Wide-Area Damping Control for Clustered Microgrids

The increasing integration of renewable energy sources and distributed generation has led to new challenges in maintaining power system stability. This work presents a novel approach to wide-area damping control (WADC) for clustered microgrids, addressing inter-area oscillations and enhancing system stability. The proposed methodology leverages wide-area measurements and clustering algorithms to coordinate microgrid participation in damping control. A specific WADC concept is first formulated, detailing the mathematical background and the emergence of damping couplings. A bio-inspired flocking algorithm is introduced to determine how the microgrids are clustered, coordinated, and controlled. For that, three particular principles of the flocking algorithm are discussed. The developed control strategy is applied to the IEEE 68-bus benchmark system, where microgrids serve as actuators of the WADC to stabilize the oscillations in the system. Simulation results demonstrate significant improvements in damping performance, achieving stable system dynamics with minimal impact on microgrid resources. The findings highlight the feasibility of integrating microgrids into wide-area control schemes, offering a scalable solution for modern power grids with high renewable penetration.