IN Brief:
- ENTSO-E has published recommendations on detecting and analysing forced oscillations across the European power system.
- The guidance focuses on converter-connected generation, wind farms, storage assets, and other non-synchronous resources.
- The work supports future RfG 2.0 implementation as Europe’s grid becomes more dependent on power electronics.
ENTSO-E has published new recommendations on forced oscillations in the European electricity system, setting out guidance for detecting, analysing, and addressing stability events linked to converter-connected generation and other non-synchronous resources.
The report examines oscillatory behaviour in power systems with rising volumes of wind, solar, battery storage, and other inverter-based assets. Its focus is practical rather than academic, with guidance intended to support system operators, plant owners, and equipment manufacturers as proposed RfG 2.0 requirements move closer to implementation.
Forced oscillations can arise when a control system, converter, turbine controller, or active electrical component injects a repetitive disturbance into the power system. Where traditional synchronous machines provide familiar electromechanical behaviour and physical inertia, inverter-based resources rely on control logic, power electronics, and software-defined response characteristics.
As the European generation mix shifts, the interaction between converters, weak grids, protection settings, and plant controls is becoming a live operational concern. Oscillations that remain undetected can affect voltage stability, power quality, equipment performance, and the secure operation of neighbouring assets, particularly where multiple converter-connected plants operate within the same electrical area.
ENTSO-E developed the recommendations with WindEurope, reflecting the close link between wind generation and dynamic system behaviour. The principles, however, extend beyond wind farms. Storage systems, solar plants, flexible demand, and other converter-based assets all need predictable control performance if they are to operate safely within a more complex grid.
The guidance places emphasis on measurement, source identification, and coordination between system operators and asset owners. Oscillation monitoring depends on disturbance recording, high-quality data, and analysis methods that can distinguish plant-originated behaviour from wider system conditions. Once a source is identified, corrective action may involve control tuning, protection review, plant-level mitigation, or coordinated operational limits.
Across Europe, transmission operators are having to manage higher renewable output while older thermal plant runs less frequently or exits the system entirely. That changes the stability toolkit available in real time. Inertia, fault level, damping, and reactive power support increasingly have to be specified, procured, or programmed rather than assumed as natural by-products of conventional generation.
The same system pressure is visible around large electrical loads, where sensitive facilities are being pushed to address voltage-instability risks affecting data centre operations. At both the load and generation ends of the system, electrical behaviour is becoming more dependent on power electronics, control settings, and the quality of real-time monitoring.
RfG 2.0 will sharpen the requirement for verified dynamic performance. Developers and equipment suppliers will need to demonstrate not only that assets can connect, but that they can behave predictably during disturbances, weak-grid operation, and changing system conditions. Model validation, commissioning evidence, and post-event performance data are likely to carry greater weight as grid codes evolve.
For network planning, the report points towards a more demanding operating environment. Traditional connection studies will need to sit alongside continuous monitoring and closer operational coordination. A plant that appears compliant at the design stage can still interact unexpectedly with other assets once connected to a live system.
Europe’s renewable build-out is now deep enough for stability management to become part of mainstream delivery rather than a specialist concern at the edge of grid operation. Capacity growth, converter performance, and system observability will have to advance together if the power system is to remain secure while its physical behaviour changes.
