Abstract
Modern power distribution systems require reliable, self-organizing and highly scalable voltage control systems, which should be able to promptly compensate the voltage fluctuations induced by intermittent and non-programmable generators. However, their deployment in realistic operation scenarios is still an open issue due, for example, to the presence of non-ideal and unreliable communication systems that allow each component within the power network to share information about its state. Indeed, due to technological constraints, time-delays in data acquisition and transmission are unavoidable and their effects have to be taken into account in the control design phase. To this aim, in this paper, we propose a fully distributed cooperative control protocol allowing the voltage control to be achieved despite the presence of heterogeneous time-varying latencies. The idea is to exploit the distributed intelligence along the network, so that it is possible to bring out an optimal global behavior via cooperative distributed control action that leverages both local and the outdated information shared among the devices within the power network. Detailed simulation results obtained on the realistic case study of the IEEE 30-bus test system are presented and discussed in order to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach in the task of solving complex voltage control problems. Finally, a robustness analysis with respect to both loads variations and hard communication delays was also carried to disclose the efficiency of the approach.
Highlights
The conceptualization of flexible and reliable architecture for voltage control assumes a key role in modern smart grids (SG) [1], where the solution of the dichotomy between the strictly power quality requirements, and the need for increasing the hosting capacity of renewable power generators represents one of the most relevant issues to address [2]
The online voltage regulation as well as the reduction of power losses in a SG is commonly achieved through the optimal coordination of under load tap changing (ULTC) transformers, capacitor banks, flexible alternating current (AC) transmission system (FACTS) devices, a distribution STATCON (D-STATCON) and a power electronic transformer (PET), all combined with the aim of supporting the load bus’s voltage magnitude and improving the power quality at the distribution level
A set of sensors allowing measuring the set of local electrical variables, such as voltage magnitude, and active and reactive bus power; A control module that computes its action on the basis of predictions from a dynamic system or agent model, whose state is initialized by sensor measurements, evolving interactively with the states of nearby controllers according to a bio-inspired paradigm
Summary
Delays have to be considered time-varying functions whose actual values depend on the specific communication link under investigation To face this issue in this paper we propose a fully distributed and decentralized control architecture (see [25] and references therein for an overview the main advantages of the approach) that allows one to address the voltage regulation problem in a SG despite the presence of time-varying communication latencies. Leveraging the theoretical framework of delayed MAS, we propose for each smart controller a fully distributed cooperative algorithm that, running on the basis of outdated information, ensures that each electrical node converges towards the desired behavior, as imposed by the generators within the power grid, while counteracting the effect of the time-varying communication latencies.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
