Virtual generators: Simplified online power system representations for wide-area damping control

Abstract

This paper introduces a new concept called a Virtual Generator (VG). VGs are simplified representations of groups of coherent synchronous generators in a power system. They resemble commonly used power system dynamic equivalents obtained via generator aggregation techniques. Traditionally power system dynamic equivalents are developed offline, fixed, and used to replace large portions of the system that are considered external to the portion of the system being analyzed in detail. In contrast, VGs are calculated online, are not limited to representing external areas of the system being analyzed/controlled, and do not replace any portion of the power system. Instead, they allow wide-area damping controllers (WADCs) to exploit the realization that a group of coherent synchronous generators in a power system can be controlled as a single generating unit for achieving wide-area damping control objectives. The implementation of VGs is made possible by the availability of Wide-Area Measurements (WAMs) from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that the use of power system equivalencing techniques has been extended to real-time WADC. Simulation studies carried out on the 68-bus New England/New York power system demonstrate that intelligent controllers developed using VGs can significantly improve the stability of a power system by effectively damping low-frequency interarea oscillations.