Distributed Frequency and Voltage Control for AC Microgrids based on Primal-Dual Gradient Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a distributed, model-based control method for AC microgrids that unifies frequency and voltage regulation through optimal control principles, ensuring stability and robustness without predefined voltage setpoints.

Contribution

It presents a novel unified control framework based on primal-dual gradient dynamics that integrates all control layers and handles voltage constraints without superordinate setpoints.

Findings

Controller effectively stabilizes frequency and voltage.

System demonstrates robustness to demand fluctuations.

Stability verified via port-Hamiltonian and passivity analysis.

Abstract

With the gradual transformation of power generation towards renewables, distributed energy resources are becoming more and more relevant for grid stabilization. In order to involve all participants in the joint solution of this challenging task, we propose a distributed, model-based and unifying controller for frequency and voltage regulation in AC microgrids, based on steady-state optimal control. It not only unifies frequency and voltage control, but also incorporates the classic hierarchy of primary, secondary and tertiary control layers with each closed-loop equilibrium being a minimizer of a user-defined cost function. By considering the individual voltage limits as additional constraints in the corresponding optimization problem, no superordinate specification of voltage setpoints is required. Since the dynamic model of the microgrid has a port-Hamiltonian structure, stability of the overall system can be assessed using shifted passivity properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the controller and its robustness against fluctuations in active and reactive power demand by means of numerical examples.