A Cooperative Rate-Based Model Predictive Framework for Flexibility Management of DERs

Collective self-consumption is driving the transformation of distribution networks towards independently controllable community microgrids. The objective of this work is to utilize limited heterogeneous flexibilities in the system to perform grid-support functions to evade additional investment on dedicated storage facilities. We propose a cooperative receding horizon control that allows optimal use of the collective resources over the prediction horizon. The conventional linear state-space model employed in the predictive control is replaced by a novel rate-based model that propagates state derivatives rather than the states across the prediction horizon, thus eliminating offset errors. The proposed cooperative predictive control strategy with rate-based model has been applied to the microgrid frequency control problem. The proposed control strategy has been illustrated on a power hardware-in-the loop platform by modeling a microgrid system with grid-supporting
der
s. The simulations reveal the effectiveness of the proposed strategy by comparing the control solution with a dedicated storage facility and its replacement distributed flexible resources.