High-Bandwidth Distributed Virtual-Inertia Converters for AC Microgrids

Abstract

In the modern power grid, the increasing level of penetration of renewable energy generation is creating a need for the augmentation of power system inertia as conventional synchronous machines are unable to provide this feature alone. Virtual synchronous generators (VSGs) make power converters to emulate the dynamic frequency response of traditional synchronous generators. In this paper, the emulated virtual inertia of a VSG is applied to improve the frequency response of a model predictive-controlled (MPC) distributed AC microgrid (MG) system. The simulated proposed control was demonstrated to be effective for high-inertia frequency response and high bandwidth voltage tracking after the occurrence of sudden active power and reactive power load changes at the common bus of the MG system.