ECE 2795

Microgrid Concepts and Distributed

Generation Technologies

Spring 2017

Week #12

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Introduction
• Synchronous generators
• Input:
• Mechanical power applied to the rotor shaft
• Field excitation to create a magnetic field constant in
magnitude and that rotates with the rotor.
• Output:
• P and Q (electric signal with a given frequency for v and i)

Field
Excitation Q

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Introduction
• Synchronous generators
• Open circuit voltage:
d
e  NS E  N S  ERMS  4.44 K d K p fN S 
dt
1
 NR IR
l
A

Magneto-motive force
(mmf)

IR

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Synchronous generators control
• Effect of varying field excitation in synchronous generators:
• When loaded there are two sources of excitation:
• ac current in armature (stator)
• dc current in field winding (rotor)

• If the field current is enough to generate the necessary mmf,

then no magnetizing current is necessary in the armature and
the generator operates at unity power factor (Q = 0).
• If the field current is not enough to generate the necessary
mmf, then the armature needs to provide the additional mmf
through a magnetizing current. Hence, it operates at an inductive
power factor and it is said to be underexcited.
• If the field current is more than enough to generate the
necessary mmf, then the armature needs to provide an opposing
mmf through a magnetizing current of opposing phase. Hence, it
operates at a capacitive power factor and it is said to be
overexcited.
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Synchronous generators control
• Relationship between reactive power and field excitation
http://
baldevchaudhary.blogspot.com/
2009/11/what-are-v-and-inverted-
v-curves.html

• The frequency depends on the rotor’s

speed. So frequency is controlled
through the mechanical power.
• Pmec is increased to increase f
• Pmec is decreased to decrease f

Field
Excitation Q

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• The simplified equivalent circuit for a generator and its output equation
is:
Q, pE
LOAD

• Assumption: during short circuits or load changes E is

constant
• V is the output (terminal) voltage
E.V E.V
pe  sin   
X X

Electric power provided to the load

XQ
E V 
E
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• It can be found that
d
  (t )  syn
dt
• Generator’s angular frequency • (Micro) Grid’s angular frequency

• Ideally, the electrical power equals the mechanical input power.

The generator’s frequency depends dynamically on δ which, in turn,
depends on the electrical power (=input mechanical power). So by
changing the mechanical power, we can dynamically change the
frequency.

• Likewise, the reactive power controls the output voltage of the

generator. When the reactive power increases the output voltage
decreases.

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• Droop control
• It is an autonomous approach for controlling frequency and voltage
amplitude of the generator and, eventually, the microgrid.
• It takes advantage that real power controls frequency and that
reactive power controls voltage

f  f 0   k P ( P  P0 ) V  V0   kQ (Q  Q0 )

f V

f0 V0

P Q
P0 Q0

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• Droop control
•Then a simple (e.g. PI) controller can be implemented. It considers
a reference voltage and a reference frequency:
•If the output voltage is different, the field excitation is changed
(and, thus, changes Q and then V).
•If the frequency is different, the prime mover torque is
changed (and thus, changes P and then f).
f  f 0   k P ( P  P0 ) V  V0   kQ (Q  Q0 )
f V

f0 V0

P Q
P0 Q0
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• Operation of a generator connected to a large grid
• A large grid is seen as an infinite power bus. That is, it is like a
generator in which
• changes in real power do not cause changes in frequency
• changes in reactive power do not originate changes in voltage
• its droop control curves are horizontal lines

f V

P Q

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• Operator of a generator connected to a large grid
• When connected to the grid, the voltage amplitude and frequency
is set by the grid.
• In order to synchronize the oncoming generator, its frequency
needs to be slightly higher than that of the grid, but all other
variables need to be the same.

f V
f gen VG
fG

P Q

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Voltage and frequency control
• Operator of a generator connected to a large grid
• After the generator is paralleled to the grid then its output
frequency and voltage will remain fixed and equal to the grid’s
frequency and voltage, respectively.
• Output power is controlled by attempting a change in frequency by
controlling the prime mover’s torque. By “commanding” a decrease
in frequency, the output power will increase.
• A similar approach is followed with reactive power control, by
controlling field excitation in an attempt to change output voltage.
Higher commanded f Higher power output
frequencies

Operating frequency
No load droop line

P1 P2 P
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 A brief summary
• In conventional ac grids, large machine inertia helps to
maintain stability.
• Since frequency needs to be regulated at a precise value,
imbalances between electric and mechanical power may
make the frequency to change. In order to avoid this issue,
mechanical power applied to the generator rotor must follow
load changes. If the mechanical power cannot follow the load
alone (e.g. due to machine’s inertia), energy storage must be
used to compensate for the difference. This is a situation
often found in microgrids.
• Reactive power is used to regulate voltage.
• Droop control is an effective autonomous controller.

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
• Consider a microturbine in a microgrid controlled by droop control.
• Primary control:
vref  vref , NL  I T RD vref , NL  vn  VR / 2 VR  I T ,max RD
• Secondary control (voltage deviation compensation)
 vref  K p (vMG ,ref  vMG )  Ki  (vMG ,ref  vMG )dt Depends on microgrid
bus voltage
vref  ( vref  vref , NL )  I T RD NOTE: Based on Guerrero et al “Hierarchical Control
of Droop-Controlled AC and DC Microgrids—A
V [V] Source Interface General Approach Toward Standardization”
400 vref,NL
390
δvref ΔVR
380 vn
370
360

Converter
rating
IμT
0 IμT,max
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
• Tertiary control (associated with a grid tie):
 vref  K p ( I g ,ref  I g )  K i  ( I g ,ref  I g )dt Depends on current to
or from the grid
vref  ( vref  vref , NL )  I T RD
• Could be the input for a grid interface converter or the input for the distributed
generation sources interface. The latter applies when there is a direct
connection to a stiff grid because the stiff grid fixes the microgrid voltage. When
there is a grid outage, the tertiary control is replaced by the secondary control.
When the grid is present the secondary control is replaced by the tertiary
control. Grid interface converter NOTE: Based on Guerrero et al
V [V] “Hierarchical Control of Droop-Controlled
400 AC and DC Microgrids—A General
Approach Toward Standardization”
390
380 vref,NL
δvref
370
360
Converter
Converter

rating
rating

Ig
-Ig,max 0 Ig,max
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
Secondary control

Tertiary control

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IμT IμT
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”

Grid interface
Set by the utility Droop slope Microturbine Microturbine
converter
company V [V] (virtual dc output
V [V] V [V]
“Power” resistance)
400
demand
390
380
Converter rating

Converter rating

370

Current Limit
Current Limit
360

0 0 I μT 0 I μT

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

IuT
uT,1 IμT
μT,2
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”

VDC bus [V]

DC bus voltage IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL
400 0
390
380
370
360

IuT,1 IμT,2
0
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

IuT
uT,1 IμT
μT,2
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”
VDC bus [V]
IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL
400 0
390
380
370
360
When the load increases, current is shared
between the two microturbines with the one
with the highest capacity providing more
current to the load IμT,2
0 IuT,1
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

IuT
uT,1 IμT
μT,2
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”

VDC bus [V] IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360
As the load increases, the voltage drops so
current output from the microturbines can
increase. Still, the microturbine with the highest
capacity providing more current to the load

0 IuT,1 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT
uT,1 IμT
μT,2
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360
When the load increases even further the
grid needs to provide the extra current in
order to prevent voltage collapse

0 IuT,1 IμT,2 Ig
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT
uT,1 IμT
μT,2
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360
Current from the grid can be used to reduce
the current from the microturbines and
increase the dc bus voltage (see the voltage
in the case with the same load in slide #19) Ig
0 IuT,1 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT
uT,1 IμT
μT,2
IL
DC bus (360 to 400 V) Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and LOAD
voltage regulation using droop control”

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360
When the load is light, extra power
being generated by the
microturbines can be injected back
to the grid (see slide # 18) IuT,1
Ig 0 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

Now, vref,NL can Grid interface

Microturbine Microturbine
be adjusted with converter
a δvref V [V] V [V] V [V]
400
390
380
Converter rating

Converter rating
370

Current Limit
Current Limit
360

0 0 I μT 0 I μT
Now, vref,NL can be adjusted with a δvref
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

VDC bus [V]

IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL
400 0
Nominal
390
380
370
360
Adjusted with δvref

IuT,1 IμT,2
0
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

VDC bus [V] IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360
Notice that the currents are the same than in
the case with no secondary control (slide #18)
but now the voltage is kept at 380 V
IμT,2
0 IuT,1
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

VDC bus [V] Notice same δvref for IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 both microturnines 0
390
380
370
360

0 IuT,1 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

VDC bus [V] Notice lower δvref Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 than previous slide 0
390
380
370
360

0 IuT,1 IμT,2 Ig
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360

Ig
0 IuT,1 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

GIC
Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360

Ig 0 IuT,1 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
SOLAR WIND ENERGY NOTE: Slide prepared by Prof.
ARRAY TURBINE STORAGE
Dushan Boroyevich from VT
Paper: Boroyevich et al “Future
GIC Electronic Power Distribution
Systems – A contemplative view –”
Ig Is Iw Ib
IL
DC bus (360 – 400 V)
Voltage range “to allow for power sharing and
LOAD
voltage regulation using the droop control”

Grid interface Solar Wind Battery storage

Set by the utility converter
Droop slope converter converter converter
company (virtual dc output
V [V] V [V] V [V] V [V]
“Power” resistance)
400
demand Ibcsoc
390

Converter rating
380
Converter rating

Converter rating

Converter rating

Operating range
370
360
Ibdsoc
Actual
MPPT

Actual
MPPT
0 Ig 0 Is 0 Iw 0 Ib
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
• In the presence of constant-power loads, regulators in source converters
cannot use PI controllers. From a static perspective, regulators designed
for constant-power loads will make the source converter output
characteristic to look like MPP trackers.
• Battery interfaces have different characteristic depending on the state of
charge of the batteries. For example, at the float voltage, the battery may
take no current (if the state of charge is 100 %) or may take some
current if the state of charge is less than 100 %.
Microturbine with Battery storage
Constant Power Load converter
V [V] V [V]
Ibcsoc
Converter rating

Operating range
Constant
Power Ibdsoc
Output
IμT
0 0 Ib
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
GRID
SOLAR WIND ENERGY NOTE: Slide prepared by Prof.
ARRAY TURBINE STORAGE
Dushan Boroyevich from VT
Paper: Boroyevich et al “Future
GIC Electronic Power Distribution
Systems – A contemplative view –”
Ig Is Iw Ib
IL
DC bus 360 – 400 V LOAD

VDC bus [V] Iw+I

Iws+IIsgw+I
+Ig0=
bbs= ILL
400 0
390
380
370
360

Ig Ib 0 Iw IIIwIswIww IIbsIIss IIsg Ig

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
DC GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Primary control is combined with a secondary LOAD
control to compensate voltage deviations
With a stiff grid
Grid interface
there is no limit converter
Microturbine Microturbine
to Ig V [V] V [V] V [V]
400
390
380
370

Current Limit
Current Limit
360

0 0 I μT 0 I μT
Ig is regulated by adjusting δvref
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
DC GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Voltage is kept fixed by the stiff grid so no LOAD
voltage regulation is necessary

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360

IuT,1 Ig
0 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 DC microgrids (droop control)
DC GRID
MICRO- MICRO-
TURBINE TURBINE

Ig IuT IuT
IL
DC bus (380 V) Voltage is kept fixed by the stiff grid so no LOAD
voltage regulation is necessary

VDC bus [V] Ig+IμT,1+IμT,2 = IL

400 0
390
380
370
360

Ig 0 IuT,1 IμT,2
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 AC microgrids revisited (droop
control)
• Sources with a dc output or an ac output with a frequency different from
that of the microgrid main bus need to use an inverter to be integrated
into an ac microgrid. When implementing droop control, droop regulators
are used to emulate the inertia of an ac machine.
• Issues when implementing conventional droop control in ac systems with
inverters:
– Droop current-sharing methods are affected by harmonic content created by
non-linear loads. These issues can be solved by distorting the voltage signal
intentionally which leads to further issues.
– Frequency is dependent on load levels in the same way that voltage levels
depend on load levels. Also, frequency goals for two inverters with different
capacity may be different. Frequency deviations dependant on load levels
may lead to loss of synchronization when attempting to connect the microgrid
directly to a main grid. Hence, it is only applicable to islanded operation and
makes transition into grid connected operation complicated.
– In islanded mode there is both frequency and voltage deviations leading to
tradeoffs inherent to droop control in islanded mode.
• Secondary controls have been proposed in order to solve these issues
without the need for communication links.
© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Now secondary control
depends on microgrid
bus voltage and
frequency

   * GP ( s )( P  P*)
E  E * GQ ( s )(Q  Q*)
- GP(s) and GQ(s) represent
PI or P controllers.
- ω*, E*, P* and Q* are
reference signals, so when
P=P*, ω=ω* and when
Q=Q*, E=E*

Now tertiary control

depends on real and
reactive power flow from
or to the grid

NOTE: Figure from Guerrero et al

“Hierarchical Control of Droop-Controlled AC
and DC Microgrids—A General Approach
© A. Kwasinski, 2014
Toward Standardization”
 Additional comments about droop
controls in ac microgrids

• It has been suggested by some researchers to consider energy stored in

dc link capacitors (i.e. their voltage) of ac micrgrids with inverters
interfacing sources and loads as analogous to rotating kinetic energy in
ac power grids with generators directed connected to the distribution
system.

• Zs depends on the inverter circuit components and on how the inverter is

controlled

© A. Kwasinski, 2017
 Additional comments about droop
controls in ac microgrids (Review)
• Output real and reactive power of an inverter (or any source) equal
VG E  RSL cos   X SL sin    VG2  RSL VG E  X SL cos   RSL sin    VG2  X SL
Pout  Qout 
RSL 2  X SL 2 RSL 2  X SL 2

• In conventional power grids XL>>RL, so, without considering ZS (and

small angles
V E sin  VG E  VG2 
Pout , X  G Qout , X 
X SL X SL

– So, P relates to f and Q relates to V

• In microgrids, it could be expected that XL<<RL, so, without considering
ZS and small angles
VG E
VG E  VG2  Qout , R  
Pout , R  RSL
RSL

• So, droop relationships in microgrids may be inverted

© A. Kwasinski, 2017