Distributed Model-Based Control and Scheduling for Load Frequency Regulation of Smart Grids Over Limited Bandwidth Networks

An integrated model-based control and scheduling scheme is proposed for the load frequency control (LFC) of large-scale power systems under the distributed structure and uncertainties. Specifically, the limited bandwidth constraint is considered when state observation is exchanged over shared communication networks. Each area controller uses the explicit models of its own and neighboring areas to predict state observations when the actual one is not available. At each transmission instant, the state observation of the scheduled area is broadcasted to the relevant areas and the model-based controllers are partially updated. By properly scheduling the transmission sequence and intervals, the stability of the power system can be guaranteed with a substantial reduction of the bandwidth usage and this is proven by performing a thorough theoretical analysis. Simulation results of a four-area power system verify that the proposed distributed model-based control scheme integrated with a proper scheduling strategy can greatly enhance the performance and the resiliency to parameter uncertainty in large-scale power systems.