Modified control of Virtual Synchronous Generator

for Microgrid Stability Improvement

1st Khalid Mehmood Cheema 2nd Rana Sarmad Mahmood∗ 3rd Muhammad Faizan Tahir
Shool of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering School of Electric Power
Southeast University COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus South China University of Technology
2021 International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technologies (IBCAST) | 978-1-6654-0516-4/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IBCAST51254.2021.9393174

Nanjing, China Lahore, Pakistan Guangzhou, China

kmcheema@seu.edu.cn sp19-pee-001@cuilahore.edu.pk epfaizantahir 2k7@mail.scut.edu.cn

4th Kashif Mehmood
School of Electrical Engineering
Southeast University
Nanjing, China
kashif mehmood@seu.edu.cn
5th Muhammad Yaqoob Javed 6th Abdul Rehman Tariq
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering School of Automation
COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus Southeast University
Lahore, Pakistan Nanjing, China
yaqoob.javed@cuilahore.edu.pk artariq@seu.edu.cn

Abstract—The power generation from renewable energy
sources-based power systems is increasing rapidly, and virtual
synchronous generator (VSG) has recently drawn considerable
attention. It is anticipated that VSG improve the power and
frequency regulation of islanded microgrid. However, the large
disturbance and parallel integration of VSG with conventional
synchronous generators cause significant fluctuation in power
and frequency due to sudden change in the virtual rotor speed of
VSG. In order to suppress the effects of these instability elements,
a modification is proposed in VSG control. According to the
proposed modification, an auxiliary inertia unit is incorporated
into VSG control along with additional power loop. Moreover,
MATLAB/Simulink simulation is developed to analyze and eval-
uate the effects of the proposed modification in the islanded
microgrid, and the results show the effectiveness of the proposed
modification.
Index Terms—virtual synchronous generator, microgrid, syn-
chronous generator, transient stability
I. I NTRODUCTION
Power generation by renewable energy resources attracts
great interest due to positive effects on the environment [1-
3]. The microgrid consists of an inverter-based distributed
generator, energy storage, and distributed load. The microgrid
possesses the necessary elements to integrate renewable energy
sources with the utility grid. However, a microgrid can be
operated in standalone as well as grid connected mode. Micro-
grids are extremely susceptible to instabilities; thus, the core
focus of research is towards managing the transient stability of
system and frequency regulation [4, 5]. For example, in grid
connected mode, the main grid is responsible for managing
the frequency oscillations and voltage magnitude; in contrast,
it is essential to manage and sustain the frequency oscillations
and voltage magnitude for standalone mode within specified
limits. When the power system goes through a disturbance,
the synchronous generator supplies the required energy by
releasing its potential energy. At the same time, distributed
generation units can’t withstand the disturbance and turn
down from the system. To eliminate this issue, the VSG is
incorporated in the distributed generation unit [6].
Generally, a VSG system consists of a distributed generator,
energy storage system, electronic inverter, and filters. VSG
mimics the dynamic characteristics of the synchronous gener-
ator and initially proposed in [7, 8]. According to analysis and
predictions, VSG based distributed generation system will be
a critical part of the future power system [9]. Therefore, it is
crucial to analyze and evaluate the stability response of VSG
during the disturbance.
In [10], an alternate moment of inertia technique is proposed
to analyze and enhance the VSG transient stability. In [11],
the transient angle stability of a VSG is investigated by
Lyapunov’s direct method. The deteriorative effect of reactive
power control loop on transient angle stability is analyzed,
and voltage variation is incorporated into an approximate
Lyapunov’s direct method. According to the proposed method,
the inverter internal voltage is treated as a parameter rather
than a state variable. Moreover, the influence of different
parameters on transient angle stability is carried out along with
an enhanced control strategy to improve the transient angle
stability by adjusting the reference power. Similarly, in [12-14]
various authors use the Lyapunov method and center of inertia
to analyze the transient stability of VSG along with some
modified and improved controls to improve the functionality
of the power system.
In [15], the process of frequency oscillation during distur-
bance is theoretically analyzed using the power-angle curve
and equal area criterion method, with the conclusion that the
deviation and changing rate of angular velocity can be changed
by inertia time constant of VSG. Similarly, [16, 17] analyses
the power-angle characteristic of VSG in stable operation and
output current saturation condition, and then utilizes the equal-
area criterion used in synchronous generator stability analysis
to calculate the fault critical clearing angle. However, these
researches are limited to simple VSG based power system in

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grid connected mode, while skipping the analysis for islanded
mode and Multiple VSG connected in parallel. Moreover,
experimental results are not included in this research. In [18],
the VSG control algorithm adaptive virtual rotor inertia is
proposed, and it is concluded that the inertia coefficient should
be selected flexibly considering the requirements of transient
overshoot response.
However, in this paper, the proposed modification in VSG
control is implemented for a power system consisting of
multiple VSGs and SGs is carried out. Furthermore, simulation
analyses are performed to evaluate the integrating effect of
VSGs along with SGs on the power system. The remaining
paper is systematized as follows. Section II describes the
fundamental structure of VSG. The proposed modification is
discussed in section III. The simulation results are presented
in section IV, and section V discusses the conclusion of the
paper.
II. F UNDAMENTAL S TRUCTURE OF VSG
Fig.1 depicts the simple structure of a VSG, which is
developed for a renewable energy source based distributed
generator. This system consists of a VSG control algorithm,
energy storage system, DC/AC converter, a filter circuit, gov-
ernor unit, which are connected to the grid.
According to Fig. 1, vabc and iabc are the AC side voltage,
and current of the inverter, respectively. voabc and ioabc are the
LC filtered voltage, and current, respectively. Er and δ are the
internal potential amplitude and phase angle of VSG. vgabc is
the grid voltage, and R, Lf , and Cf are the filter resistance,
inductance, and capacitance, respectively. Lg is the gridline
inductance, and Pe , Pm , and Qe , Qm is the active power and
reactive power output by VSG. Various VSG control strategies
Fig. 1. Simple structure of VSG
provide active and reactive power control and voltage and
frequency stability. Generally, VSG control strategies have
been developed to enable an electronic convertor to mimic the
characteristics of an SG. The SGs’ swing equation is employed
as the key equation to develop VSG, and it is described as:
dω
J = Tm − Te − D (ω − ωr )
dt
dδ
=ω
dt
where J is the virtual inertia, D is the damping coefficient,
ω is the virtual angular frequency, ωr is rated angular fre-
quency, Tm is the mechanical torque, Te is electromagnetic
torque, and δ is the power angle. The input mechanical torque
can be calculated as:
Pm = Pref − kp (ω − ωr )
Tm = (2)
ωr
where Pm , and Pe is the input and output power of the
inverter, respectively. To mimic the electromagnetic charac-
teristics of SG, for VSG, the stator electrical equation of the
synchronous generator is generally simulated without consid-
ering the electromagnetic relationship between stator and rotor.
According to Fig. 1, it can be expressed as:
diabc
Lf = eabc − vabc − Riabc (3)
dt
In order to calculate the reference phase and frequency of
modulating signal, the active power-frequency loop of VSG
mimics the primary frequency regulation, damping, and inertia
of SG. Whereas, modulating signal amplitude is calculated
by a reactive power-voltage loop which mimics the voltage
regulation of SG. The mathematical equation for active power-
frequency loop of VSG including the simple governor is
described as:
dω Pm Pe
J = − − D(ω − ωr ) (4)
dt ω ω
The VSG control structure used in this paper is analyzed
and validated in [19]. This VSG control structure possesses
an auxiliary damping controller, which helps VSG to improve
its damping characteristic. Due to the existence of a virtual
damping coefficient, the integration of VSG can improve the
equivalent damping of the power system.
III. P ROPOSED M ODIFICATION
The control structure of the VSG active power frequency
loop with a simple governor is illustrated in Fig. 2(a). Consid-
ering the power angle stability of power system, the equal area
criterion is used for transient stability analysis. The variable
nature of power generation from renewable energy sources
affects the input power of VSG; therefore, the auxiliary inertia
and additional power are incorporated in the active power
frequency control loop of VSG.
A. Auxiliary inertia
The auxiliary inertia incorporation in governor unit is il-
lustrated in Fig. 2(b). In the conventional VSG, the governor
unit is different and regressive in comparison to the governor
unit of SG because of the absence of inertia in it. Due to
this difference, the power and frequency stability response of
conventional VSG is quite distorted in comparison with SG
during significant fault or disturbances.
Mathematically the simple governor control of conventional
VSG, including droop control, can be stated as:
Pm
(1) Tm =
ωr (5)
Pm = Pref − kp (ω − ωr )

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 TABLE I
VSG PARAMETERS

Parameters Values Parameters Values

Grid Voltage 400 V Cf 0.21
Rated power 18 kVA Lg 0.38
Fundamental Frequency 50 Hz Dp 40
Auxiliary Inertia .6 kq 3.18
Inertia .90 ka 1.40
Lf 0.03 kδ 3.3
R 0.04 kp 2.5

TABLE II
SG PARAMETERS

Parameters Values
Rated Power 18 kVA
Rated Voltage 13.8 kV
Inertia 1.5
Fig. 2. Control Structure of VSG (a) Conventional VSG Governor (b) Rated pf 0.88
Modified VSG Governor

where kp is the angular frequency regulation coefficient.
To compete with the governor unit of the SG, auxiliary
inertia is added into the conventional VSG governor unit and
mathematically it can be represented as:
ka ( Pωetr + (kp s − ki ))
Tm =
(s + kc )s
where kc is the time constant, ka is the gain, kp and ki
is the angular proportional and integral gain, and Pδ is the
auxiliary power. This auxiliary inertia improves the stability
and convergence time of proposed VSG in comparison to the
conventional VSG. Moreover, auxiliary inertia helps to im-
prove the power and frequency stability during system faults,
and proposed VSG governor unit behaves as governor unit
of SG. Consequently, proposed VSG consist of two different
separate inertia, therefore the flexibility of VSG widens in
comparison to conventional VSG.
of the active power-frequency loop of VSG and T is the time
constant of the isolation link, which is used to avoid static error
interference during steady state operation. Moreover, auxiliary
inertia and additional power reduce the amplitude of frequency
oscillation and suppress the frequency exceeding the threshold
in the transient process.
(6)
IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS
In order to verify the effectiveness and validate the proposed
modification, the simulation model is developed according to
the electric circuit shown in 3, which suffers with the short
circuit fault. The system and control parameters of VSG and
SG are listed in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively.

B. Additional Power
In order to improve the power-angle stability of the system
by applying the equal area criterion, it is necessary to increase
the active output power of VSG. Therefore, to fulfil this
task, additional power is incorporated into the active power
frequency loop as depicted in Fig 2(b). According to this
method, during the large transient fault, a grounding resistance
is connected parallel to the VSG, which increase the output
active power and prevent the VSG from losing stability. There-
fore, the addition of auxiliary power into power-frequency loop
changes the swing equation, which can be rewritten as:
dω
J = Tm − Te − D (ω − ωr )
dt
dδ
=ω
dt
(1 + αT s)
Pδ = kδ
1 + Ts
where kδ is the synchronisation coefficient, α is the lead-
lag component which needs to compensate for the phase delay
Fig. 3. Power-angle characteristic curve of M-VSG
Considering the Fig. 3, in which a conventional VSG and
proposed VSG are integrated parallel to SG and their dynamic
response is observed in case of short circuit. The diverse
characteristics for power regulation of SG and VSG cause
massive power fluctuation when both generators are connected
in parallel. Therefore, the auxiliary inertia of governor unit
helps to suppress the fluctuations caused by disturbances
during parallel integration. The comparative analysis results
(7) of conventional VSG, proposed VSG and SG are shown in
the following figures.
The power-angle response is shown in Fig. 4, and it can be
observed that when conventional VSG is connected parallel to
the SG and fault occurs, the power-angle deviates significantly
and continue to deviate even after fault is cleared. However,

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Fig. 4. Power-angle response of conventional VSG, proposed VSG and SG
proposed VSG acts as an SG effectively. When proposed VSG
is connected parallel to SG, the power-angle deviates slightly
and stabilises quickly due to auxiliary inertia of governor unit
and additional power.
The frequency response for parallel integration of conven-
tional VSG, proposed VSG with SG is shown in Fig. 5. When
proposed VSG is connected parallel to the SG and fault occurs,
the frequency deviates slightly due to the auxiliary inertia
and additional power terms. The proposed VSG governor
unit significantly improves the frequency response for parallel
integration scenarios. Moreover, frequency achieves steady
state quickly after fault eliminated from the system.
Fig. 5. Frequency response of conventional VSG, proposed VSG and SG
In Fig. 6, the active power response is illustrated. It can
be seen that during the fault when conventional VSG inte-
grated parallel to SG the active power of conventional VSG
deviates significantly, and continue to fluctuate even the fault
is cleared from the system. However, when proposed VSG
is integrated parallel to SG, the active power of proposed
VSG deviate slightly during the fault due to the auxiliary
inertia and additional power in proposed VSG opposes the
significant deviation. Consequently, after fault eliminated from
the system, active power oscillates slightly in comparison to
the active power of SG.
Fig. 6. Active power response of conventional VSG, proposed VSG and SG
The reactive power response of parallel integration conven-
tional VSG and proposed VSG with SG is shown in Fig. 7.
It is illustrated in Fig. 7 that during parallel integration of
conventional VSG and SG, the reactive power deviation of
conventional VSG is large enough. When the fault eliminates
from the system, the reactive power of conventional VG con-
tinues to oscillate. Whereas, when proposed VSG is integrated
parallel to SG, the reactive power deviate slightly during fault
but achieve a somewhat steady state upon fault elimination
after slight oscillations.
Fig. 7. Reactive power response of conventional VSG, proposed VSG and
SG
In Fig. 8, the total power of SG, conventional VSG and
proposed VSG are shown. It is shown that during and after
the fault, the conventional VSG power deviates and starts os-
cillation. The conventional VSG experience significant power
fluctuation due to parallel integration with SG. However, the
power of proposed VSG deviates during the fault, but it
quickly gains the steady state after fault clearance. Moreover,
the power response of parallel integrated proposed VSG and
SG is fairly similar during and after the fault because of the
auxiliary inertia of governor unit and additional power.

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Fig. 8. Total power response of conventional VSG, proposed VSG and SG
A. Discussion
Considering the simulation results it can be observed that
when SG in parallel to conventional VSG or proposed VSG
connected to a large grid, and a significant fault occurs,
then conventional VSG behaves quite differently. In contrast,
proposed VSG behaviour is somewhat similar to the SG.
According to the equal area criterion, the power-angle of
conventional VSG suffers significant deviations in comparison
to SG. Whereas the power-angle of proposed VSG is quite
similar in this case. Moreover, it is shown in results that
the frequency response, active and reactive power response
of conventional VSG, is quite distorted, while proposed VSG
follows the SG effectively.
Additionally, various techniques are proposed to improve
transient stability of VSG, such as incorporating auxiliary
damping control into VSG control, apply centre of inertia
technique to the VSG, integrating the improved power decou-
pling technique to VSG control. Mostly, these techniques are
suitable for islanded or multiple VSG system and significantly
difficult to implement and analyse. However, the incorporation
of additional power and auxiliary interia into VSG control
and the stability analysis with equal area criterion is relatively
easy for single or two machines connected to a large grid in
comparison to other techniques.
V. C ONCLUSION
This paper discusses and analyses the power angle stability
of VSG based power system for the transient duration. In order
to overcome the instability of the power system due to a large
disturbance, an additional power term and auxiliary inertia are
added into the active power loop of VSG. The auxiliary inertia
supports the frequency during the transient process; whereas,
additional power minimises the power angle deviation. Fur-
thermore, for simulation analysis, proposed modified VSG,
conventional VSG are connected to conventional SG sepa-
rately in grid connected mode. The simulation results show
that the proposed control technique reduces the fluctuation of
VSG power angle, frequency and active and reactive power.
However, a further deep and thorough analysis is required for
the proposed control technique by considering the various type
of scenarios for grid connected and islanded mode.
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