A Data-driven Voltage Control Framework for Power Distribution Systems

TL;DR

This paper presents a real-time, adaptive voltage control framework for power distribution systems that optimizes DER injections using a linear model and real-time measurements, validated on a standard test feeder.

Contribution

It introduces a data-driven, adaptive voltage control method that efficiently estimates model parameters in real-time, improving voltage regulation in distribution systems.

Findings

Effective voltage regulation demonstrated on IEEE 37-bus test feeder

Requires fewer data for parameter estimation due to structural exploitation

Framework adapts to parameter changes in real-time

Abstract

In this paper, we address the problem of coordinating a set of distributed energy resources (DERs) to regulate voltage in power distribution systems to desired levels. To this end, we formulate the voltage control problem as an optimization problem, the objective of which is to determine the optimal DER power injections that minimize the voltage deviations from desirable voltage levels subject to a set of constraints. The nonlinear relationship between the voltage magnitudes and the nodal power injections is approximated by a linear model, the parameters of which can be estimated in real-time efficiently using measurements. In particular, the parameter estimation requires much fewer data by exploiting the structural characteristics of the power distribution system. As such, the voltage control framework is intrinsically adaptive to parameter changes. Numerical studies on the IEEE 37-bus power distribution test feeder validated the effectiveness of the propose framework.