Robust Finite-Time Frequency Control of Grid Connected Microgrids for Real-Time Electricity Market Against Cyber-Attacks

In a deregulated environment, traditional frequency control objectives are combined with market-driven strategies to ensure reliable and efficient power grid operations in competitive electricity markets. Traditionally, price agreements are settled offline. However, the rise of private distributed generation companies and the fourth industrial revolution are transitioning the market to real-time bidding, characterized by extreme uncertainty and increased cyberattack risks. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel model-following finite-time robust tracking control strategy. The proposed method effectively handles extreme time-varying uncertainty, false data injection cyber-attacks, and delays, making it practical for real-time operations. Key features include robust control to mitigate uncertainties and cyberattacks and finite-time convergence with time delay compensation. Extensive testing on a typical microgrid within a real-time bidding market, even under false data injection attacks, demonstrates significant improvements in frequency stability and reliability. These improvements are evident under various conditions, including governor dead-band nonlinearity and time delays. Compared to alternative methods, the proposed method demonstrates superior robustness and faster convergence, validated by Opal RT hardware simulations<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">.</i> These results highlight the effectiveness of the proposed method in ensuring reliable operation of the microgrid.