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Abstract—This paper investigates some aspects of stability in mi- The microgrid stability in islanding is investigated in
crogrids. There are different types of microgrid applications. The [14]–[17]. Impact of different loading conditions and constant
system structure and the control topology vary depending on the power loads in the microgrid stability during islanding are
application and so does the aspect of stability in a microgrid. This addressed in [14] and [15]. In [16], an active damping control
paper briefly encompasses the stability aspects of remote, utility
connected and facility microgrids depending on the modes of op- with a virtual resistance is proposed, while in [17] efficacy
eration, control topology, types of micro sources and network pa- of frequency control with an internal oscillator and voltage
rameters. The small signal, transient and the voltage stability as- feedback signal to regulate the island voltage in the VSCs are
pects in each type of the microgrid are discussed along with scope demonstrated after islanding.
of improvements. With a brief review of the existing microgrid The transient stability analysis of a microgrid can ensure
control methods in the literature and different industry solutions, system operability after large disturbances. With micro sources
this paper sets up an initial platform for different types of micro- with current limit, very little spinning reserve and limited
grids stability assessment. Various generalized stability improve-
ment methods are demonstrated for different types of microgrids.
reactive support, it is essential to carry out detailed transient
The conventional stability study of microgrids presented in this analysis with possible contingencies. The transient stability is
paper facilitates an organized way to plan the micro source oper- investigated in [18]–[20]. A direct method with energy function
ation, microgrid controller design, islanding procedure, frequency formulation for the transient stability analysis in a microgrid is
control and the load shedding criteria. The stability investigations proposed in [19], while [20] demonstrates the transient stability
are presented with different control methods, eigen value analysis with both synchronous machine and VSC interfaced sources.
and time domain simulations to justify different claims. The microgrid stability with both inertial and converter in-
Index Terms—Microgrid, stability, voltage source converter. terfaced sources is investigated in [21]–[27]. The diesel genset
operation in CERTS system is discussed in [21]. Different
PV-diesel microgrid operations are investigated in [22], [24]
I. INTRODUCTION and [25]. The system stability in decentralized operation with
Fig. 2. Different stability issues in microgrid and the usual reasons. Fig. 4. Stability issues in different types of microgrids.
• A utility microgrid, connected to the utility at one point in Fig. 2. Small signal stability in a microgrid is related to feed-
(there could be also multiple connection points for grid back controller, continuous load switching, power limit of the
connected reliability) of common coupling (PCC), can op- micro sources etc. A fault with subsequent island poses most of
erate in island, spans over a large area (compared to a the transient stability problem in a microgrid.
facility microgrid) and contains different types of micro Reactive power limits, load dynamics and tap changers
sources and loads [34]. create most of the voltage stability problems in a microgrid.
• A remote microgrid is never connected to the utility and Fig. 3 shows different stability improvement methods. While
operates mostly with decentralized control methods. The supplementary control loops, stabilizers, coordinated control
maximum power use is limited for the customers and the of the micro sources can improve the small signal stability,
power quality requirements are much relaxed compared to the transient stability improvement is achieved through use of
a facility microgrid [34]. storage, load shedding and adaptive protection devices. On the
• A facility microgrid is normally connected with the host other hand, voltage regulation with DGs, reactive compensa-
utility and commonly a single business-entity microgrid. A tion, advanced load controller and modified current limiters of
facility microgrid can continue to operate in an intentional the micro sources can ensure the voltage stability in a micro-
or an unintentional island. Facility microgrids can be for grid. Depending on the microgrid type, different stability issues
an industrial or an institutional microgrid [34]. can be related to most frequent problems as shown in Fig. 4. It
In this paper an institutional or campus microgrid (with few can be seen that the DG feedback controller with decentralized
micro sources and diesel backup) capable to operate in island control methods creates most of the small signal stability issues
for a long time is considered as an example facility microgrid. in a remote microgrid, while in a utility microgrid the most
Similar to a large power system, the stability issues in a mi- common reason is the current limiters. In a facility microgrid,
crogrid can be divided as small signal, transient and voltage sta- the frequent load switching within a small area often creates
bility. The recurring reasons of each stability problem are shown the small signal stability problems.
MAJUMDER: SOME ASPECTS OF STABILITY IN MICROGRIDS 3245
Faults produce the obvious transient stability issues in all The small signal modeling of the converter with the associ-
types of microgrids. While a fault and subsequent islanding in ated controllers is also shown in Fig. 5. The converter model is
a utility or facility microgrid demonstrates the typical transient represented with the converter capacitor voltage , con-
stability aspect, in a remote microgrid, a fault within the mi- verter current and the output current states . Each of
crogrid and isolating the faulty part of the network creates the the converter controllers is modeled with its states as shown in
transient stability problems. Fig. 5. Together with the output voltage angle , real and reac-
The voltage stability in a remote microgrid is related to the tive power output in power controller , voltage
reactive compensation of the network but in a utility micro- controller and the current controller states, the con-
grid the main source of the voltage stability problems is the tap verter LCL filter states are combined to derive the state space
changers. With few sources and confined loads, limiters in the model of the converter with the controllers. For each of the con-
micro sources and under voltage load shedding create most of verters this is done individually at their own reference frame
the voltage stability problems in a facility microgrid. (dq). The load and the network are also modeled with their
state space equations. Depending on location of the DGs and
the loads in the network, the state space equations are com-
III. SMALL SIGNAL STABILITY
bined to formulate the total microgrid state space equation in
The small signal stability in a microgrid is analyzed with a a common reference frame (DQ). The design of the controllers
linearized model of micro sources and loads. The speed of the should be done using this combined state space model through
control loops in a VSC is shown in Fig. 5. Most of the stability small signal stability analysis [35].
issues in the converter control loops (in a microgrid) arises from Different supplementary control loops can be added to im-
the outer most power controllers and their associated control prove the system stability. Fig. 6 shows different possibility of
gains. stability improvement with the supplementary control loops in
3246 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 3, AUGUST 2013
Fig. 10. Aspect of voltage stability: Stable (s) and unstable (u) points.
A. Stabilizer
Stabilizers can be used in the VSC interfaced micro sources
to improve the small signal stability. Fig. 11 shows the stabi-
lizer for a DG and it can be seen that the voltage magnitude,
frequency and the power output of the connected DG are fed to
the stabilizer. It is to be noted that the stabilizer can be included
in any of the control loop shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Separate stabi-
lizing equipment (for existing VSCs) or a supplementary control
loop can improve the stability of a VSC interfaced DG.
1) Modulating and provide a fast response stabiliza-
tion but may lead to system oscillation in a continuous load
switching scenario.
2) Modulating and can also provide an effective Fig. 12. Reactive compensation with DSTATCOM.
stabilization loop. This option is suitable for both grid con-
nected and grid forming sources.
3) Modulating and provide a much slower stabiliza- • based on local measurements of the point it is connected;
tion but effective in remote microgrid scenarios, where the • based on communicated measurements and coordinated
regulations are not time critical. control with the DGs [37].
The communicated measurements can be used to modulate
B. Reactive Compensation With DSTATCOM the converter output voltage reference as shown in
The reactive compensation in a microgrid is necessary to Fig. 13.
maintain the voltage within acceptable limits. The voltage reg-
ulation problems are more in utility and remote microgrids. C. Energy Storage System: Flywheel
1) In grid connected mode, the voltage regulation problem Energy storage system provides the stability improvement in
appears mostly on the load end of the feeder. a microgrid by injecting active (sometimes also reactive power)
2) In islanded mode, the voltages may fall below acceptable power during power shortage, DG trip, islanding, load dynamics
limit anywhere and identifying the compensation location and ride through till the backup diesel gensets come live. There
is harder. are many energy storage devices available in the market. The
Fig. 12 shows a DSTATCOM connected close to the crit- flywheel is one of the high performance energy storage solu-
ical load to ensure required power quality. When the voltages tions. With a flywheel system it is possible to inject power in
fall below the lower limit, the DSTATCOM can inject reactive the MW range even within one fourth of a cycle [38]. The basic
power. structure of a flywheel system connected to a microgrid is shown
The DSTATCOM can be controlled in Fig. 14. The flywheel system is connected to the microgrid
3248 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 3, AUGUST 2013
TABLE IV
CONVERTER AND CONTROLLER
TABLE V
DG CONTROLLER GAINS
Fig. 17. System structure in different stability study cases. (a) Small signal
stability. (b) Islanding transients. (c) Load shedding. (d) Reactive compensation.
TABLE VI
TABLE I MICROGRID LINE IMPEDANCE
SIMULATION CASES
TABLE II
GRID DATA
Fig. 18. Eigenvalue trajectory as function of power controller gain.
The time domain results with the high power controller gains
(with and without the supplementary controller) are shown in
TABLE III Fig. 20. The values of the power controller gains are changed
LOAD IN THE MICROGRID
from to at 0.2 s. The system becomes unstable with the
high feedback gains as shown in Fig. 20(a). The supplementary
controller can make the system stable as shown in Fig. 20(b).
The active power output of the DG is shown as .
The system damping with different converter control loops
(Fig. 9) are compared with 10% change in the power reference.
The rise time and the settling time are shown in Fig. 21. It can
• A supplementary control loop (Figs. 3 and 11) can ensure be seen that
system stability while using high feedback gain. For sim- • injecting damping signal in the current control loop always
ilar change in the power controller gain as in Fig. 18, the provides the fastest response (rise time);
eigenvalue trajectory with the supplementary control loop • the settling time is much higher in the remote microgrid as
is shown in Fig. 19. compared to the facility microgrid;
3250 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 28, NO. 3, AUGUST 2013
Fig. 19. Eigen trajectory as function of power controller gain with supplemen- Fig. 22. System instability during islanding due to power imbalance.
tary control loop.
Fig. 20. System stability with and without supplementary control loop. Fig. 23. System stability during islanding with storage. (a) Power injection by
(a) System instability with high power controller gains. (b) Supplementary storage. (b) RMS voltage at load bus.
controller with high gain power controller.
Fig. 26. Reactive compensation with DSTATCOM. (a) RMS voltage without
reactive compensation. (b) RMS voltage with reactive compensation.
Fig. 25. Settling time of system frequency with load shedding in different
microgrids.
Fig. 27. Reactive compensation with different microgrid: voltage drop.
C. Load Shedding
The impact of the load shedding on the system stability is • for the remote microgrid however, the voltage drops are
shown in this section. With the example microgrid [Fig. 17(c)], around 6%–8% (generally the acceptable value is 10% in
an islanding with 20% extra load is simulated. The islanding is such microgrid);
followed by a load shedding to achieve the power balance. The • critical load (in remote microgrid) should be close to the
system responses with different load shedding methods (Fig. 16) DSTATCOM or other power quality equipment to have
are shown in Fig. 24. tighter voltage regulation.
• It can be seen that the performance of the conventional
frequency relay deteriorates with presence of a motor load.
VIII. CONCLUSIONS
• For critical network it is recommended to use the advanced
load shedding method with superior performance Fig. 16. Overall this paper focuses on various types of microgrids to
• The settling times in different microgrids are compared investigate
in Fig. 25. It can be seen that with the motor load, the • different stability issues and their main reasons;
frequency based load shedding has a longer settling time • different improvement methods and comparative perfor-
and that is quite high in case of the remote microgrid. mances.
While stability problems are instigated by different factors in
D. Reactive Compensation various types of microgrids, efficacy of the stability improve-
ment methods may vary largely depending on the application
The reactive compensation method with the DSTATCOM
and the system scenarios. Generalized and methodical stability
(Figs. 12 and 13) is used in different types of microgrids. As
studies of various types of microgrids are described with dif-
mentioned the compensation is achieved by the coordinated
ferent control methods, eigenvalue analysis and time domain
control of the DSTATCOM and the other DGs.
simulations.
This improves the RMS voltage in the feeders as shown
Fig. 26(b). It can be seen that without compensation the volt-
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Power Syst. Technol. (POWERCON), 2010. sity of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
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in the 21st Century, Jul. 2008, pp. 1–8. electronics applications.