2013 2nd International Symposium on Instrumentation and Measurement, Sensor Network and Automation (IMSNA)

An Improved Frequency Control Method for Microgrid in Islanded Operation

Yong You, Gang Wang, Chang-hua Zhang, Jing-ru Lian

School of Energy Science and Engineering
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,
Chengdu 611731, Sichuan Province, China
E-mail:yyyouyong@126.com

Abstract— Some existing microgrid frequency control methods
imitated traditional power system primary frequency
regulation and secondary frequency regulation. Advantages
and disadvantages of this imitation are analyzed and an
improved frequency error integral regulation method for
islanded microgrid operation is proposed in this paper. The
proposed control strategy can implement no-error adjustment
of microgrid frequency. In order to overcome the drawbacks
of low inertia of microgrid, motion equation of rotor of
synchronous generator (SG) is supplemented to the proposed
frequency control strategy, which can make frequency to reach
a new steady state relatively slowly while loads fluctuate
rapidly. Therefore, stability of frequency in microgrid is thus
improved. Typical operation states of microgrid operated in
islanded mode, such as load random fluctuation, are simulated
based on MATLAB/Simulink. Simulation studies prove the
effectiveness of the proposed frequency control strategy.
Keywords-microgrid; islanded operation; frequency control;
no-error adjustment; improved frequency error integral
regulation
I. INTRODUCTION
frequency error integral regulation method.
Based on what has been discussed above, advantages and
disadvantages of droop control method and frequency error
integral regulation method imitating traditional power
system primary frequency regulation and secondary
frequency regulation respectively are studied. Then an
improved frequency error integral regulation method is
proposed in this paper, which can achieve no-error regulation
and improve anti-disturbance ability of frequency of
microgrid in islanded operation.
II. FREQUENCY CONTROL OF MICROGRID—DROOP
CONTOL AND FREQUENCY ERROR INTEGRAL REGULATION
A. Main Circuit Topology and Control Block Diagram of
Microgrid Inverter
As shown in Fig. 1, a model including a DC voltage
source connected to three-phase full-bridge inverter can be
used to represent micro-generation sources. LC filter is
mainly used to filter out the higher harmonics [6-7].
Microgrid
feeder line
S1 S3 S5 iLi L fi
A uoi
ioi Louti

+ B
Microgrid that comprises distributed generation (DG) U dc
- C
units together with energy storages and controllable loads is S4 S2 S6 Z ld
becoming a hot research field [1]. Since frequency is one of ici C fi Load

key index to stable operation of power grid, and operation

characteristics and control strategies of DGs are absolutely uoi
abc
ioi

dqo
different from SG which have been widely applied for Drive circuit
Power calculation
hundreds years, thus frequency control strategy of islanded ici uoi
P Q
Pn
microgrid operation is one of the crucial research issues [2]. SPWM Current loop
iiref Voltage loop
uiref
Droop control
Modulator
Microgrid can be operated in two ways: interconnected to controllor controllor
Qn

distribution network or in islanded mode [3-4]. Control Bottom control unit Top control unit

strategies of microgrid in both operation modes are proposed
in reference [4]. Generally inverter will equip with these two
control strategies corresponding to two operations models,
but there lies possibility of mode switch failure. Reference [5]
proposed virtual inertia frequency control strategy based on
droop control to relieve shortages of microgrid low inertia
and poor anti-disturbance ability of frequency, however it
failed to make no-error adjustment of microgird frequency.
Reference [6] brought out a novel control strategy of
microgrid inverter based on virtual synchronous generator
concept, and presented in detail a new implementation
method of secondary frequency regulation - frequency error
integral regulation method, but it ignored disadvantages of
Figure 1. Microgrid main circuit topology and its control block
In Fig 1ˈi=a,b,cˈand Udc is DC voltage source. Lfi, Cfi
are filter inductor and capacitor respectively. Louti is coupled
inductor between inverter and feeder line. ici is filter
capacitor current. Zld is load impedance. uoi and ioi represent
output voltage and output current, and ici is current flowing
through the filter capacitor.
The outputs of droop controller uiref are acted as output
voltage reference signal and iiref is capacitor current reference
signal. Sinusoidal pulse-width modulator (SPWM) generates
high frequency control signal for driving the three-phase
voltage source inverter.

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 2013 2nd International Symposium on Instrumentation and Measurement, Sensor Network and Automation (IMSNA)

B. Error Regulation of Microgrid Frequency-Droop
Control Strategy
Currently-used droop control strategy is described in Fig
2 [5]:
Figure 2. Droop control block diagram
where m and h are active power-frequency droop control
coefficient and reactive power-voltage droop control
coefficient respectively; Pn, Qn, Un, Ȧn are rated active power,
reactive power, voltage and frequency of micro-generation,
P&Q are output active power and reactive power of
micro-generation; Ȧref is reference frequency. The
integration of Ȧref is reference phase șref. Uref is reference
voltage amplitude. Finally Urefǃșref are fed into reference
voltage generating block to generate symmetrical
three-phase reference voltage uiref (i=a,b,c).
C. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Droop Control
Strategy
Active power-frequency droop control strategy can be
written as
same time, and loads are shared in a balanced way.
(2) Formula (5) shows that each inverter’s contribution is
inversely proportional to its droop coefficients. So load
share is controllable, which is inherent advantages of
droop control.
(3) Formula (1) shows droop controller can’t guarantee
system frequency operating at its nominal state. The
larger the system load changes, the greater the
frequency deviation, which is inherent drawbacks of the
droop controller.
D. Micro-grid Frequency No-error Regulation: Frequency
Error Integral Regulation Method
Frequency error integral regulation method can achieve
no-error regulation of grid frequency [8]. The control
strategy for single inverter is just as follows:
³ Δfdt + K ΔP = 0 (6)
where K represents power-frequency proportional
coefficient. The frequency is stable because of the existence
of integral part.
If multiple inverters in microgrid adopt this frequency
error integral regulation method for parallel operation,
frequency regulation equations of system are just as follows:
­ Δ fd t + K 1 Δ P1 = 0
°³
°° Δ fd t + K Δ P = 0 (7)
®
³ 2 2

Δf + mΔP = 0 (1) ° ""

°
Only equation (1) is satisfied, can adjustment process be °̄ ³ Δ fd t + K n Δ Pn = 0
completed when load variation causes system frequency Due to various points have same frequency in system, the
fluctuation. integral part œǻƒdt of each inverter are the same. When load
If there are n microgrid parallel operation inverters, increase ǻPL, system frequency adjustment can be described
system frequency adjustment can be described with with following equations (8) and (9).
following equations (2). n −³ Δfdt
1 1 1
­ Δf + m1ΔP1 = 0 ΔPL = ¦ ΔPi = −³ Δfdt ( + +" ) = (8)
° Δf + m ΔP = 0 i =1
K1 K2 Kn Kx
° 2 2
® (2) n
1
""
°
°¯ Δf + mn ΔPn = 0
Kx = 1 ¦K (9)
i =1 i

where ǻƒ represents the incremental frequency of where Kx is equivalent power-frequency proportional

microgrid system; mi (i=1,2…n) is the i-th inverter’s active coefficient of parallel system and contribution of each
power-frequency droop coefficient, and ǻPi is the i-th inverter is:
inverter’s active power increment. ΔPi =
Kx
ΔPL (10)
Assuming system load increment is ǻPL, since frequency Ki
of each point of the system is consistent, then at the end of Frequency error integral regulation method has
adjustment process, there must be: advantages that could stabilize system frequency at the rated
n
1 1 1 Δf frequency. From (10), it can be found that contribution of
ΔPL = ¦ ΔPi = −Δf ( + + "" ) = − (3)
i =1
m1 m2 mn mx each inverter is shared proportionally.
n
The disadvantages are that frequency error integral signal
1
mx = 1 ¦m (4) œǻƒdt lags change of instantaneous frequency value ǻƒ. So
i =1 i adjustment process of integral regulation is relatively slow
where mx is the equivalent droop coefficient of system. and it seems too negative when system load changes much.
From (2) ~ (4), extra power contribution for each inverter
is III. AN IMPROVED FREQUENCY ERROR INTEGRAL
m REGULATION
ΔPi = x ΔPL (5)
mi
A. Improved Frequency Error Integral Regulation
From (1) ~ (5), it can be found that droop control strategy Method
has its advantages and disadvantages just like followings:
Based on what has been discussed in chapterĊ,
(1) Each inverter participate frequency adjustment at the

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 2013 2nd International Symposium on Instrumentation and Measurement, Sensor Network and Automation (IMSNA)

adjustment speed of droop control is relatively quick, but As inertia of SG rotor, SG has certain anti-disturbance
fails to achieve frequency no-error regulation. The frequency ability for system frequency disturbance. In order to
error integral regulation method can achieve no-error ameliorate poor anti-disturbance ability of microgrid, SG
regulation of frequency. However, the adjustment process is rotor motion equations is added to the improved frequency
relatively slow. Thus in is paper, an improved frequency error integral regulation controller. The motion equations of
error integral regulation method is presented and non-error the SG rotor are as follows.
frequency regulation of microgrid is realized. The improved Pm − Pe d Δω
− DΔω = J (16)
frequency error integral regulation equation is as follows. ω dt
1 dθ
Δf + R(ΔP + ³ Δfdt ) = 0 (11) =ω (17)
K dt
where ǻP is increment of active power; R is error where Pm is mechanical power of SG; Pe is
adjustment coefficient, and K is power-frequency electromagnetic power of SG; D is the damping coefficient;
conversion coefficient. ș is electrical angle; ǻȦ is electrical angular velocity error; Ȧ
When system load fluctuations, instantaneous frequency is electrical angular velocity; J is rotor inertia. If number of
deviation part RǻP responses this change rapidly, which can pole pairs is set as 1, electrical angular velocity Ȧ is equal to
make micro-generation devices generate extra active power mechanical angular velocity ȍ.
quickly. With the decrease of frequency deviation, frequency
error integral regulation part œ1/Kǻfdt realizes no-error C. The Control Strategy of Improved Frequency Error
adjustment of frequency. Integral Adjustment
If multiple inverters of microgrid are in parallel operation, The improved frequency error integral regulation method
the frequency adjustment equations of improved frequency control block diagram is shown in Figure 3.
error integral regulation are as follows. fn
n
f 1 P Pm motion equation
­ 1
° Δf + R1 ( ΔP1 + α1 ³ K Δfdt ) = 0
R
of rotor uaref

Reference voltage
generating block
1 1 Pn P ref
° f S K
1 1 ref
° Δf + R (ΔP + α 1 Δfdt ) = 0 2 S ubref
° 2 2 2³ (12)
® K
Qn Uref
° "" Q
h U ucref
°
°Δf + R (ΔP + α 1 Δfdt ) = 0 Q
n³
Un
°̄ n n
K
where Įi (i=1,2...n) is the power distribution coefficient Figure 3 The control block diagram of improved frequency error integral
of i-th inverter. regulation
n
¦ αi = 1 (13) Voltage control loop block and current control loop block
i =1 are shown in figure 4.
When system load increase ǻPL, after the adjustment is
finished ǻƒ=0, then based on equation (12), frequency
regulation equations (14) can be obtained:
­ 1
° ΔP1 + α1 ³ K Δfdt = 0 Figure 4. Voltage and current loop control block
°
° ΔP + α 1 Δfdt = 0
° 2 2³ where Kp ǃKi represent proportional gain and integral
® K (14)
° "" gain of PI controller respectively; k is the proportional gain
° of P controller of the current loop. Other parameters are as
° ΔP + α 1 Δfdt = 0
°̄ n n³ the same meanings as the above.
K
As different places in system have the same frequency, IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
œǻƒdt part of each inverter are the same, then
n
1 1
Simulations presented in this paper were carried out via
ΔPL = ¦ ΔPi = −³ Δfdt (α1 + α 2 + "αn ) = −³ Δfdt (15) Matlab/Simulink. The values of important parameter are
K K
i =1 shown in table I.
Thus the contribution for i-th inverter is: ǻPi = ĮiǻPL.
It can be found that the load is shared proportionally To verify performance of the proposed control strateg\
when multiple inverters use improved frequency error improved frequency error integral regulation controller,
integral regulation controller. The improved frequency error typical operation states of islanded microgrid, such as load
integral regulation method combines the advantages of droop changes in step or shock ways, or random fluctuation, are
control and error integral regulation method, and is able to simulated. Fig.5ΥFig.6 and Fig.7 show results respectively
respond to load fluctuation quickly and achieves frequency for different operation situations.
no-error adjustment.
As shown in Fig. 5, active power of the load increase 5kW
B. The Introduction of Synchronous Generator Rotor when t = 1s, then microgrid frequency drops to 49.5Hz.
Motion Equation After 0.5s later, the system frequency recovers to 50Hz. It is
can be found that grid frequency is always kept between

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 2013 2nd International Symposium on Instrumentation and Measurement, Sensor Network and Automation (IMSNA)

49.5Hz and 50.5Hz through whole process, therefore the

proposed control strategy can maintain system frequency
stability when load changes in a step way.
TABLE ĉ.SIMULATION PARAMETERS

DC voltage Udc 800V

Nominal phase voltage (rms)
Inverter filter inductor Lƒi
Inverter filter Capacitor Cfi
Rotor inertia J
Damping coefficient D
Error adjustment coefficient R
PoweU-frequency conversion coefficient K
Reactive power-voltage droop coefficient h
Proportional gain of PI controller Kp
Integral gain of PI controller Ki
Proportional gain of P controller k
Nominal active power of micro-generation Pn
Nominal reactive power of micro-generation Qn
In Fig.6, load shock happens at the time of t = 1s, then
system frequency decreased, but recovered to 50Hz at the
time of t = 1.5s. After load shock is removed at t = 2s,
system frequency rises slightly, at the time of t = 2.5s back
to 50Hz and operates stably. The proposed control strategy
ensures microgrid frequency remain stable under load
shock.
P/W
220V
0.6mH
Figure 7. The frequency response to load fluctuation
1500μF
0.023kg.m2 V. CONCLUSION
0 This paper discusses in details the advantages and
-4 disadvantages of current microgrid frequency control
10
strategies: droop control strategy and frequency error
10-5 integral control strategy. The proposed frequency control
3*10-5 method can achieve no-error regulation of frequency, and
also has a fast response speed when load fluctuates with
10
large amplitude. In order to suppress drawbacks of small
100 inertia of microgrid, the rotor equations of SG are
5 introduced. This makes system frequency to reach a new
20kW
steady state slowly when load fluctuates rapidly and
improved stability of microgrid in some extent. Simulation
10kvar results show that the control strategy can effectively
suppress the islanded microgrid frequency offset and
achieved frequency stability.
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Figure 5. The frequency response to load step
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Figure 6. The frequency response to load shock
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