See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/350368571

Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids with Synchronous Generation

Through Comparative Analysis of Operating Scenarios

Chapter · March 2021

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-72208-1_9

CITATION READS

1 42

3 authors, including:

Iván Patricio Pazmiño

10 PUBLICATIONS 12 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Iván Patricio Pazmiño on 26 April 2023.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Study of Transient Angle Stability
in Microgrids with Synchronous Generation
Through Comparative Analysis
of Operating Scenarios

Iván Pazmiño Ordóñez1(&) , Edwin Ponce Minaya1 ,

and Hugo Pico Mera2
1
Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, Manta, Ecuador
{ivan.pazmino,bernardo.ponce}@uleam.edu.ec
2
Corporación Nacional de Electricidad, Manta, Ecuador
hugo.pico@cnel.gob.ec

Abstract. Improving the understanding of the dynamic response of electrical

power systems to disturbances is a topic of high interest both for the academic
community and for network operators who must take measures to guarantee the
stability of the system. So, the following document proposes a comparative
study of operating scenarios through the implementation of a simulation tool to
study the transient stability of microgrids with synchronous generation con-
nected to the electrical power system. Matlab-Simulink has been used for its
development. From this computational tool, the simulation of the dynamic
response of a typical microgrid with synchronous generation is carried out, in
order to evaluate its angle stability against a fault condition in different stages.
This is done in four cases, the first is a base case, with values in per unit
specified in the methodological development, from which the critical time of
fault clearance is determined; in the second, its H value is increased by 20%; in
case 3 the base case is modified by increasing the maximum power during the
failure, finally in case 4 the base case is modified by increasing the maximum
power by 20% before and after failure. The different responses of the system are
compared and analyzed in the results discussion section.

Keywords: Microgrid
Synchronous generation
Transient stability

1 Introduction

Microgrids are small-scale power electrical systems with distributed energy generation
resources (such as micro-turbines, synchronous fuel generators, wind generators, or
photovoltaic panels) in conjunction (occasionally) with energy storage devices [1, 2].
One of the main advantages of microgrids is that they present flexibility in their
modes of operation (Fig. 1); for example, these systems can be operated autonomously
or linked to the conventional electrical network [3, 4].
Microgrids in recent years have managed to increase their attention in the literature
[5], which can be justified, among other reasons, by the growing trend towards the

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

M. Botto Tobar et al. (Eds.): CIT 2020, LNEE 762, pp. 106–122, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72208-1_9
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 107

integration of distributed generation units to conventional networks [6]. Additionally

the microgrids development offers benefits in energy security, and clean energy inte-
gration [7]. Although it is true that this vertiginous growth has been strengthened by the
progressive integration of renewable energy into the grids, synchronous generation
maintains its importance, among other reasons because its use is widely extended in
hybrid systems [8].

Microgrids operating modes

Connected
Island to the
network

With energy storage Without energy Relatively

systems storage systems stable

They have drawbacks

With diesel Without diesel such as wasted
power plants power plants energy or load
sectioning

Voltage and
Diesel generating frequency of the
units control the system is
voltage and controlled by
frequency of the electronic "droop
system control" symtems.

Fig. 1. Microgrids operating modes

Historically synchronous generators have been the main ones in charge of guar-
anteeing the frequency stability of the system, however, they do not always have the
ability to keep the system stable when disturbances occur [9], mainly when the clearing
time of a fault exceeds the critical time allowed by the system to maintain stability.
In an electrical power system, stability is related to the response of the system at a
given operating point when it is subjected to a certain disturbance [10], that is why the
108 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

same electrical network subjected to the same disturbance can be stable in one oper-
ating point and unstable in another (for example, off-peak and peak hours respectively).
Similarly, the same network at the same operating point can be stable to one
disturbance and unstable to another [11]. Consequently, stability studies usually require
the analysis of many cases, in order to cover the different disturbances of interest and
the main operating points of the system.
This paper focuses on transient stability, which can be defined as the ability of the
electrical system to maintain synchronism when it is subjected to a strong disturbance,
for example, a lack in the transmission network, a loss of generation or loss of a
significant amount of charge [12].
The electrical system responds to a disturbance of these characteristics with large
variations in the angles of the synchronous generators and large oscillations in the
power flows, voltages and other variables of the system. If the angular separation
between synchronous generators is small and remains within certain established limits,
then the system maintains synchronism [13]. Otherwise it loses synchronism, which
usually becomes evident 2 or 3 s after the disturbance.
One of the most widespread strategies for the study of systems such as the one
addressed in this case study is the equal areas criterion [14, 15], which is a graphic
method to evaluate the transient stability applicable to systems such as the one shown
in the Fig. 2.
Previous papers make references to studies of transient stability in microgrids, like
for instance [16, 17]; however, most of them are focused on the modelling of com-
ponents rather than on the comparative study of the system in different operating
scenarios, and this is where the present work contributes to the state of art.

2 System Description

For the study addressed in this document, a characteristic system of a microgrid with
synchronous generation connected to an infinite bus through a transformer and a double
transmission line will be used, as shown in Fig. 2. For the study presented in this paper,
all system losses have been neglected.

L1

G
L1
a
b c
Fig. 2. Electric power system with a generator and infinite bar
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 109

The equivalent circuit of the Fig. 2 it is shown in Fig. 3, from which the simplified
system of the Fig. 4.

X L1
X´d Xt
a b
Eg δ Ered 0°
X L2
Pe

Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit of the electric power system with a generator and an infinite power bar

X Eq

Eg δ Ered 0°
Pe

Fig. 4. Simplified electrical power system circuit with a generator and infinite power bar

Where Eg is the internal voltage of the synchronous generator and d is its internal
angle, XEq is the equivalent reactance of the system, Ered is the voltage of the infinite
power bus, and the power delivered by the generator Pe is defined as shown in the
Eq. (1)

Eg * Ered
Pe ¼ senðdÞ ð1Þ
XEq

3 Methodology
3.1 Scenarios Considered for the Analysis
To perform the analysis of this system, the Matlab/Simulink computer simulation tool
has been used, with which the elements of interest have been modeled as indicated in
Sect. 3.2 of this document.
The simulation reproduces the response that a microgrid with synchronous gen-
eration would have in the event of a three-phase fault. In order to quantitatively
evaluate the impact that each of the operating scenarios represents on the system, the
110 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

values of the inertia constant H and the maximum power before and after the failure are
modified. This analysis is carried out in four operational scenarios, as indicated below.
The first is a base case, with values of Eg= 1[pu], Ered= 1[pu], XEq= 0.5, an initial
angle dini de 18°, a constant of inertia H = 10 s y D = 0.02, from which the critical
fault clearance time is determined.
In case 2, taking as reference the data provided in the base case, the value of H is
increased by 20%.
In case 3 the base case is modified by increasing the maximum power during the
failure, so that it only drops to 20% of the maximum power before the failure.
Finally, in case 4 the base case is modified by increasing the maximum power by
20% before and after the failure.
In each of the analyzed scenarios, the corresponding critical fault clearance time is
analytically established, which is corroborated by the dynamic response of the system
after entering it in the simulation tool.
The frequency used for the study has been the one available in most regions of
America, that is, 60 Hz.

3.2 System Modeling

The results obtained by the model of the system used are directly related to the
mathematical foundation of the criterion of equal areas [14, 18], for whose explanation
it is convenient to start from the oscillation equation of the synchronous machine, as
shown in the Eq. (2)

d2 d x0
¼ ðPm  Pe Þ ð2Þ
dt2 2H

Where H is the inertia constant, x0 the synchronous frequency, Pm incoming

mechanical power and Pe the outgoing electrical power. Multiplying on both sides of
the equation by 2dd/dt, remains as shown in the Eq. (3).


d dd 2 x0 ðPm - Pe Þ dd
¼ ð3Þ
dt dt H dt

Integrating between two points A and B, the Eq. (3) can be rewritten as:

2
2
dd dd dmax
Z x0 ðPm - Pe Þ
 ¼ dd ð4Þ
dt B dt A do
H

It is necessary to determine two points A and B where the derivative of the angular
deviation d is null so that the left member is also null [19]. One of those points is the
initial operating point d0. The second point is associated with the maximum angular
deviation dmax, where the angular deviation has reached its maximum value and begins
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 111

to de-grow, consequently its deviation is zero, and consequently the Eq. (4) can be
rewritten as:

dmax
Z x 0 ðPm - Pe Þ
0¼ dd ð5Þ
do
H

If to the Eq. (5) the integral is separated by parts and it is rearranged as shown in
the Eq. (6).

dZ1 x0 ðPm - Pe Þ dmax

Z x0 ðPe - Pm Þ
dd¼ dd ð6Þ
d0
H d
H
1

The first and second members of the Eq. (6) correspond to the areas A1 y A2 This
relationship allows determining the maximum oscillation dmax and help evaluate the
stability of the system without resorting to numerical methods of integration.
Additionally, from the expressions indicated above, it is possible to determine the
critical time to maintain stability, as indicated in the Eq. (7)

dcc = cos1 ½ðp2doÞsendo - cosdo ð7Þ

Based on the Eq. (7) it is possible to determine the critical time, which would be
expressed as shown in the Eq. (8)
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
4H
tc = ðdcc - do) ð8Þ
Ps  wo

Since the frequency stability of the system will be evaluated, it is convenient to

introduce the simplified models of each one of the generating units in the representation
given by the oscillation equation. As a function of incremental magnitudes in values
per unit, according to [9], this equation remains as indicated in (9), where H is the
equivalent inertia constant of the system and D is the coefficient of variation of demand
with frequency

d Dx½pu
2H + DDx½pu ¼DPm½pu DPe½pu ð9Þ
dt

Finally, the model developed in Matlab-Simulink is obtained based on the transfer

function [20] of (9) as shown in the Fig. 5.
112 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

Active
Power

Angular
velocity
P0[pu] Pin[pu] 1
Σ 2 Hs + D
1
s
Angle

∆ P0[pu] − ∆ Pduring the fault[pu]

∆ Pbefore the fault[pu]

Fault clearance
time

Fig. 5. Model implemented in Matlab-Simulink

4 Results

4.1 First Case

The critical time is calculated from the Eq. (7), where replacing the data given, we
would have a critical angle equal to 100.0044° and the critical time is determined as
indicates (8), resulting 495.82 ms
After introducing these values in the simulation, it is possible to obtain the response
of the system when the fault clearance time is less than and greater than the critical time
as it is shown below

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 6. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 1 with a fault
clearance time less than the critical
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 113

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time.

Fig. 7. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 1 with a fault
clearance time greater than the critical

4.2 Second Case

Based on the Eq. (8), and increasing by 20% in the value of H, it results a critical time
of 543 ms
After introducing these values in the simulation, it is possible to obtain the response
of the system as it is shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 8. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 2 with a fault
clearance time less than the critical
114 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time

Fig. 9. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 1 with a fault
clearance time greater than the critical

4.3 Third Case

In case 3 the base case is modified by increasing the maximum power during the
failure, so that it only drops to 20% of the maximum power before the failure, thus,
similar to the previous cases, using the simulation tool the new critical time is esti-
mated, which is equal to 720 ms.

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 10. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 3 with a fault
clearance time less than the critical
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 115

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time

Fig. 11. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 1 with a fault
clearance time greater than the critical

4.4 Fourth Case

Using the Eq. (1) and considering the 20% increase in maximum power, the new value
of the delta angle is calculated, resulting a new delta angle equal to 14.92°. With this
new value, based on the Eq. (7) it is possible to determine the critical time analytically,
and the new critical angle would be 106.94°, and therefore the new critical time is
505 ms.

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 12. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 4 with a fault
clearance time less than the critical
116 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time

Fig. 13. Response of angular velocity, delta angle and active power for case 1 with a fault
clearance time greater than the critical

5 Analysis and Discussion of Results

Case 1
The Eq. (8) is useful to find the critical time, with an approximate value due to it is
obtained from a simplified model, that is, where the effect of the variation in demand
with frequency (D) is not considered. The “real” value of the critical time will be
slightly higher than the calculated one, however it is a very valid reference to begin
evaluating the critical time of the simulation, which has been determined at a value of
495.82 ms.
It is evident that by slightly increasing the value of time over the critical the system
becomes unstable, which is mainly evidenced in the behavior of the delta angle and of
the angular velocity, where it can clearly be seen that the system cannot recover.
Case 2
By increasing the value of H by 20%, the critical time increases from 495.82 ms (Case
1) to 543 ms, that is, it has increased by 9.5% which means that by increasing the
inertia constant in a system, it improves its ability to recover from failure.
Analogous to Case 1, by slightly increasing the value of time on the critical, the
system becomes unstable, which is mainly evidenced in the behavior of the delta angle
and the angular velocity, where it can clearly be seen that the system cannot recover
Case 3
By increasing the electrical power of the system in a fault condition (20% of the power
before the fault), again there is a positive impact on the response of the system against
failure, that is, the critical time has increased from 543 ms (Case 1) to 720 ms, so, it has
increased by 32.5% which is even greater than the one obtained in Case 2.
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 117

Once again, by slightly increasing the value of time over the critical, the system
becomes unstable, which is mainly evidenced in the behavior of the delta angle and
angular velocity, where the system cannot recover.
Case 4
In comparison with the base case, again there is a positive impact on the response of the
system to the failure, that is, the critical time of 495.82 ms (Case 1) has been increased
to 505 ms.
Once again, by slightly increasing the value of time over the critical time, the system
becomes unstable, which is mainly evidenced in the behavior of the delta angle and
angular velocity.
Finally, in order to observe clearly the behavior of each variable of interest through
the time, in each one of the scenarios, those have been compared as it is shown in
Fig. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.

5.1 Angular Velocity

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 14. Comparison of the angular velocity response with a fault clearance time less than the
critical time
118 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time

Fig. 15. Comparison of the angular velocity response with a fault clearance time greater than the
critical time

5.2 Delta Angle

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 16. Comparison of the delta angle response with a fault clearance time less than the critical
time
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 119

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time

Fig. 17. Comparison of the delta angle response with a fault clearance time greater than the
critical time

5.3 Active Power

System response with fault clearance time less than critical time

Fig. 18. Comparison of the active power response with a fault clearance time less than the
critical time
120 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

System response with fault clearance time greater than critical time

Fig. 19. Comparison of the active power response with a fault clearance time greater than the
critical time

6 Conclusions

This paper presented a comparative study of operating scenarios through the imple-
mentation of a simulation tool to study the transient stability of microgrids with syn-
chronous generation connected to the electrical power system, focused on angle
stability.
Using a model developed in Matlab-Simulink, the angle stability of a microgrid has
been evaluated. This was done in four cases.
The first is a base case, the critical time of fault clearance has been determined,
where critical time of the simulation, which has been calculated at a value of
495.82 ms.
In the second, its H value was increased by 20%, and the critical time increases
from 495.82 ms (Case 1) to 543 ms, which means that by increasing the inertia con-
stant in a system, it improves its ability to recover from failure.
In case 3 the base case is modified by increasing the maximum power during the
failure, so it only dropped to 20% of the maximum power before the failure, here the
critical time has increased from 543 ms (Case 1) to 720 ms, so, it has increased by
32.5% which is even greater than the one obtained in Case 2 as a result of increasing H.
In case 4 the base case was modified by increasing the maximum power by 20%
before and after failure, and again there was a positive impact on the response of the
system to the failure, that is, the critical time of 495.82 ms (Case 1) has been increased
to 505 ms.

Acknowledgements. The author Iván Pazmiño Ordóñez thanks the Secretary of Higher Edu-
cation, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) of the Republic of Ecuador, whose
financing (Contract Nº: CZ02-000683-2018) has made possible his postgraduate studies, whose
partial results are documented in this work. The author Hugo Pico Mera thanks the Secretary of
Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) of the Republic of
Ecuador, whose financing (Contract Nº: CZ04-000673-2018) has made possible his postgraduate
studies, whose partial results are documented in this work.
 Study of Transient Angle Stability in Microgrids 121

References
1. Gil Marcelino, C., Baumann, M., Eduardo Maciel De Almeida, P., Fialho Wanner, E., Weil,
M.: A new model for optimization of hybrid microgrids using evolutionary algorithms. IEEE
Lat. Am. Trans. 16(3), 799–805 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/tla.2018.8358658
2. Parhizi, S., Lotfi, H., Khodaei, A., Bahramirad, S.: State of the art in research on microgrids:
a review. IEEE Access 3, 890–925 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2015.2443119
3. Mokhtari, M.B., Vazinram, F., Gandomkar, M.: Dynamic and stability analysis of
microgrids with synchronous machines in grid-connected and islanded modes. Proc.
Mediterr. Electrotech. Conf. - MELECON 1, 788–791 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1109/
melcon.2012.6196548
4. Song, Y., Hill, D.J., Liu, T.: Transient stability analysis of microgrids with a line-based
model. In: 19th Power System Computing Conference PSCC 2016 (2016). https://doi.org/
10.1109/pscc.2016.7540963
5. Abu-Elzait, S., Parkin, R.: Economic and environmental advantages of renewable-based
microgrids over conventional microgrids. IEEE Green Technology Conference, vol. 2019,
pp. 1–4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1109/greentech.2019.8767146
6. Liu, J., Huang, W.: Operation and Regulation Scheme and the Application for Microgrids.
IEEE Power Energy Soc. Gen. Meet. 2017, 1–5 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/pesgm.2017.
8274127
7. Hirsch, A., Parag, Y., Guerrero, J.: Microgrids: A review of technologies, key drivers, and
outstanding issues. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 90, 402–411 (2018). https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.rser.2018.03.040
8. Vani, T.G., Preetha, K.P.: Performance analysis of a synchronous generator based hybrid
power system. In: 2016 International Conference Next Generation Intelligent Sys-
tem ICNGIS 2016 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/icngis.2016.7854033
9. Kundur, P.: Power System Stability And Control.pdf, 2 edn. McGraw-Hill, New York
(1994)
10. Singh, R., Kirar, M.: Transient stability analysis and improvement in microgrid. In:
International Conference Electrical Power Energy System ICEPES 2016, vol. 1, pp. 239–
245 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/icepes.2016.7915937
11. Kundur, P., et al.: Definition and classification of power system stability. IEEE Trans. Power
Syst. 19(3), 1387–1401 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1109/tpwrs.2004.825981
12. Andersson, C., Solem, J.E., Eliasson, B.: Classification of power system stability using
support vector machines. IEEE Power Eng. Soc. Gen. Meet. 1(2), 650–655 (2005). https://
doi.org/10.1109/pes.2005.1489266
13. Wong, P.L.: Stability study of power system. IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl. 37(1), 73–80 (2014).
https://doi.org/10.1109/28.903129
14. T. Sadakawa, A. Sato, R. Tanabe, and S. Iwamoto, “Transient stability evaluation by the
time domain equal-area criterion using the Taylor series expansion,” IEEE Reg. 10 Annu. Int.
Conf. Proceedings/TENCON, vol. 2017-Decem, pp. 66–71, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1109/
tencon.2017.8227838
15. Abdelaziz, A.Y., Ibrahim, A.M., Hasan, Z.G.: Transient stability analysis with equal-area
criterion for out of step detection using phasor measurement units. Int. J. Eng. Sci. Technol.
5(1), 1 (2018). https://doi.org/10.4314/ijest.v5i1.1
16. Veerashekar, K., Bichlmaier, A., Luther, M.: Transient Stability of Hybrid Stand-alone
Microgrids Considering the DC-Side of Photovoltaics, May 2019
122 I. Pazmiño Ordóñez et al.

17. Cheng, H., Shuai, Z., Shen, C., Liu, X., Li, Z., John Shen, Z.: Transient angle stability of
paralleled synchronous and virtual synchronous generators in islanded microgrids. IEEE
Trans. Power Electron. 35(8), 8751–8765 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1109/tpel.2020.2965152
18. Fang, L., Ji-lai, Y.: Transient stability analysis with equal area criterion directly used to a
non-equivalent generator pair. In: POWERENG 2009 - 2nd International Conference Power
Engineering Energy Electric Drives Proceedings, pp. 386–389 (2009). https://doi.org/10.
1109/powereng.2009.4915162
19. Chen, X., Du, W., Wang, H.F.: Power system angular stability as affected by the reduced
inertia due to wind displacing synchronous generators. In: 2017 2nd International
Conference Power Renewable Energy. ICPRE 2017, pp. 402–406 (2018). https://doi.org/
10.1109/icpre.2017.8390567
20. Salam, M.A.: Transient stability analysis of a power system with one generator connected to
an infinite bus system. Int. J. Sustain. Energy 33(2), 251–260 (2014). https://doi.org/10.
1080/14786451.2011.630469

View publication stats