Stability Analysis of AC Microgrids Using Incremental Phasor Impedance Matching

Abstract

Abstract—The concept of a microgrid is emerging to be a technically viable approach for meeting reliable supply of electricity with increased availability in the presence of large-scale grid disturbances induced by severe weather events, as well to integrate various types of electricity sources and storage devices close to consumer loads. The existing approaches to studying and ensuring the stability of microgrids are largely incapable of providing the structural certainty to promote true plug-and-play operation, particularly with changing network conditions. Thus, there is a need and an opportunity to develop a stability criterion that can truly promote the plug-and-play capabilities of a microgrid. This article proposes a novel stability criterion that uses an impedance matching approach in a microgrid environment. Analytical and simulation results show stability boundaries that can be used in the grid-tied and islanded cases.

Keywords:

• microgrid
• power system stability
• small signal impedance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patricio A. Mendoza-Araya

Patricio A. Mendoza-Araya was born in Chile. He received his B.Sc. and P.E. in electrical engineering from the University of Chile in 2007 and his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014. He is currently an instructor in the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Chile. His research fields include several aspects of microgrids control, stability, and power quality, as well as electric vehicles and renewable energies.

Giri Venkataramanan

Giri Venkataramanan received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. in 1985; his M.Sc. from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, in 1987; and his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992. After teaching electrical engineering at Montana State University-Bozeman, he returned to University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a faculty member in 1999, where he continues to direct research in various areas of electronic power conversion as associate Director of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC). He holds four U.S. patents and has published a number of papers.