A supervisory control strategy for fault tolerance enhancement in networked power systems

In this paper we present a supervisory strategy for load/frequency control problems in networked multi-area power systems based on a recent predictive control approach named parameter governor, which joins in a unique framework reference and offset governor actions. The scheme consists of reconfiguring the nominal frequency set-points and adding offsets on the input terminals of the generation units of each area of the power grid in order to avoid operative constraint violations in response to unexpected load changes and/or failures. Such a reconfiguration capability allows one to enhance the fault tolerability in power grids by exploiting their inherent physical redundancy. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated on a four-area power system subject to coordination constraints on maximum frequency deviations, exchanged and generated powers.