A Control Architecture for Fast Frequency Regulation with Increasing Penetration of Inverter Based Resources (Extended Version)

Abstract

This paper addresses frequency regulation under operational constraints in interconnected power systems with high penetration of inverter-based renewable generation. A two-layer control architecture is proposed that combines optimized droop and Virtual Synchronous Machine (VSM) primary control with a Model Predictive Control (MPC) secondary layer operating at realistic control-room update rates. Unlike recently proposed approaches, the proposed framework integrates MPC within existing grid control structures, enabling constraint-aware coordination. A reduced-order frequency response model is systematically derived from a detailed grid model using Hankel singular values, and a reduced-order Kalman-Bucy observer enables state and disturbance estimation using only measurable outputs. Evaluation using representative data from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia demonstrates effective frequency regulation under realistic operating conditions.

Under Review in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy