Distributed frequency regulation in the presence of communication failure

This paper proposes a resilient architecture for distributed frequency regulation (DFR) during communication failures. The DFR algorithm relies on the communication network for exchanging information between prosumers and obtaining stabilizing control actions, which can bring overall frequency deviations to nominal. Failures in the communication network can jeopardize the functionality of DFR and lead to frequency stability problems. This paper explores the connection between system-wide frequency stability and communication failures and identifies certain topological conditions on the cyber-physical network itself, under which DFR can restore frequency stability through a stressed communication network. The proposed architecture is simulated on a practical power grid and the results indicate that it is indeed resilient under the single communication failure scenario.