Primary and Secondary Frequency Control of

Synchronous Machines
Ismail Ibrahim
14201741
1. Assignment

Consider the WSCC 9-bus 3-machine system shown in fig-1 with d-q axis machine models, AVRs
and turbine governors and consider a loss of load at bus 5 occurring at t = 1 s. Determine the
effect on frequency variations in the following scenarios:
1. Without turbine governors and AGC. Discuss the effect of increasing the inertia constant
and/or the damping of the synchronous machines.
2. With turbine governors but without AGC. Discuss the effect of varying the regulator gain of
the turbine governors and show some relevant cases, e.g., same droops for all governors and a
droop much bigger/smaller than the others.
3. With turbine governors and AGC coordinating all machines. Discuss through simulations the
effect of varying the gain 𝐾0 of the AGC.

Fig1: WSCC 9-bus test system.

2. Report
2.1 Objectives
This report illustrates the frequency response of synchronous machine without Turbine
Governors (TG) and Automatic Generation Control (AGC) for sudden loss of load in the power
system. The transient behavior of the system is investigated for various inertia constant and
damping of the synchronous machine. Then, analysis is repeated for the system with TG for
various regulator gain. The behavior of the machines is analyzed by assigning same droop for all
TG and droop much bigger/smaller than other TG. Then, analysis is repeated for the system with
both TG and AGC. The behavior of the machine is analyzed by varying 𝐾0 time constant of the
AGC.
2.2 Content
The report is structured as follows. Section 2.3 Fundamentals of Turbine Governors, explains the
basic function of TG and its operation. Section 2.4 Fundamentals of Automatic Generation
Control, explains the basic function of AGC. Section 2.5 Generator Behavior without TG and
AGC, explains the behavior of the machine without speed control and effect of varying inertia
constant and damping is discussed. Section 2.6 Generator Behavior with TG and without AGC,
explains the behavior of machine is discussed by varying regulator gain and droop settings.
Section 2.7 Generator Behavior with both TG and AGC, explains the behavior of generator by
varying 𝐾0 of AGC. Section 2.8 Conclusion.
2.3 Fundamentals of Turbine Governors (primary speed control)
For reliable and quality of the power system, the frequency (f) of the system should be
maintained constant [1]. The frequency of the system depends on active power (P), change in
active power demand causes a change in system frequency. The power system in real world is
constantly varying its demand and is unpredictable. The frequency of the system increases when
the active power generation is greater than demand and decreases when the active power
generation is lesser than demand. In order to provide active power with constant frequency for a
change in demand, TG is used to control turbine value which controls flow of steam/water in the
turbine.
The basis operation of TG is shown in fig 2.

Fig 2: Basic block diagram of Turbine Governor. [1]

Change in load is reflected as change in electrical torque (𝑇𝑒 ) which cause a mismatch between
electrical torque and mechanical torque (𝑇𝑚 ) which results in speed variation. The rotor speed is
represented as function of electrical and mechanical torque in the following transfer function
shown in fig 3.

Fig 3: Transfer function related to torque and speed. [1]

The relationship between torque (T) and power (P) is given by.
𝑃 = 𝜔𝑟 𝑇 Equation (1)
By considering small change in the power, torque and speed
𝑃 = 𝑃0 + 𝛥𝑃, 𝑇 = 𝑇0 + 𝛥𝑇, 𝜔𝑟 = 𝜔0 + 𝛥𝜔𝑟 Equation (2)
From Equation (1)
𝑃0 + 𝛥𝑃 = (𝜔0 + 𝛥𝜔𝑟 )(𝑇0 + 𝛥𝑇) Equation (3)
By neglecting higher order term we get
𝛥𝑃 = 𝜔0 𝛥𝑇+ 𝛥𝜔𝑟 𝑇0 Equation (4)
𝛥𝑃𝑚 − 𝛥𝑃𝑒 = 𝜔0 ( 𝛥𝑇𝑚 − 𝛥𝑇𝑒 ) + 𝛥𝜔𝑟 (𝑇𝑚0 − 𝑇𝑒0 ) Equation (5)
Since in steady state 𝑇𝑚0 − 𝑇𝑒0 = 0, 𝜔0 = 1(expressed in pu).
𝛥𝑃𝑚 − 𝛥𝑃𝑒 = 𝛥𝑇𝑚 − 𝛥𝑇𝑒 Equation (6)
Now Fig 3 can be expressed in term of power and speed as shown in fig 4.

Fig 4: Transfer Function related to power and rotor speed. [1]

Now the turbine mechanical torque is a function turbine value position and independent of
frequency within a range of speed variation. Considering the dynamics of servo and reheating
cycle of turbine the transfer function model is illustrated as shown in fig 5.
 Fig 5: Turbine Governor Control scheme.
2.4 Fundamentals of Automatic Generation Control (secondary speed control)
Turbine governor controls the output of the generator at constant frequency for a change in load
[1]. All generating units will contribute to the change in load according to its droop
characteristics. The Automatic Generation Control consider the constraints of the generator and
economic dispatch problems. The control includes minimizing fuel costs, to avoid operation in
undesirable ranges, and to minimize wear and tear of the equipment. The transfer function used
in the AGC is illustrated in fig 6.

Fig6: Automatic Generation Control Scheme.

2.5 Generator Behavior without TG and AGC

The model in fig 1 was simulated in dome with loss of load in bus 5 occurring at t=1s. Since
there is no speed control the machine operates at constant power 𝛥𝑃 = 0 as shown in fig 7.
Hence the rotor speed of the machine increases as shown in fig 8. Since all generators behavior is
same, only generator 1’s behavior is illustrated in this section.
 Fig 7: Effect of power due to loss of load without TG and AGC.
PGen1=power generator by generator 1

Fig 8: Effect of frequency due to loss of load without TG and AGC.

The fig 9, illustrates the effect of increasing inertia constant of the generator. By increasing the
inertia constant it was observed that the rate of change of frequency decreased but there was no
change in frequency characteristics.
 Fig 9: Effect of frequency by varying Inertia constant.
The fig 10, illustrates the effect of frequency by increasing damping of the machine. Increasing
the damping, the maximum limit of rotor speed reduces, hence the machine attains stability at
maximum frequency.

Fig 10: Effect of frequency by varying Damping

The fig 11, illustrates the effect of frequency by increasing both inertia constant and Damping of
the machine. It is observed the machine which higher inertia and damping the frequency
variation is negligible compared to the machine with lower inertia and damping.

Fig 11 Effect of frequency by varying both Inertia Constant and Damping.

2.6 Generator Behavior with TG and without AGC.

The isochronous (constant speed) governors with same speed settings cannot be used for two or
more units connected to the system, since they would fight each other to control the system
frequency. For stable load division, governors are provided droop characteristics, so that when
load increase the speed drops. The percentage speed regulation or droop (R), is given by the ratio
percentage frequency/speed change to percentage change in power output as shown in fig 12.
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
𝑅= 𝑋 100 Equation (7)
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑢𝑡
 Fig 12 Steady- State characteristics of governor with droop.
The fig 13, illustrates the effect of load change when the percentage speed regulation or droop is
same (5%) for all TG. It was observed that reduce in the power generation was proportional to
power rating of the machine as shown in fig 13.

Fig 13 Power output of generators with same TG droop

The droop of TG1 is kept as 50% and others as 5%. The drop in power output in generator was
lesser compared to other generator as shown in fig 14.

Fig 14 Power Output of generator with droop of TG1 higher than other TG.

The droop of TG1 is kept as 1% and others as 5%. The drop in power output in generator was
greater compared to other generator as shown in fig 15.

Fig 15 Power Output of generators with droop of TG1 is lesser than other TG.
The governor time constant is varied from 0.1s to 10s.and its frequency and power output
response is plotted in fig 16 and fig 17 respectively. It is observed that, lower the time constant
the lesser the frequency variation and vice versa.

Fig 16 Frequency change for various Governor Time constant (Ts).

Fig 17 Power output change with various Governor Time Constant (Ts).
2.7 Generator Behavior with both TG and AGC.
The AGC integrator gain (𝐾0 ) is varied from 0.5 to 500, it was observed the system is unstable
for big value of 𝐾0 , the system contains positive Eigen value as shown in fig 20. The system is
stable for 𝐾0 = 0.5,5, as shown in Fig 21 the system contains only non-positive Eigen value.
The fig 18 and fig 19 illustrates the frequency response and power output of generator1
respectively. It is observed the frequency variation is shared equally by all generator so only
generator1 behavior is discussed in this section.

Fig 18 Frequency response by varying 𝐾0 of AGC

Fig 19 Power output of generator1 by varying 𝐾0 of AGC

Fig 20: Eigen value plot for 𝐾0 =500s.

Fig 21: Eigen value plot for 𝐾0 =5s

2.8 Conclusion
This report has presented the effect of TG and AGC on Multi-Machine model with loss of load at
bus 5 shown in fig 1. The behavior and stability is defined by Time Domain Simulations. The
main result obtained are summarized below.
 The machine with smaller inertia constant and damping had high frequency variations.
 The machine shares load change equally proportional to rated power when all TG has
same setting. The machine shares lesser load change when droop setting is higher than
other TG and vice versa.
 The faster the TG (for smaller 𝑇𝑠 ), lesser the frequency variation.
 The big 𝐾0 of AGC result in instability. Smaller the 𝐾0 of AGC, lesser the variations and
better stability. Since AGC should be slower than TG, 𝐾0 is preferred in the range 1-5
seconds.
A Notations
This Appendix provides the notation of the equations, and parameters used in this report.
Abbreviations are also provided in this section.
Parameter
𝐾0 Time Constant of AGC integrator (s)
f Frequency of the machine (HZ).
P Active power generation of the machine (MW).
𝑃𝑚 Mechanical Power (pu)
𝑃𝑒 Electrical Power (pu)
𝑇𝑚 , 𝜏𝑚 Mechanical Torque (pu)
𝑇𝑒 Electrical Torque (pu)
𝑃𝑙 Load Power (pu)
H,M Inertia constant (MWs/MVA)
D Damping of the Generator
𝜔𝑟 Rotor Speed (pu)
s Laplace Operator
𝑇𝑎 Accelerating Torque (pu)
𝛥𝜔𝑟 Rotor speed Deviation (pu)
𝛥𝑃 Power Deviation (pu)
𝛥𝑇 Torque Deviation (pu)
𝛥𝑃𝑚 Mechanical Power Deviation (pu)
𝛥𝑃𝑒 Electrical power Deviation (pu)
𝛥𝑇𝑚 Mechanical torque Deviation (pu)
𝛥𝑇𝑒 Electrical torque Deviation (pu)
𝑃0 Initial value of power (pu)
𝑇0 Initial value of torque (pu)
𝜔0 Initial value of rotor speed (pu)
𝜔𝑟𝑒𝑓 Reference speed of rotor (pu)
R Percentage speed regulation or droop
Ts Turbine Governor Time Constant
𝑃𝑚𝑆𝑦𝑛4 1 Power output of generator1
𝑃𝑚𝑆𝑦𝑛4 2 Power output of generator2
𝑃𝑚𝑆𝑦𝑛4 3 Power output of generator3

Abbreviations
AVR Automatic Voltage Regulator
WSCC Western Systems Coordinating Council
AGC Automatic Generation Control
TG Turbine Governor.

B Data File
The data file that describe WSCC system is given below
# DOME format version 1.0

Bus, Vn = 16.5, area = 4.0, idx = 1, name = "Bus 1"

Bus, Vn = 18.0, area = 5.0, idx = 2, name = "Bus 2"
Bus, Vn = 13.8, area = 3.0, idx = 3, name = "Bus 3"
Bus, Vn = 230.0, area = 2.0, idx = 4, name = "Bus 4"
Bus, Vn = 230.0, area = 2.0, idx = 5, name = "Bus 5"
Bus, Vn = 230.0, area = 2.0, idx = 6, name = "Bus 6"
Bus, Vn = 230.0, area = 2.0, idx = 7, name = "Bus 7"
Bus, Vn = 230.0, area = 2.0, idx = 8, name = "Bus 8"
Bus, Vn = 230.0, area = 2.0, idx = 9, name = "Bus 9"

PQ, Vn = 230.0, bus = 6, idx = 6, name = "PQ 1", p = 0.9,

q = 0.3, vmax = 1.2, vmin = 0.8, z = 0.0
PQ, Vn = 230.0, bus = 8, idx = 8, name = "PQ 2", p = 1.0,
q = 0.35, vmax = 1.2, vmin = 0.8, z = 0.0
PQ, Vn = 230.0, bus = 5, idx = 5, name = "PQ 3", p = 1.25,
q = 0.5, vmax = 1.2, vmin = 0.8, z = 0.0
Switch, dev = "PQ", devid = 5, t1 = 1.0, u1 = True

PVgen, Vn = 18.0, bus = 2, busr = 2, idx = 2, name = "PVgen 1",

pg = 1.63, qmax = 99.0, qmin = -99.0, v0 = 1.025
PVgen, Vn = 13.8, bus = 3, busr = 3, idx = 3, name = "PVgen 2",
pg = 0.85, qmax = 99.0, qmin = -99.0, v0 = 1.025

Slack, Vn = 16.5, bus = 1, busr = 1, idx = 1, name = "Slack 1",

pg = 0.8, qmax = 99.0, qmin = -99.0, v0 = 1.04
Line, Vn = 230.0, Vn2 = 230.0, b = 0.209, bus1 = 9, bus2 = 8,
idx = 1, name = "Line 9-8", r = 0.0119, x = 0.1008
Line, Vn = 230.0, Vn2 = 230.0, b = 0.149, bus1 = 7, bus2 = 8,
idx = 2, name = "Line 7-8", r = 0.0085, x = 0.072
Line, Vn = 230.0, Vn2 = 230.0, b = 0.358, bus1 = 9, bus2 = 6,
 idx = 3, name = "Line 9-6", r = 0.039, x = 0.17
Line, Vn = 230.0, Vn2 = 230.0, b = 0.306, bus1 = 7, bus2 = 5,
idx = 4, name = "Line 7-5", r = 0.032, x = 0.161
Line, Vn = 230.0, Vn2 = 230.0, b = 0.176, bus1 = 5, bus2 = 4,
idx = 5, name = "Line 5-4", r = 0.01, x = 0.085
Line, Vn = 230.0, Vn2 = 230.0, b = 0.158, bus1 = 6, bus2 = 4,
idx = 6, name = "Line 6-4", r = 0.017, x = 0.092
Line, Vn = 18.0, Vn2 = 229.999998722, bus1 = 2, bus2 = 7, idx = 7,
name = "Traf 2-7", trasf = True, x = 0.0625
Line, Vn = 13.8, Vn2 = 230.0, bus1 = 3, bus2 = 9, idx = 8,
name = "Traf 3-9", trasf = True, x = 0.0586
Line, Vn = 16.5, Vn2 = 230.000001394, bus1 = 1, bus2 = 4, idx = 9,
name = "Traf 1-4", trasf = True, x = 0.0576

Syn4, M = 47.28, Td10 = 8.96, Tq10 = 0.31, Vn = 16.5, bus = 1,

gen = 1, idx = 1, name = "Syn4 1", xd = 0.146, xd1 = 0.0608,
xq = 0.0969, xq1 = 0.0969
Syn4, M = 12.8, Td10 = 6.0, Tq10 = 0.535, Vn = 18.0, bus = 2,
gen = 2, idx = 2, name = "Syn4 2", xd = 0.8958, xd1 = 0.1198,
xq = 0.8645, xq1 = 0.1969
Syn4, M = 6.02, Td10 = 5.89, Tq10 = 0.6, Vn = 13.8, bus = 3,
gen = 3, idx = 3, name = "Syn4 3", xd = 1.3125, xd1 = 0.1813,
xq = 1.2578, xq1 = 0.25

Avr1, Ae = 0.0039, Be = 1.555, Ka = 20.0, Kf = 0.063, Ta = 0.2,

Te = 0.314, Tf = 0.35, idx = 1, name = "Avr1 1", syn = 1
Avr1, Ae = 0.0039, Be = 1.555, Ka = 20.0, Kf = 0.063, Ta = 0.2,
Te = 0.314, Tf = 0.35, idx = 2, name = "Avr1 2", syn = 2
Avr1, Ae = 0.0039, Be = 1.555, Ka = 20.0, Kf = 0.063, Ta = 0.2,
Te = 0.314, Tf = 0.35, idx = 3, name = "Avr1 3", syn = 3

Tg1, syn = 1, pmax = 1.6, agc = "AGC"

Tg1, syn = 2, pmax = 3.2, agc = "AGC"
Tg1, syn = 3, pmax = 1.7, agc = "AGC"

AGC, idx = "AGC", k0 = 50

Reference
[1] Prabha Kundur, "Power System Stability and Control", McGraw-Hill. ,1994, pp581-626.
[2] Federico Millano, “ Dome- A Python package for power system analysis”,2013.