Optimal Frequency Control of an Autonomous Microgrid Using a Virtual Synchronous Generator Based on the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

Maintaining frequency stability in isolated microgrids is very challenging due to the unpredictable and fluctuating output of local renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Furthermore, given the growing use of distributed generation via power electronics interfaces, the low natural inertia in such systems makes the task more challenging. To solve this issue, the Virtual Synchronous Generator (VSG) is a promising tool for modelling the inertial response of traditional synchronous machines. By adjusting two important parameters, the damping factor D and the virtual moment of inertia J, this paper proposes an optimisation method to enhance the performance of VSG. The Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm is used to determine the optimal values for these parameters. Simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink show that the optimised settings significantly improve the microgrid's dynamic frequency behaviour when compared to default control settings, which lowers frequency deviations and speeds up recovery.