Frequency Stability and Control of a Power System

with Large PV Plants Using PMU Information

Abdlmnam Abdlrahem, Student Member, IEEE, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Senior Member, IEEE, and
Keith A. Corzine, Senior Member, IEEE
Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems (RTPIS) Laboratory
Holcombe Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Clemson University, SC 29634, USA
Emails: aabdlra@clemson.edu, gkumar@ieee.org & corzine@clemson.edu

Abstract Integrating large photovoltaic (PV) plants into the
grid poses challenges to maintaining the systems stability during
small and large disturbances. A PV systems output power
fluctuates according to the weather conditions (irradiance and
temperature), season, and geographic location. The power
fluctuations of the PV plants raise frequency and voltage stability
issues. This paper presents the impact of a large PV plant on the
frequency stability of a power system under small and large
disturbances. With automatic generation control and phasor
measurement unit information, the power generations of
conventional generators are adjusted to mitigate the frequency
deviation. Furthermore, the effects of increased PV penetration
in a given power system area are examined.
I. INTRODUCTION
The reliable and secure operation of power systems with a
high penetration of renewable energy resources (RESs) raises
concerns. High photovoltaic (PV) penetration levels can
signicantly affect both the steady state and transient stability
of the systems due to their distinct characteristics that differ
from conventional generation resources [1]. The integration of
a large number of embedded PV generators into the
distribution networks will affect the national transmission and
generation system controls. The electricity from PV is difficult
to predict and depends primarily on weather conditions.
Furthermore, PVs usually are connected to the grid through
power electronic converters, which also differs significantly
from conventional generators [2]. Among all RESs, PV
systems are expected to play a vital role in a future society that
is energy efcient and that creates zero emissions. Recently,
along with the smart grid, large PV power generation has
received a great deal of attention. The penetration levels of PV
systems in the Japanese, German and Spanish power grids are
rising because of the following two factors: improved
generation efciency of PV modules and government
subsidies. However, PV power uctuates depending on the
weather conditions, season, and geographic location and
causes problems such as large frequency and voltage
deviations in power system operation [3],[4].

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the
United States, under grants CAREER ECCS #1231820, EFRI #1238097,
ECCS #1232070, RAPID #1216298 and IIP #1312260. Any opinions,
findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of National
Science Foundation.
To the authors knowledge, prior studies on the integration of
large PV systems into the transmission network have been
reported using non-real-time simulations. It is important to
observe the systems dynamic responses in real-time with the
integration of PV arrays, power electronics converters and the
transmission grid. In this paper, a real-time model of a
200MW PV plant and a two-area, four-machine power system
is developed using the real-time digital simulator (RTDS).
The PV plant is integrated into one of the two areas of the
power system, and the area frequency control is implemented
using automatic generation control (AGC). For the AGC,
frequency is monitored using phasor measurement units
(PMUs) installed at ends of the tie-lines. Furthermore, the
frequency stability of the synchronous generators, power
system areas and power system is analyzed using real-time
time-domain simulation. A number of case studies with solar
irradiance variations and large disturbance are presented to
show that high levels of PV penetration generally have a
positive impact on frequency stability.

II. REAL-TIME MODELING OF PV PLANTS
IN A POWER SYSTEM
A 200 MW PV plant made up of four 50 MW PV plants is
connected to a two-area, four-machine system [9], as shown in
Fig.1a. The power system consists of two areas connected by
two parallel transmission lines; each area has two synchronous
generators. The Area 1 generators (G1 and G2) are rated at
700 MW. The Area 2 generators (G3 and G4) are rated at
719MW and 700 MW, respectively. All of the generators are
equipped with their primary controllers, including turbine
governors, automatic voltage regulators and power system
stabilizers. Under normal operating conditions, a 400 MW
power flow from Area 1 to Area 2 is observed. Phasor
measurement units are placed at the ends of the tie-lines.
The 50 MW PV plants are connected to a 230 kV utility
transmission grid through a double converter and transformer
stage, as shown in Fig. 1b. The first conversion stage converts
from dc to dc using a boost converter, and the second converts
from dc to ac. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is
associated with the dc/dc converter. With the inverter, the
simple principle that active power corresponds to the phase
angle difference and reactive power corresponds to the voltage
magnitude difference was utilized in the inverter controller
978-1-4799-1255-1/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
design. The inverter is bi-directional, meaning that it supplies
ac power to the transmission grid and can supply
instantaneous dc power to the dc bus if necessary.
There are three PI regulators, the first of which is for the
dc/dc converter. The objective of this PI regulator is to

































(a)

(b)

Figure 1. (a) 200 MW PV plant connected to a utility grid with AGC; (b) Four 50 MW PV plants connected to a utility grid.

dc/ac
Inverter
dc/dc Boost
Converter
dc/dc Boost
Converter
dc/ac
Inverter
200MW
PV plant#4
50MW
PV plant#2
50MW
PV plant#1
50MW
PV plant#3
50MW
2kV/11kV
dc/ac
Inverter
dc/dc Boost
Converter
dc/dc Boost
Converter
dc/ac
Inverter
Utility Grid
11kV/230 kV
G4
1 5 6 8
9
10 11 3
4 2
7
25 km 10km
110km
110 km
10km 25 km
G2
G1
G3
C7 C9
L7
L9
Area 1
Area 2
Power transfer
Four 50MW PV
Plants
(Total 200MW)
PMU Area 2
AGC Area 2
20kV
230kV
20kV
20kV 230kV
230kV 230kV 20kV
PMU Area 1


moderate the duty ratio of the dc/dc converter with the
reference coming from the MPPT algorithm, which is based
on an incremental conductance algorithm. The second and
third PI regulators control the dc/ac converter. The second one
moderates the phase angle with the objective of maintaining
the dc capacitor voltage, while the third one moderates the
voltage magnitude in order to maintain unity power factor.
For large PV integration into the transmission grid, it is
expected that the PV plant contains a number of smaller
plants, each consisting of several PV units. In this study, as
noted previously, there are four 50 MW PV plants, each of
which consists of a number of modules, as reported in Table I.
This distributed generation is represented by an equivalent 50
MW PV plant.
The entire system, which consists of the power system, the
PV plants (connecting in Area 2), frequency monitoring using
PMUs, and the controls, is modeled in real-time using the
Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) for power systems.
TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF PV ARRAY
Open circuit voltage 21.7 V
Short circuit current 3.35 A
Voltage at Pmax 17.4 V
Current at Pmax 3.05 A
Number of modules in series 565
Number of modules in parallel 1750
Number of PV cells in each module 36

III. FREQUENCY MONITORING AND CONTROL
USING PMU INFORMATION
In order to maintain the systems frequency and tie-line
flows, automatic generation control (AGC) is implemented in
such a way that each area has its own central regulator. The
objective of each area regulator is to maintain the frequency at
60Hz.
The 200 MW PV plant integrated in Area 2 requires the
AGC in Area 2 to regulate the generation outputs of generators
G3 and G4 such that the maximum output of the PV plant is
utilized in meeting the load requirement in Area 2. The AGCs
actions do not change the tie-line flows in this study, but assist
indirectly in damping out the oscillations in tie-line flows. The
AGC and governor structure in Area 2 are shown in Fig. 2a
and 2b, respectively.
The PMU at bus 9 in Fig. 1a is used to provide the areas
frequency information to the AGC shown in Fig. 2a. A small
disturbance was applied by changing the irradiance of the
solar farm in order to observe how the PMU information
tracks the small disturbance. From the AGC dispatch changes,
the governors adjust the respective generator outputs.




(a)

(b)

Figure 2. Block diagrams of (a) the AGC of Area 2, and (b) the governor.
IV. IMPACT OF LARGE PV PLANTS ON
FREQUENCY STABILITY
A. Variation of PV Plant Outputs
In this subsection, the effects of an increase or decrease in
solar irradiance on the frequency deviation and control are
investigated.

Case I: - Decreasing the Solar Irradiance of One of the 50
MW PV Plants
The solar irradiance experienced by one of the 50 MW PV
plants in Fig. 1b decreases suddenly from 1000W/m
2
to
500W/m
2
. The other three plants are experiencing an
irradiance of 1000W/ m
2
. Fig. 3a shows the aggregate effect,
as seen at the 200 MW PV plant point of interconnection. Fig.
3b shows the output power of the four synchronous generators.
The generation of generators G3 and G4 increases to
compensate for the drop in the PV plant generation. The
frequency variation of the two areas and the entire system is
shown in Fig. 3c. The tie-line power flow from Area 1 to Area
2 returns to its pre-disturbance value, as shown in Fig. 3d.

Case II: - Increasing the Solar Irradiance of One of the 50
MW PV Plants
Three of four PV plants are experiencing a solar irradiance
of 1000MW/m
2
, while the fourth is experiencing a sudden
change of irradiance from 500MW/m
2
to 1000 MW/m
2
.
Fig. 4a shows the aggregate effect, as seen at the 200 MW PV
plant point of interconnection. Fig. 4b shows the output power
of the four synchronous generators. The generation of
generators G3 and G4 decreases to compensate for the
increase in the PV plant generation. The frequency variation of
the two areas and the entire system is shown in Fig. 4c. The
tie-line power flow from Area 1 to Area 2 returns to its pre-
disturbance value, as shown in Fig. 4d.

4
Pref_G
3
Pref_G
4
+ _ P
ref Pf
f
f
ref
f_PMU
S
k

R
1
sT + 1
1
Generation
Speed
(Rad/Sec)
Mechanical
Torque (pu)
_ +
+
+
_
/
P
ref

L
ref
T
m

R
1
sT
+ 1
1
3 1
2 1
sT
sT
+
+
Dt
1

+
_
1

(a)


(b)


(c)


(d)
Figure 3. (a) Output power of the PV plant; (b) Output power of the four
synchronous generators; (c) Frequency variation of Area 1, Area 2, and the
entire system; (d) Tie-line power flow.
B. Studies on a Large Disturbance with Different Levels of
PV Pentration
In this subsection, different levels of PV penetration and
the impact of a large disturbance on the frequency stability of
the power system are studied. A six-cycle, three-phase fault is
placed in the middle of the tie line (on bus 8). Figs. 5a and 5b
show the frequency variation of generator G1 in Area 1 and
G3 in Area 2, respectively, during the fault with different PV
penetration levels and without any PV penetration. Figs. 6a
and 6b show the areas frequency variation under the same
fault disturbance.

(a)


(b)


(c)


(d)
Figure 4. (a) Output power of the solar farm; (b) Output power of the four
generators; (c) Frequency variation of area_1, area_2, and the intern system;
(d) Tie-line power.
Figs. 5a and 6a show the impact of increasing the level of
PV on the frequency of G1 and Area 1. Increasing the PV
penetration lessens the frequency oscillation of Area 1, even
though the PV plants are located in Area 2. The same can be
observed in the PV area (Area 2). The peak frequency
deviation and settling times, as seen in Figs. 5b and 6b,
decrease with more PV penetration in Area 2. The same is true
for the systems frequency, as seen in Fig. 6c.



0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
600
620
640
660
680
700
720
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)


G1 G2 G3 G4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.99
59.995
60
60.005
60.01
60.015
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Area1
Area2
Syst em
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
396
398
400
402
404
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
170
175
180
185
190
195
200
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
580
600
620
640
660
680
700
720
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)


G1 G2 G3 G4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.99
60
60.01
60.02
60.03
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Area 1
Area 2
Syst em
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
385
390
395
400
405
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)

(a)

(b)
Figure 5. Frequency variation at different values of solar penetration of (a)
Generator G1 (Area 1), and (b) Generator G3 (Area 2).

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 6. Frequency variation at different values of solar penetration of (a)
Area 1, (b) Area 2, and (c) the system frequency.
Table II reports the percentage maximum overshoot and
settling time in the frequency oscillation plot with increasing
PV penetration into the transmission grid. The percentage
overshoot values in Area 1 are equal for the five levels of PV
penetration reported, whereas the percentage overshoot of
Area 2 decreases gradually whenever the penetration level
increases. In summary, the systems frequency stability
improves as the PV penetration levels increase. Fig. 7 shows
the frequency at the 200MW PV penetration level.
Fig. 8a shows the power output variation of the PV plant
while operating at 200 MW and experiencing a three-phase
fault. The PV plant output drops significantly during the fault
and returns to its pre-fault value after the fault is cleared. The
power output variations of the four synchronous generators
during the fault are shown in Fig. 8b. With the AGC in Area 2,
the tie-line flow oscillation is damped out, as seen in Fig. 8c.
TABLE II. IMPACT OF SOLAR PENETRATION ON THE OVERSHOOT AND
THE SETTLING TIME OF THE TWO AREAS.

Solar
penetrations
Percent Overshoot Settling Time
Area 1 Area 2 Area 1 Area 2
0 MW 0.32 0.28 13.97 13.03
50MW 0.32 0.20 6.21 6.80
100MW 0.32 0.16 5.63 6.07
150MW 0.32 0.15 5.27 5.59
200MW 0.32 0.13 4.89 4.76


Figure 7. Frequency variation at 200MW solar penetration of the two areas
and the entire system.
V. CONCLUSION
A real-time simulation model of a large photovoltaic plant
connected to the transmission network of a two-area power
system was developed in this study. Automatic generation
control was implemented to allow maximum PV penetration
and to adjust the power outputs of conventional generators.
Frequency monitoring and AGC was accomplished using
PMU information. The real-time simulation shows that
increasing PV penetration in one area of the power system has
a positive effect on the frequency stability of both areas of the
power system. Under large disturbances, the power system
with an integrated PV plant has better frequency stability. The
frequency oscillations are damped out faster with increasing
PV penetration. In areas with PV penetration, the magnitude
(maximum overshoot) of the frequency oscillations is less than
that in areas without PV penetration.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.8
59.9
60
60.1
60.2
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Wit hout Solar
Wit h 50MW Solar
Wit h 200MW Solar
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.8
59.9
60
60.1
60.2
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Without
With 50MW
With 200MW
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.8
59.9
60
60.1
60.2
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Wit hout Solar
Wit h 50MW Solar
Wit h 200MW Solar
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.8
59.9
60
60.1
60.2
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Wit hout Solar
Wit h 50MW Solar
Wit h 200MW Solar
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.8
59.9
60
60.1
60.2
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Wit hout Solar
Wit h 50MW Solar
Wit h 200MW Solar
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
59.8
59.9
60
60.1
60.2
Time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
H
z
)


Area 1
Area 2
System
Future work involves extending the work presented here to
larger power systems with multiple areas, as well as improving
the control methodology.


(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 8. (a) Output power of the solar farm, (b) Output power of the four
generators, (c) Tie-line power.
REFERENCES
[1] S. Eftekharnejad, V. Vittal, G. T. Heydt, B. Keel, and J. Loehr, Impact
of increased penetration of photovoltaic generation on power systems,
IEEE Transl. vol. 28, no. 2, May 2013.
[2] M. Datta, T. Senjyu, A. Yona, T. Funabashi, and C. Kim, A frequency-
control approach by photovoltaic generator in a PVDiesel Hybrid
power system, IEEE Transl. Energy Convers., vol. 26, June 2011.
[3] S. Yanagawa, T. Kato, K. Wu, A. Tabata, and Y. Suzuoki, Evaluation
of LFC capacity for output uctuation of photovoltaic generation
systems based on multi-point observation of insolation, in Proc. IEEE
Power Eng. Soc. Summer Meet, pp. 16521657, 2001.
[4] H. Asano, K. Yajima, and Y. Kaya, Inuence of photovoltaic power
generation on required capacity for load frequency control, IEEE
Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 188193, 1996.
[5] D. M. Riley and G. K. Venayagamoorthy, Charaterization and
modeling of a grid connected photovoltaic system using a recurrent
neural network, International Joint Conference on Neural Network,
August 5,2011.
[6] R. K. Varma, S. A. Rahman, and R. Seethapathy, Novel control of grid
connected photovoltaic (PV) solar farm for improving transient
stability and transmission limits both during night and day, in Proc.
2010 World Energy Conference, Montreal, Canada, pp. 1-6.
[7] N. Hasan, Ibraheem, S Farooq, Real time simulation of automatic
generation control for interconnected power system, International
Journal on Electrical Engineering and Informatics, vol 4, no 1, March
2012.
[8] J. Liang, R. G. Harley, and G. K. Venayagamoorthy, Adaptive critic
design based dynamic optimal power flow controller for a smart grid,
Computational Intelligence Applications In Smart Grid (CIASG), 2011
IEEE Symposium on, April 2011.
[9] P. Kundur, Power system stability and control, New York: McGraw-
Hill. ISBN-13: 978-0070359581, 1994.
[10] P. P. Barker and R. W. De Mello, Determining the impact of distributed
generation on power systems: Part I radial distribution systems, in Proc.
IEEE Power and Engineering Society Summer Meeting, Seattle, WA,
vol. 3, pp. 16451656, Jul. 2000.
[11] J. Bumby, J. Machowski, and J. Bialek, "Power system dynamics:
Stability and control, 2nd edition," ISBN: 0470725583 /
9780470725580, 2008.
[12] G. Stenbakken, T. Nelson, Gaithersburg, MD, M. Zhou and V.
Centeno, Reference values for dynamic calibration of PMUs,
Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences 2008.
[13] X. Ding, T. Littler, J. Morrow, P. A. Crossley, V. Terzija, and M.
OMalley, Synchronized phasor measurement on the all-Ireland
electrical network, IEEE PowerTech Conference 2007, 5 pgs.


0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Time(s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)


G 1 G 2 G 3 G 4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0
200
400
600
Time (s)
P
o
w
e
r

(
M
W
)