A widely embraced approach to mitigate the dynamic degradation in low-inertia power systems is to mimic generation response using grid-connected inverters to restore the grid's stiffness. In this paper, we seek to challenge this approach and advocate for a principled design based on a systematic analysis of the performance trade-offs of inverter-based frequency control. With this aim, we perform a qualitative and quantitative study comparing the effect of conventional control strategies --droop control (DC) and virtual inertia (VI)-- on several performance metrics induced by $\mathcal L_2$ and $\mathcal L_\infty$ signal norms. By extending a recently proposed modal decomposition method, we capture the effect of step and stochastic power disturbances, and frequency measurement noise, on the overall transient and steady-state behavior of the system. Our analysis unveils several limitations of these solutions, such as the inability of DC to improve dynamic frequency response without increasing steady-state control effort, or the large frequency variance that VI introduces in the presence of measurement noise. We further propose a novel dynam-i-c Droop controller (iDroop) that overcomes the limitations of DC and VI. More precisely, we show that iDroop can be tuned to achieve high noise rejection, fast system-wide synchronization, or frequency overshoot (Nadir) elimination without affecting the steady-state control effort share, and propose a tuning recommendation that strikes a balance among these objectives. Extensive numerical experimentation shows that the proposed tuning is effective even when our proportionality assumptions are not valid, and that the particular tuning used for Nadir elimination strikes a good trade-off among various performance metrics.
Conventional inertia control strategies (i.e., the VSG-based and PD-based strategies) for the fast frequency regulation resources (FFRs) might lead to system oscillations due to their emulations of generator dynamics. The only-droop-based inertia control strategy is a feasible idea to address this issue. This letter quantitatively investigates the equivalent inertia provided by the droop control of the FFRs. First, an equivalent-scenario-based method is proposed to evaluate the equivalent inertia provided by the droop control, which shows that the droop control with a constant droop coefficien…
Transient frequency dips that follow sudden power imbalances --frequency Nadir-- represent a big challenge for frequency stability of low-inertia power systems. Since low inertia is identified as one of the causes for deep frequency Nadir, virtual inertia, which is provided by energy storage units, is said to be one of the solutions to the problem. In the present paper, we propose a new method for frequency control with energy storage systems (ESS), called dynamic droop control (iDroop), that can completely eliminate frequency Nadir during transients. Nadir elimination allows us to perform fre…
To stabilize the frequency of the renewable energy sources (RESs) dominated power system, frequency supports are required by RESs through virtual inertia emulation or droop control in the newly published grid codes. Since the long-term RES prediction involves significant errors, we need online configure the frequency control parameters of RESs in a rolling manner to improve the operation economics under the premise of stabilizing system frequency. To address this concern, this paper proposes a frequency constrained stochastic look-ahead power dispatch (FCS-LAPD) model to formulate the frequenc…
In this paper, we propose a minimax model predictive control (MPC)-based energy management system that is robust with respect to uncertainties in renewable infeed and load. The MPC formulation includes a model of low-level droop control with saturation at the power and energy limits of the units. Robust MPC-based energy management systems tend to under-utilize the renewable energy sources to guarantee safe operation. In order to mitigate this effect, we further consider droop control of renewable energy sources. For a microgrid with droop-controlled units, we show that enhancing droop feedback…
An islanded microgrid supplied by multiple distributed energy resources (DERs) often employs droop-control mechanisms for power sharing. Because microgrids do not include inertial elements, and low pass filtering of noisy measurements introduces lags in control, droop-like controllers may pose significant stability concerns. This paper aims to understand the effects of droop-control on the small-signal stability and transient response of the microgrid. Towards this goal, we present a compendium of results on the small-signal stability of droop-controlled inverter-based microgrids with heteroge…
The infusion of renewable energy sources into the conventional synchronous generation system decreases the overall system inertia and negatively impacts the stability of its primary frequency response. The lowered inertia is due to the absence of inertia in some of the renewable energy-based systems. To maintain the stability of the system, we need to keep the frequency in the permissible limits and maintain low rotational inertia. Some authors in the literature have used the virtual synchronous generators (VSG) as a solution to this problem. Although the VSG based distributed recourses (DER) …
In this paper, five virtual inertia control structures are implemented and tested on a variable speed hydropower (VSHP) plant. The results show that all five can deliver fast power reserves to maintain grid stability after disturbances after a disturbance. The VSHP is well suited for the purposed since its output power can be changed almost instantaneously by utilizing the rotational energy of the turbine and generator. This will cause the turbine rotational speed to deviate from its optimal value temporarily. Then the governor control will regain the turbine rotational speed by controlling th…
This letter proposes a general decentralized control of cascaded inverters-power factor angle droop control. Compared to the existing control strategies, it has the following attractive benefits: 1) it is suitable for both grid-connected and islanded modes; 2) Seamless transition between different modes can be obtained; 3) stability condition in the grid-connected mode is independent of the transmission line impedance; 4) it is suited for any types of loads in islanded modes; 5) multi-equilibrium point problem is avoided; 6) it is suitable for four quadrant operation. The small signal stabilit…
This paper studied the solar PV frequency control in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection (EI) and Texas Interconnection (ERCOT) systems. The studied frequency control approaches include droop frequency control, inertia control, and droop-inertia-combined frequency control. The control effects of different frequency controls of PV in the EI and ERCOT are studied using actual high PV penetration interconnection grid models to provide suggestions to the future revision of future PV frequency control standards.
In this letter, we study the nonlinear stability problem of converter-based power systems, where the converter dynamics are governed by a complex droop control. This complex droop control augments the well-known power-frequency (p-f) droop control, and it proves to be equivalent to the state-of-the-art dispatchable virtual oscillator control (dVOC). In this regard, it is recognized as a promising grid-forming solution to address the high penetration of converters in future power systems. In previous work, the global stability of dVOC (i.e., complex droop control) has been proven by prespecifyi…
This paper presents the novel Droop-e grid-forming inverter control strategy, which establishes an active power-frequency relationship based on an exponential function of the inverter power dispatch. The advantages of this control strategy include an increased utilization of available headroom, mitigated system frequency dynamics, and a natural limiting behavior, all of which are directly compared to the hitherto standard static droop approach. First, the small signal stability of the Droop-e control is assessed on a 3-bus system and found stable across all possible inverter power dispatches. …
Inverter-based resources (IBR) have been widely studied for their advantages on the current power systems. This increase in the penetration of renewable energy has raised some concerns about the stability of the existing grid. Historically, power systems are dominated by synchronous generators that can easily react to system instability due to high inertia and damping characteristics. However, with IBR, the control of the inverter plays a crucial role in contributing to the system stability and enhancing the functionality of the inverters. One of these novel control methods is droop control. D…
In multi-infeed hybrid AC-DC (MIDC) systems, the asynchronous interconnection between regional grids, the complicated system dynamics and possible cascading failures have an enormous effect on the frequency stability. In order to deal with the frequency instability problems in emergency situations, this paper proposes a decentralized emergency frequency control strategy based on coordinated droop for the MIDC system. First, a P-f droop control for LCC-HVDC systems is introduced and the coordinated droop mechanism among LCC-HVDC systems and generators is designed. Then, to reasonably allocate t…
As a new type of microgrid structure, AC-DC hybrid microgrid can efficiently consume new energy distributed generator based on photovoltaics, which is very suitable for microgrid systems with electric vehicles as the main load. Unlike the AC microgrid, the DC bus of the AC-DC hybrid microgrid is a low-inertia system. How to improve the DC bus inertia of the AC-DC hybrid microgrid system and the stability of the DC bus voltage become particularly important. Based on this, this paper presents a method for flexible control strategy of microgrid bus voltage based on multi-node droop. By considerin…
The presence of constant power loads (CPLs) in dc shipboard microgrids may lead to unstable conditions. The present work investigates the stability properties of dc microgrids where CPLs are fed by fuel cells (FCs), and energy storage systems (ESSs) equipped with voltage droop control. With respect to the previous literature, the dynamics of the duty cycles of the dc-dc converters implementing the droop regulation are considered. A mathematical model has been derived, and tuned to best mimic the behavior of the electrical representation implemented in DIgSILENT. Then the model is used to find …
We consider the problem of stability analysis for distribution grids with droop-controlled inverters and dynamic distribution power lines. The inverters are modeled as voltage sources with controllable frequency and amplitude. This problem is very challenging for large networks as numerical simulations and detailed eigenvalue analysis are impactical. Motivated by the above limitations, we present in this paper a systematic and computationally efficient framework for stability analysis of inverter-based distribution grids. To design our framework, we use tools from singular perturbation and Lya…
With Denmark dedicated to maintaining its leading position in the integration of massive shares of wind energy, the construction of new offshore energy islands has been recently approved by the Danish government. These new islands will be zero-inertia systems, meaning that no synchronous generation will be installed in the island and that power imbalances will be shared only among converters. To this end, this paper proposes a methodology to calculate and update the frequency droops gains of the offshore converters in compliance with the N-1 security criterion in case of converter outage. The …
Due to the rise of distributed energy resources, the control of networks of grid-forming inverters is now a pressing issue for power system operation. Droop control is a popular control strategy in the literature for frequency control of these inverters. In this paper, we analyze transient stability in droop-controlled inverter networks that are subject to multiple operating constraints. Using a physically-meaningful Lyapunov-like function, we provide two sets of criteria (one mathematical and one computational) to certify that a post-fault trajectory achieves frequency synchronization while r…
A microgrid is a new concept that has changed the power systems dramatically. It is a combination of Distributed Generation Resources (DGR) like Biomass, PV systems, Wind energy, Fuel cell, Diesel Generator, and so on with different types of loads (residential or commercial). Microgrids can work in two modes: autonomous and Interconnected. In the Islanding situation, the loads will be supported by DGR and without connecting to upstream utility grids. Controlling power electronic Interfaces between sources and loads has been an important task between the researchers. Several different strategie…
Recovery of power flow to critical infrastructures, after grid failure, is a crucial need arising in scenarios that are increasingly becoming more frequent. This article proposes a power transition and recovery strategy by proposing a mode-dependent droop control-based inverters. The control strategy of inverters achieves the following objectives 1) regulate the output active and reactive power by the droop-based inverters to a desired value while operating in on-grid mode 2) seamless transition and recovery of power flow injections into the critical loads in the network by inverters operating…
This paper proposes a computational method to efficiently and quickly estimate stability regions of droop control slopes for modular multilevel converter (MMC)-based multiterminal dc (MTDC) systems. The proposed method is based on a general small-signal model consisting of a dc grid with arbitrary topology and MMCs with dq controllers. The general small-signal model developed by a systematic way can be used for small-disturbance stability analysis. To verify the developed small-signal model, a comparison between the developed model calculated in MATLAB and the detailed switching model simulate…
This paper presents a novel control structure and control synthesis method for regulating the output voltage/frequency and power injection of DC-AC inverters. The traditional droop method offers attractive solution to achieve compromise between clashing power and voltage/frequency regulation objectives. However, it relies on use of nonlinear power variables through slow outer control loop. In this paper we formulate the traditional droop method as a feedback control problem based on static power-flow equations and show how neglecting the dynamics of inverter and transmission line restricts the…
Autonomous droop control PV inverters have improved voltage regulation compared to the inverters without grid support functions, but more flexible control techniques will be required as the number of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations increases. This paper studies three inverter future deployment scenarios with droop control inverters, non-exporting inverters, and coordinated inverter control (CIC). The network operation and the interaction between various inverter control methods are studied by simulating inverter operation on two low-voltage networks. Considering 30% PV penetration as the…
With the complex hybrid AC-DC power system in China coming into being, the HVDC faults, such as DC block faults, have an enormous effect on the frequency stability of the AC side. In multi-infeed HVDC (MIDC) system, to improve the frequency stability of the receiving-end system, this paper proposes an emergency DC power support (EDCPS) strategy, which is based on a designed droop characteristic between the active power of LCC-HVDC lines and the receiving-end system frequency. Then, a coordinated optimization method is proposed to determine the droop coefficients of the MIDC lines. To test the …
Distributed Secondary Frequency Control and SoC Balance for Droop-Controlled BESSs with A Unified SoC Relative Variation Rate
College of Artificial Intelligence, Nankai University（南开大学人工智能学院）；Tianjin Key Laboratory of Interventional Brain-Computer Interface and Intelligent Rehabilitation, Nankai University（南开大学天津市介入式脑机接口与智能康复重点实验室）
Unlike conventional generators, inverter-based generation do not possess any rotational inertia. While grid-forming inverters can synthesize small (virtual) inertia via advanced feedback control loops, additional control mechanisms are needed to ensure safety and security of the power grid during transients. In this paper, we propose novel real-time safety-constrained feedback controllers ("safety filters") for droop-based (grid-forming) inverters to ensure transient security of the grid. The safety filter acts as a buffer between the network operational layer and the inverter-control layer, a…
High penetration of renewable generation poses great challenge to power system operation due to its uncertain nature. In droop-controlled microgrids, the voltage volatility induced by renewable uncertainties is aggravated by the high droop gains. This paper proposes a chance-constrained optimal power flow (CC-OPF) problem with power flow routers (PFRs) to better regulate the voltage profile in microgrids. PFR refer to a general type of network-side controller that brings more flexibility to the power network. Comparing with the normal CC-OPF that relies on power injection flexibility only, the…
The connection of single-phase microgrids (MG) and loads to three-phase MGs creates power quality problems such as unbalanced voltage and voltage rise at the point of common coupling (PCC) of the MGs. In this paper, a modified reverse droop control (MRDC) scheme in the Energy Storage System (ESS) is proposed to improve the three-phase PCC voltage quality in multi-microgrids (MMG). The MRDC consists of a reactive power compensator (RPC) and a voltage compensator. The controller regulates the reactive power and voltage unbalance of the MMG by using the reactive power produced by the ESS. The eff…
