Hierarchical Frequency and Voltage Control using Prioritized Utilization of Inverter Based Resources

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hierarchical control method for power systems that prioritizes inverter-based resources over traditional generators to improve dynamic response and stability during load and generation changes.

Contribution

It presents a novel Area Prioritized Power Flow (APPF) optimization that enhances dynamic performance by prioritizing IBRs and limiting disturbance spread across control areas.

Findings

APPF improves disturbance mitigation speed and efficiency.

Prioritizing IBRs leads to fairer power dispatch.

Hierarchical control reduces disturbance propagation.

Abstract

We propose a novel hierarchical frequency and voltage control design for multi-area power system integrated with inverter-based resources (IBRs). The design is based on the idea of prioritizing the use of IBRs over conventional generator-based control in compensating for sudden and unpredicted changes in loads and generations, and thereby mitigate any undesired dynamics in the frequency or the voltage by exploiting their fast actuation time constants. A new sequential optimization problem, referred to as Area Prioritized Power Flow (APPF), is formulated to model this prioritization. It is shown that compared to conventional power flow APPF not only leads to a fairer balance between the dispatch of active and reactive power from the IBRs and the synchronous generators, but also limits the impact of any contingency from spreading out beyond its respective control area, thereby guaranteeing a better collective dynamic performance of the grid. This improvement, however, comes at the cost of adding an extra layer of communication needed for executing APPF in a hierarchical way. Results are validated using simulations of a 9-machine, 6-IBR, 33-bus, 3-area power system model, illustrating how APPF can mitigate a disturbance faster and more efficiently by prioritizing the use of local area-resources.