Operation mode of Generators:

Island mode of Alternator:

When the alternator supplies power to the load or consumer directly, the criteria of the load
affects the alternator. We cannot control the load(KW or MW) and power factor but the terminal
voltage and frequency can be controlled.
In Island mode there is no grid connected, only a certain isolated area is covered. This happens
in case of marine or ship and factories with own supply & own consumption. The amount of load
supplied we cannot control as it totally depends on load demand in the covered area, but the
voltage and frequency we can control.

In case of Island mode-

 Active and Reactive power supplied to the bus bar depends on load
 Frequency and voltage of the bus bar we are able to control.

Grid mode of power generation:

When the alternator is connected to the Grid, in fact synchronized with the grid- alternator
swings with the grid. The frequency, voltage we cannot control but the load in KW or MW
supply we can control.

In grid mode the power generation station or power plant is in parallel with the grid. As
the total plant is connected to grid- the frequency & voltage is uncontrollable, depends on
the grid voltage & frequency. But the load is controllable, so is power factor, as we can set
the load of an unit to 5MW or 8MW and set the power factor to .80 and alternator will
generate power following the commands.

In grid mode-

 Frequency and voltage depends on grid

 Active and reactive power supplied to the grid we are able to control
Isochronous and Droop mode
droop basically means that the more load that is placed on an engine, the slower it will run (for a given throttle
setting). Droop is expressed as a percentage and found by the formula: No Load Speed-Full Load Speed/No Load
Speed. It is an inherent characteristic of most mechanical governors, however there are many available with
adjustable droop, down to 0%. Precise droop control is one way to facilitate proportional kw load sharing of
gensets in parallel.

Isochronous is basically zero droop ie engine speed (and therefore generator output frequency) is kept constant
from no load to full load. Sudden load changes can cause speed to deviate, however the governor will always
work to bring speed back to the same value. Isochronous governing is usually achieved with electronic controls,
although many electronic governors can also be set up to run in droop. From a reciprocating engine genset
perspective, isochronous is pretty much the standard for new equipment these days. Load sharing in parallel is
usually achieved through the use of isochronous load sharing controls. As noted before, it is important to
remember that generator frequency is directly proportional to engine speed. Some electrical loads are very
sensitive to frequency.