Multi-Variable H∞ Control Approach for Voltage Ancillary Service in Autonomous Microgrids: Modelling, Design, and Sensitivity Analysis

Abstract

This paper proposes a multi-variable robust control scheme for voltage regulation in a diesel-photovoltaic-supercapacitor hybrid power generation system operating in stand-alone mode. First, we study the influence of system parameters on the dynamic behavior of open-loop system measured outputs by means of a stability analysis method based on Monte Carlo simulation. Next, by applying $\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ control theory, an $\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ -based voltage controller is proposed to robustly force the voltage magnitude of a point of common coupling such as to satisfy design specifications. A cascaded two-level control architecture, where this controller acts as an upper control level and provides references to classical PI-based current tracking controllers placed on a lower level, is developed. A comprehensive methodology that casts the specific engineering demands of microgrid operation into an $\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ control formalism is detailed. Effectiveness of the proposed voltage robust control strategy is validated via MATLAB®/Simulink® closed-loop time-domain simulations. Finally, we perform a sensitivity analysis of robust performance of the designed $\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$ controller in the presence of various load disturbances and model uncertainties through a series of closed-loop time-domain simulations carried out in MATLAB®/Simulink®.

Keywords

• Autonomous microgrids
• voltage ancillary service
• stability analysis
• multi-variable H∞ robust control
• uncertainties
• sensitivity analysis