We consider the problem of guaranteeing that the transient voltages and currents stay within prescribed bounds in Direct Current (DC) microgrids, when the controller does not have access to accurate system dynamics due to the load being unknown and/or time-varying. To achieve this, we propose an optimization based controller design using control barrier functions. We show that the proposed controller has a decentralized structure and is robust with respect to the uncertainty in the precise values of the system parameters, such as the load.
This paper proposes a novel transient stability assessment tool for networked microgrids based on neural Lyapunov methods. Assessing transient stability is formulated as a problem of estimating the dynamic security region of networked microgrids. We leverage neural networks to learn a local Lyapunov function in the state space. The largest security region is estimated based on the learned neural Lyapunov function, and it is used for characterizing disturbances that the networked microgrids can tolerate. The proposed method is tested and validated in a grid-connected microgrid, three networked …
This work explores the usage of a supplementary controller for improving the transient performance of inverter$\unicode{x2013}$based resources (IBR) in microgrids. The supplementary controller is trained using a reinforcement learning (RL)$\unicode{x2013}$based algorithm to minimize transients in a power converter connected to a microgrid. The controller works autonomously to issue adaptive, intermediate set points based on the current state and trajectory of the observed or tracked variable. The ability of the designed controller to mitigate transients is verified on a medium voltage test sys…
Modularized Koopman Bilinear Form (M-KBF) is presented to model and predict the transient dynamics of microgrids in the presence of disturbances. As a scalable data-driven approach, M-KBF divides the identification and prediction of the high-dimensional nonlinear system into the individual study of subsystems; and thus, alleviating the difficulty of intensively handling high volume data and overcoming the curse of dimensionality. For each subsystem, Koopman bilinear form is applied to efficiently identify its model by developing eigenfunctions via the extended dynamic mode decomposition method…
Whenever stability of a system is concerned, transient stability is given the highest priority. For analysis purpose transient stability is checked with the help of Critical Clearing Time (CCT). With the continuous growth of Distributed Generation (DG) concept, the need of a stable industrial microgrid is a necessity. This paper studies the effect of Solar PV as DG unit on CCT during islanded operation of an industrial microgrid system. In primary analysis a single centralized Solar PV unit along with the Synchronous Generator (SG) is used. Then multiple PV units distributed at random location…
A Physics-Informed Dynamic Graph Neural Network (PIDGeuN) is presented to accurately, efficiently and robustly predict the nonlinear transient dynamics of microgrids in the presence of disturbances. The graph-based architecture of PIDGeuN provides a natural representation of the microgrid topology. Using only the state information that is practically measurable, PIDGeuN employs a time delay embedding formulation to fully reproduce the system dynamics, avoiding the dependency of conventional methods on internal dynamic states such as controllers. Based on a judiciously designed message passing …
Modern safety-critical energy infrastructures are increasingly operated in a hierarchical and modular control framework which allows for limited data exchange between the modules. In this context, it is important for each module to synthesize and communicate constraints on the values of exchanged information in order to assure system-wide safety. To ensure transient safety in inverter-based microgrids, we develop a set invariance-based distributed safety verification algorithm for each inverter module. Applying Nagumo's invariance condition, we construct a robust polynomial optimization proble…
Small privately-purchased off-grid renewable energy systems (RESs) are increasingly used for energy generation in remote areas. However, such privately-purchased stand-alone RESs are often unaffordable for households with lower incomes. While considerable attention has been devoted to a range of off-grid microgrid sizing methods, leveraging the potential of data-driven, artificial intelligence-based metaheuristic optimisation algorithms is less well-explored. Importantly, data-driven metaheuristics have the potential to produce the nearest solution to the globally optimum solution in microgrid…
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…
When planning the investment in Microgrids (MGs), usually static security constraints are included to ensure their resilience and ability to operate in islanded mode. However, unscheduled islanding events may trigger cascading disconnections of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) inside the MG due to the transient response, leading to a partial or full loss of load. In this paper, a min-max-min, hybrid, stochastic-robust investment planning model is proposed to obtain a resilient MG considering both High-Impact-Low-Frequency (HILF) and Low-Impact-High-Frequency (LIHF) uncertainties. The HILF u…
This paper proposes a holistic framework for parameter coordination of a power electronic-interfaced microgrid interconnection against natural disasters. The paper identifies a transient stability issue in a microgrid interconnection. Based on recent advances in control theory, we design a framework that can systematically coordinate system parameters, such that post-disaster equilibrium points of microgrid interconnections are asymptotically stable. The core of the framework is a stability assessment algorithm using sum of squares programming. The efficacy of the proposed framework is tested …
This research addresses distributed proportional power sharing of inverter-based Distributed Generators (DGs) in microgrids under variations in maximum power capacity of DGs. A microgrid can include renewable energy resources such as wind turbines, solar panels, fuel cells, etc. The intermittent nature of such energy resources causes variations in their maximum power capacities. Since DGs in microgrids can be regarded as Multi-Agent-Systems (MASs), a consensus algorithm is designed to have the DGs generate their output power in proportion to their maximum capacities under capacity fluctuations…
In this study, we propose a decision-making strategy for pinning-based distributed multi-agent (PDMA) automatic generation control (AGC) in islanded microgrids against stochastic communication disruptions. The target microgrid is construed as a cyber-physical system, wherein the physical microgrid is modeled as an inverter-interfaced autonomous grid with detailed system dynamic formulation, and the communication network topology is regarded as a cyber-system independent of its physical connection. The primal goal of the proposed method is to decide the minimum number of generators to be pinned…
Composite Adaptive Higher-Order Control Barrier Functions for Joint Frequency-RoCoF Safety in Low-Inertia SIDS Microgrids
Engineering Department M&E Partners (Barbados) Limited（M&E Partners（巴巴多斯）有限公司工程部）；Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering The University of the West Indies（西印度大学电气与计算机工程系）
This paper developed a novel control approach for the sparse and safe frequency regulation for inverter intensive microgrids (MGs). In the scenario, the inverters and external grids are expected to reach a synchronized desired frequency under regulations. To this end, the active power set-point acting as a control from a high-level controller is designed while considering two important performance metrics "sparsity" and "safety", which are to reduce the information exchange between controllers and ensure that the frequency keeps in safety regions during the whole operation process. Our propose…
Inverter-connected resources can improve transient stability in low-inertia grids by injecting active power to minimize system frequency deviations following disturbances. In practice, most generation and load disturbances are step changes and the engineering figure-of-merit is often the peak overshoot in frequency resulting from these step disturbances. In addition, the inverter-connected resources tend to saturate much more easily than conventional synchronous machines. However, despite these challenges, standard controller designs must deal with averaged quantities through $H_2$ or $H_\inft…
This project discusses the control schemes for distribution grids with a large amount of wind penetration. Microgrids are constantly gaining popularity, especially in the countries, where there is energy crisis. Various systems, including synchronous generators, grid and loads, have been investigated in this project. Major focus is placed on active and reactive power sharing. Droop control for multiple synchronous generators is explored. The phenomenon of load transients has also been reviewed and associated simulations have been carried out on SimPower Systems. Constant wind power has been in…
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…
This work provides formal safety guarantees for control systems with disturbance. A disturbance observer-based robust safety-critical controller is proposed, that estimates the effect of the disturbance on safety and utilizes this estimate with control barrier functions to attain provably safe dynamic behavior. The observer error bound - which consists of transient and steady-state parts - is quantified, and the system is endowed with robustness against this error via the proposed controller. An adaptive cruise control problem is used as illustrative example through simulations including real …
A novel control design framework is proposed for a class of non-Lipschitz nonlinear systems with quantized states, meanwhile prescribed transient performance and lower control design complexity could be guaranteed. Firstly, different from all existing control methods for systems with state quantization, global stability of strict-feedback nonlinear systems is achieved without requiring the condition that the nonlinearities of the system model satisfy global Lipschitz continuity. Secondly, a novel barrier function-free prescribed performance control (BFPPC) method is proposed, which can guarant…
Research in epidemiology often focusses on designing interventions that result in the number of infected individuals asymptotically approaching zero, without considering that this number may peak at high values during transients. Recent research has shown that a set-based approach could be used to address the problem, and we build on this idea by applying the theory of barriers to construct admissible and invariant sets for an epidemic model. We describe how these sets may be used to choose intervention strategies that maintain infection caps during epidemics. We also derive algebraic conditio…
The energy transition is causing many stability-related challenges for power systems. Transient stability refers to the ability of a power grid's bus angles to retain synchronism after the occurrence of a major fault. In this paper a set-based approach is presented to assess the transient stability of power systems. The approach is based on the theory of barriers, to obtain an exact description of the boundaries of admissible sets and maximal robust positively invariant sets, respectively. We decompose a power system into generator and load components, replace couplings with bounded disturbanc…
