Real-time Decentralized and Robust Voltage Control in Distribution Networks

TL;DR

This paper develops decentralized, communication-free algorithms for voltage control in distribution networks, effectively stabilizing voltage with local measurements despite heterogeneity and delays.

Contribution

It introduces two novel decentralized algorithms that use local information to maintain voltage stability without communication, with one optimizing reactive power costs.

Findings

Algorithms stabilize voltage within acceptable range.

They operate effectively without communication.

Robust against update rate heterogeneity and delays.

Abstract

Voltage control plays an important role in the operation of electricity distribution networks, especially when there is a large penetration of renewable energy resources. In this paper, we focus on voltage control through reactive power compensation and study how different information structures affect the control performance. In particular, we first show that using only voltage measurements to determine reactive power compensation is insufficient to maintain voltage in the acceptable range. Then we propose two fully decentralized and robust algorithms by adding additional information, which can stabilize the voltage in the acceptable range. The one with higher complexity can further minimize a cost of reactive power compensation in a particular form. Both of the two algorithms use only local measurements and local variables and require no communication. In addition, the two algorithms are robust against heterogeneous update rates and delays.