With the rapid development of inverter-based generators (IGs), power grid is faced with critical frequency stability challenges because the existing IGs have no inertia. To equip IGs with inertial response, researchers have proposed several virtual inertia control methods, which can be classified into two categories: virtual synchronous generator (VSG) control and droop control based on rate of change of frequency (ROCOFdroop control). In this paper, the comparison between both virtual inertia control methods is conducted from three perspectives: mathematical model, output characteristic and small-signal stability. State-space models are firstly built to analyze the control mechanism of VSG control and ROCOF-droop control methods. Simulation and eigenvalue analysis are conducted to study the transient responses and oscillation characteristics of both methods, which is helpful to understand the advantages and limitations of existing virtual inertia control methods. Finally, the obtained theoretical results are validated through realtime laboratory (RT-LAB) hardware-in-loop simulation platform.

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