Performance Validation of Cooperative Controllers in Autonomous AC Microgrids Under Communication Delay

To enhance the stability and resiliency in autonomous microgrids, distributed frequency and voltage restoration controllers are prominently used these days. These controllers are executed using consensus algorithm which allows them to operate in a cooperative manner by exchanging information only among their neighbors. This information exchange is achieved through a cyber network which inherently exhibits time delays, packet loss, etc. However, traditional approaches in simulation do not translate an accurate cyber model to incorporate the abovementioned variables in the communication channel. Thus, a SimEvents based communication model is designed in this paper to simulate all the intermittent communication parameters. Along with this, small-signal analysis of an autonomous inverter based microgrid considering the maximum time delay as the stability margin is investigated. Upon determining the time delay margin, the value of the delay is tested in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment to validate the stability margin from theoretical studies.