A decentralized architecture for voltage regulation in Smart Grids

The large-scale deployment of the Smart Grid paradigm will support the evolution of conventional electrical power systems toward active, flexible and self-healing web energy networks composed of distributed and cooperative energy resources. In a Smart Grid platform, the optimal coordination of distributed voltage controllers is one of the main issues to address. In this field, the application of traditional hierarchical control paradigms has some disadvantages that could hinder their application in Smart Grids where the constant growth of grid complexity and the need for massive pervasion of Distribution Generation Systems (DGS) require more scalable, more flexible control and regulation paradigms. To try and overcome these challenges, this paper proposes the concept of a decentralized non-hierarchal voltage regulation architecture based on intelligent and cooperative smart entities. The distributed voltage controllers employ traditional sensors to acquire local bus variables and mutually coupled oscillators to assess the main variables that characterize the operation of the global Smart Grid. These variables are then amalgamated by a Fuzzy Inference System in order to identify proper control actions aimed at improving the grid voltage profile and reducing power losses.