Design of high performance load-frequency controllers for multi-area power systems

Abstract

Load-frequency control research works, especially for multi-area power systems, have been carried out over several decades and these activities are still on-going processes. The reason is that a multi-area power system is an uncertain, interconnected system. It is naturally uncertain because system parameters do change and operation points do vary for any industrial plants. It is interconnected because one area is linked to another which can be thousands of kilometres apart where only decentralised control is feasible. The control problem is further complicated by different area models (e.g. running reheat or non-reheat turbines), interconnection types (e.g. tie-lines or high-voltage direct current linkages) and the presence of power regulators (i.e. battery energy storage and super-conducting magnetic energy storage that assist in load-frequency control).