Robust Load-Frequency Control in Islanded Microgrids: Virtual Synchronous Generator Concept and Quantitative Feedback Theory

Increasing penetration of renewable energy sources based on power electronic interfaces in traditional power systems reduces the inertia constant and damping coefficient. It also increases uncertainty and the sensitivity of the system to disturbances. The concept of the virtual synchronous generator (VSG) is used to emulate the inertia constant and damping property like a synchronous generator. It can be shown that all given VSG structures have the same dynamics as the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. In this paper, the quantitative feedback theory (QFT) is used to tune the VSG parameters such that robust system stability and performance are guaranteed. Moreover, the desired disturbance attenuation is also taken into account. Through frequency response analysis and time-domain simulations, it is shown that the proposed strategy can be successfully used to solve the load-frequency control problem in islanded microgrids (MGs). In addition, the proposed QFT-based VSG is compared with another robust VSG designed by the well-known
$H_\infty$
technique to illustrate its better performance against disturbances.