Consensus-Based Set-Theoretic Control in Power Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a distributed, consensus-based set-theoretic control method for power systems that enhances safety and robustness against renewable energy fluctuations, outperforming conventional controllers in worst-case scenarios.

Contribution

It presents a novel consensus-based approach to generate robust controlled-invariant sets for distributed frequency control in power systems.

Findings

The method maintains safe operation under worst-case demand fluctuations.

Consensus-based set generation converges linearly.

Outperforms traditional controllers in a 9-bus test case.

Abstract

Set-theoretic control is a useful technique for dealing with the uncertainty introduced into power systems by renewable energy resources. Although set operations are computationally expensive in large systems, distributed approaches serve as a remedy. In this paper, we propose a novel consensus-based approach for set-theoretic frequency control in power systems. A robust controlled-invariant set (RCI) for the system is generated by composing RCIs for each bus in the network. The process of generating these sets uses a consensus-based approach in order to facilitate discovery of mutually compatible subsystem RCIs. Each bus seeks to maximize the size of its own RCI while treating the effects of coupling as an unknown-but-bounded disturbance. The consensus routine, which demonstrates linear convergence, is embedded into a backwards reachability analysis of initial safe sets. Results for a 9-bus test case show that simple model predictive controllers associated with the resulting RCIs maintain safe operation when the system is subjected to worst case (adversarial) fluctuations in net demand, where conventional controllers are shown to fail.