Operation, Control and Stability in Active

Distribution Networks

Alejandro Garcés

Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

alejandro.garces@utp.edu.co

July 24, 2022

Objectives

· Recognize the role of mathematical optimization in the

hierarchical control of AC microgrids.
· Show current research in optimization and control for
active distribution networks and microgrids.
· Identify challenges for future active distribution networks.

2
Active distribution networks and microgrids
1 400 V

3
11
4 15 16 17
12
5 18
6
13
7

8
9 19

10
14
3
Power electronic converters
solar
dc dc
dc ac

wind
ac dc
dc ac
Grid
ac dc
hydro ac
dc

dc dc
dc ac
battery

4
Grid following converters

power or PCC
voltage x
dc
ac
vabc

PWM

dc-link current θ, ω
PLL
control control

Control objectives
Syncronize to the grid and control the dc-link (power or dc-voltage).

5
Hierarchical control

PSS AVR excitation

secondary control speed

tertiary control

primary
control governor

Grid
turbine generator
primary speed
control governor

PSS AVR excitation

6
Virtual synchronous machine

2H d∆ω
= PM − Pmax sin(δ) − kD ∆ω
ω0 dt
d∆δ
= ∆ω
dt

H.-P. Beck and R. Hesse, “Virtual synchronous machine,” in

Proc. 9th Int. Conf. Elect. Power Quality Util., Barcelona,
Spain, Oct. 9–11, 2007, p. 6

7
Grid forming

p̄k ωB

1 pk 1
p̃ 1+τk s
− ξk +
s θk

1 vk
q̃ 1+τk s qk − ζk +

q̄k v̄k

8
Equivalence

Inertia
2H τk
=
ω0 ξk
Damping
1
kD =
ξk

S. D’Arco, J.A. Suul, Equivalence of virtual synchronous

machines and frequencydroops for converter-based micro-
grids, IEEE Trans. Smart Grid 5 (1) (2014) 394–395,
https://doi.org/10.1109/TSG.2013.2288000.

9
Small signal model

!
  kD −pmax cos(δ0 ) 
∆ω̇ − 2H/ω 2H/ω0 ∆ω
= 0
∆δ̇ 1 0 ∆δ

stability criteria
kD
tr = − ≤0
2H/ω0
pmax cos(δ0 )
det = ≥0
2H/ω0

10
Eigenvalues as function of ξ

4,000

2,000
imag

−2,000

−4,000

−8,000 −6,000 −4,000 −2,000 0

real

11
Montecarlo simulation

3,000
Statistic frequency

2,000

1,000

0.972 0.974 0.976 0.978 0.980 0.982

ω[pu]

12
Sensitivity analysis
Parameter Effect
τ unstable for high values of τ
ξ, ζ unstable for high values of ξ and ζ
cable length remains stable
r/x relation unstable for high values of the resistance
power factor remains stable
generation scenario remains stable

Alejandro Garces, ”Small-signal stability in island residential

microgrids considering droop controls and multiple scenarios
of generation”, Electric Power Systems Research, Volume 185,
2020, 106371, ISSN 0378-7796, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
epsr.2020.106371.

13
Type of microgrids
Inductive systems
vk vm
p= sin(θkm )
xkm
v2 vk vm
q= k − cos(θkm )
xkm xkm

Resistive systems

vk2 vk vm
p= − cos(θkm )
rkm rkm
vk vm
q=− sin(θkm )
rkm

14
Droop controls

Conventional
ωk vk

pk qk
ωk vk
Inverse

qk pk

15
Grid-Forming Infinite-Bus (GFIB)

v∠δ
v∞ ∠0 = 1∠0

q0 PWM
ωB

1 q δ
q̃ − ξq + 1 Id0
1+τq s
Outter Inner
p loop Iq0 loop
1 v
p̃ 1+τp s − ξp +

p0 1pu

16
Small signal analysis (inverse droop)

Linearization    
∆q̇ ∆q
=A
∆δ̇ ∆δ
with !
− τ1q − v cos(δ
rτq
0)
A=
ξq ωB 0
Criteria of the trace and the determinant

tr(A) = −1/τq
ωB ξ q v
det(A) = cos(δ0 )
τq r

The system is stable for −π/2 ≤ δ ≤ π/2

17
Port-Hamiltonian representation

− τ1q −ξq ωB
    
∆q̇ ∂H/∂∆q
=
∆δ̇ ξq ωB 0 ∂H/∂∆δ
with
 
v q0 1
H=− cos(δ0 + ∆δ) + ∆δ + ∆q 2
rξq ωB τq τq ξq ωB 2

Property
H is a strictly convex function for −π/2 < δ < π/2

18
Geometric properties of H

20
H

0
1
−5 0
0 −1
5 ∆δ
∆q

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Stability
Droop q/ω:

Theorem (Transient stability)

The previous port-Hamiltonian model admits an equilibrium
point in δ ∈ [−π/2, π/2] and q0 ≤ v/r. This equilibrium is
unique and asymptotically stable.
Droop p/v:

Theorem
The equilibrium point for the voltage droop is stable if
2α(1 + v0 ) ≥ β

A. Garcès and W. Gil-Gonzàlez, Stability Analysis for a

Grid-Forming Converter with Inverse Droop Connected to
an Infinite Bus, 2021 IEEE 5th Colombian Conference
on Automatic Control (CCAC), 2021, pp. 286-290, doi:
10.1109/CCAC51819.2021.9633320.
20
Synchronization
1.01

1
frequency in pu

0.99

0.98

0.97

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
time in ms

21
Secondary control
freq
primary
control nominal

secondary
control
control horizon t

Rios, M.A.; Pérez-Londoño, S.; Garcés, A. Dynamic Perfor-

mance Evaluation of the Secondary Control in Islanded Micro-
grids Considering Frequency-Dependent Load Models. Energies
2022, 15, 3976. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15113976

22
Tertiary control

V2G
central control
wind
min f (v, s) microgrid
OPF equations
Box constraints

Subestation

23
Over-voltages and reverse flow

with solar
vmax

without solar
vmin

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

24
Electric vehicles

vmax

vmin

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

25
These problems are not new

1 S. Civanlar, J. J. Grainger, H. Yin and S. S. H. Lee,

Distribution feeder reconfiguration for loss reduction, in
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 3, no. 3, pp.
1217-1223, July 1988
2 C. W. Gellings, Power/energy: Demand-side load
management: The rising cost of peak-demand power means
that utilities must encourage customers to manage power
usage, in IEEE Spectrum, vol. 18, no. 12, pp. 49-52, Dec.
1981,
3 H. W. Dommel and W. F. Tinney, Optimal Power Flow
Solutions, in IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and
Systems, vol. PAS-87, no. 10, pp. 1866-1876, Oct. 1968

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How is this still a thing ?

· Lack of control and communication devices

· Cost of the technology (monopoly and business as usual)
· Interoperability and standards
· Policies favoring large-scale generation
· Lack of tailored mathematical/computational tools

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The mathematical programming problem

Model
min f (x), x ∈ Ω

· f (x) is usually convex

· Ω is non-convex, sometimes discrete
· Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Programming are among the
most difficult problems.
· The problem may be stochastic

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Power flow equations

In complex form:

s∗k = v∗k ik
Xn
= ykm v∗k vm
m=1

In real and imaginary form:

n
X
pk = gkm vk vm cos(θkm ) + bkm vk vm sin(θkm )
m=1
Xn
qk = gkm vk vm sin(θkm ) − bkm vk vm cos(θkm )
m=1
Power flow formulations

n
X
s∗k = ykm v∗k vm
m=1

Define wkm = v∗k vm :

· Linearize in the complex domain.
· Second order cone approximation.
· Semidefinite programming.
· Sum of squares and Lasserre hierarchy.

A. Garces. Mathematical programming for power

systems operation: from theory to applications in
Python. Wiley-IEEE Press. ISBN 9781119747284.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?bknumber=9640323

30
Complex linearization

wkm

vm
vk

A. Garces. “A linear three-phase load flow for power distribution

systems”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. Vol 31 Issue
1. Jan 2016
31
Second order cone approximation

x2
x1

∥x∥ < z

32
Second order cone optimization

wkm = vk∗ vm rank(X) = 1

X⪰0

Rn Rn×n

33
Supervisory control

Optimization Forecast
model module

State Power
estimation system

34
Model predictive control
P
min t L(t, v, s)
x Dynamic OPF constraints
Box constraints

t
m m+1 m+2 m+k m+N m+N +1

35
Frequency control using MPC
freq
primary
control nominal

secondary
control
control horizon t

A. M. Ersdal, L. Imsland and K. Uhlen, ”Model Predictive Load-

Frequency Control,” in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems,
vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 777-785, Jan. 2016, doi: 10.1109/TP-
WRS.2015.2412614.

36
How to guarantee stability ?

n−1
X
min L(t, xt , ut ) + VF (xn )
t=0
xt+1 = f (t, xt , ut )
ut ∈ U
xt ∈ X
xn ∈ XF

Strategies (transient stability)

· Use L or VF as Lyapunov function
· Long horizon n
· Constraint XF
37
Challenges in active distribution networks

· Nonlinear system
· Economic model predictive control
· One step ahead MPC
· Recursive feasibility

Oluleke Babayomi, Zhenbin Zhang, Tomislav Dragicevic, Ra-

sool Heydari, Yu Li, Cristian Garcia, Jose Rodriguez, Ralph
Kennel, Advances and opportunities in the model predic-
tive control of microgrids: Part II–Secondary and ter-
tiary layers, International Journal of Electrical Power and
Energy Systems, Volume 134,2022,107339,ISSN 0142-0615,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2021.107339.

38
Distributed supervisory control

V2G
wind
microgrid

local control

subestation

39
Conclusions and future research

About primary control:

· Primary control requires grid-forming converters in order
to operate in island.
· The system was stable in most conditions. Hence, the
droop constants can take a wide range of values without
jeopardizing the system’s stability.
· Inverse droop showed a remarkable stable behavior in
highly resisting microgrids when droop constants are well
designed.

40
Conclusions and future research

About secondary and tertiary control

· Secondary control may be integrated with tertiary control
in a supervisory control.
· Model predictive control may be the theoretical framework
for this control.
· Stability is a great challenge in this supervisory control.
· Distributed controls are a opportunity for future research.

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 Thanks a lot. Your questions are welcome !

alejandro.garces@utp.edu.co

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