Joint Frequency Regulation and Economic Dispatch Using Limited Communication

We study the performance of a decentralized integral control scheme for joint power grid frequency regulation and economic dispatch. We show that by properly designing the controller gains, after a power flow perturbation, the control achieves near-optimal economic dispatch while recovering the nominal frequency, without requiring any communication. We quantify the gap between the controllable power generation cost under the decentralized control scheme and the optimal cost, based on the DC power flow model. Moreover, we study the tradeoff between the cost and the convergence time, by adjusting parameters of the control scheme. Communication between generators reduces the convergence time. We identify key communication links whose failures have more significant impacts on the performance of a distributed power grid control scheme that requires information exchange between neighbors

Gather-and-broadcast frequency control in power systems

We propose a novel frequency control approach in between centralized and distributed architectures, that is a continuous-time feedback control version of the dual decomposition optimization method. Specifically, a convex combination of the frequency measurements is centrally aggregated, followed by an integral control and a broadcast signal, which is then optimally allocated at local generation units. We show that our gather-and-broadcast control architecture comprises many previously proposed strategies as special cases. We prove local asymptotic stability of the closed-loop equilibria of the considered power system model, which is a nonlinear differential-algebraic system that includes traditional generators, frequency-responsive devices, as well as passive loads, where the sources are already equipped with primary droop control. Our feedback control is designed such that the closed-loop equilibria of the power system solve the optimal economic dispatch problem

Swing Dynamics as Primal-Dual Algorithm for Optimal Load Control

Frequency regulation and generation-load balancing are key issues in power transmission networks. Complementary to generation control, loads provide flexible and fast responsive sources for frequency regulation, and local frequency measurement capability of loads offers the opportunity of decentralized control. In this paper, we propose an optimal load control problem, which balances the load reduction (or increase) with the generation shortfall (or surplus), resynchronizes the bus frequencies, and minimizes a measure of aggregate disutility of participation in such a load control. We find that, a frequency-based load control coupled with the dynamics of swing equations and branch power flows serve as a distributed primal-dual algorithm to solve the optimal load control problem and its dual. Simulation shows that the proposed mechanism can restore frequency, balance load with generation and achieve the optimum of the load control problem within several seconds after a disturbance in generation. Through simulation, we also compare the performance of optimal load control with automatic generation control (AGC), and discuss the effect of their incorporation

Review of trends and targets of complex systems for power system optimization

Optimization systems (OSs) allow operators of electrical power systems (PS) to optimally operate PSs and to also create optimal PS development plans. The inclusion of OSs in the PS is a big trend nowadays, and the demand for PS optimization tools and PS-OSs experts is growing. The aim of this review is to define the current dynamics and trends in PS optimization research and to present several papers that clearly and comprehensively describe PS OSs with characteristics corresponding to the identified current main trends in this research area. The current dynamics and trends of the research area were defined on the basis of the results of an analysis of the database of 255 PS-OS-presenting papers published from December 2015 to July 2019. Eleven main characteristics of the current PS OSs were identified. The results of the statistical analyses give four characteristics of PS OSs which are currently the most frequently presented in research papers: OSs for minimizing the price of electricity/OSs reducing PS operation costs, OSs for optimizing the operation of renewable energy sources, OSs for regulating the power consumption during the optimization process, and OSs for regulating the energy storage systems operation during the optimization process. Finally, individual identified characteristics of the current PS OSs are briefly described. In the analysis, all PS OSs presented in the observed time period were analyzed regardless of the part of the PS for which the operation was optimized by the PS OS, the voltage level of the optimized PS part, or the optimization goal of the PS OS.Web of Science135art. no. 107