225.626MW (of which only 0.08% was solar) [9]. The total electricity
production in 2012 was 3365035MWh, 5547302GC were issued for it, out of which 45269GC were for PV
generation [10]. From the 3-year analysis of the GC trend, it can be observed that the percentage of GC offered
for PV sources is very low compared to the number offered for other unconventional sources, and the total
number of GC is quickly growing.


Fig.6. The annual evolution in the number of GC issued by TSO to E-RES producers during 2010-2012.
4. GRID REQUIREMENTS FOR PHOTOVOLTAICS IN ROMANIA

The PVPP are connected to the grid through grid converters which, in additions to transferring the generated dc
power to the ac power grid, have advanced functions such as: dynamic control of active and reactive power;
stationary operation within a range of voltage and frequency; voltage ride-through capability; reactive current
injection during faults; participation in a grid balancing act like primary frequency control, etc. The design trend
of PV inverters is influenced by the grid requirements. Islanding should be quickly detected and the inverter
should be immediately disconnected from the power grid to avoid any personal safety issues, especially for
residential PV systems. Fault ride-through capability is designed into large PVPP connected to distribution
systems, with important power generation, in order to stabilize the power system. This feature becomes more
important as the amount of power provided by PV systems is increasing every year. The grid-connected PV
systems need to comply with standard requirements in order to ensure the safety and the seamless transfer of the
power to the electrical networks. Typically, local regulations imposed by the grid operators are applied in most
countries, but large efforts are made worldwide to define some standard grid requirements that can be adopted
globally. The grid requirements are very important specifications that have a large impact on the design and
performances of the PV inverter [3]. In Romania, the grid requirements for safe operation of both the power
system and PVPP are given by ANRE in [25].

The PVPP should fully respect all technical grid requirements of Technical Transmission Grid Code [26] and
Electricity Distribution Grid (EDG) Technical Code [27]. The PVPP should be able to produce simultaneously
active and reactive power on unlimited duration in the PCC, corresponding to any conditions within the
equivalent PQ diagram at frequency values ranging between 49.550.5Hz and admissible voltage [25]. The PV
inverter has to be capable to stay connected to the grid and operate continuously without time limit, at frequency
values ranging between 47.552Hz, rates of frequency variation up to 1Hz/second (s), and voltage variations in
the point of common coupling (PCC) between 0.9pu and 1.1pu of the nominal voltage (U
n
). The PVPP and its
solar inverters should stay in operation at voltage dips and voltage variations in the PCC on one phase or all
three phases according to Figure 7. The PV inverters should inject the maximum reactive current for at least 3s
during the occurrence of voltage dips without exceeding the operating limits of PVPP [25].


Fig.7. Voltage profile of fault ride-through capability in Romanian grid codes for PVPP.

A typical characteristic for the frequency control in the Romanian grid code is depicted in Figure 8. The PVPP
should be equipped with automatic control system of active power depending on frequency (f/P automatic
control). The control system should operate according to frequency/active power response curve depicted in
Figure 8 (power variation depending on frequency), where the available active power is P
a
. The active power
generated by PVPP is limited in the ranges: A (50-47Hz), B (50-47Hz), C (50-52Hz), DE (50-52Hz). These
points are set according to the requirements of the network operator with an error of 10MHz. The measured
frequency error should not exceed 10MHz [25].

When the voltage in the PCC have values in the admissible range, the reactive power generated/ absorbed by the
PVPP should be continuously controlled according to a power factor placed at least in the range of 0.95
capacitive and 0.95 inductive. The PVPP should provide the automatic voltage/ reactive power control in the
PCC through voltage control, controlling the reactive power exchanged with the RPS and power factor control
(to ensure the exchange with the power system of zero reactive power when the active power generated by PVPP
is zero). The PVPP that operates under a normal operational regime of the power grid should not generate fast
voltage variations higher than 5% from the nominal voltage in the PCC. Also the islanding of PVPP is not
allowed, so any PVPP should be provided with anti-islanding protection devices [25].


Fig. 8. Frequency control characteristic for the PV arrays connected to the Romanian grid.

In Romania, the grid connection requirements for PVPP meet international standards. These requirements are
similar to those from others European countries and are approved by the European Commission. The conditions
for interconnection of RPS to the electric power system (EPS) of Europe are fulfilled and also the technical
conditions for attracting new investments in this promising field are ensured.


5. CONCLUSIONS

This paper has presented some theoretical aspects of PVPP integration in Romania. The solar electricity
potential, the PV capacity, the legal and regulatory framework, and the grid requirements for PVPP in Romania
are discussed. An analysis of the installed capacity of electricity produced from PV generation and respectively
of the number of GCs granted to them in relation to the other RES was conducted.

As the principal conclusion, it may be stated that Romania has high potential for solar energy. The variable
renewable energy of PVPP needs access to the power grid. Considering the large amount of existing and also the
further developments of RES projects, particularly PV systems, the transmission grid and the distribution grid
needs significant reinforcements and adaptations to intermittent renewable generation. The RPS developments
and upgrades to smart grid solutions are needed in the near future to tap into the true generation potential and to
ensure a healthy and safe development of grid.


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