Distributed Model Predictive Control for Load Frequency Control in Multi-Region Power Systems

In power systems, load frequency control (LFC) is critical for maintaining grid frequency stability and ensuring reliable power supply. The LFC system maintains the grid frequency within a specified range by balancing load demand and system frequency through precise adjustments to generator output power. In the LFC system, traditional PID control methods exhibit limitations in addressing complex system dynamics, particularly in multi-area interconnected power systems. To enhance control performance, this paper proposes a distributed model predictive control (MPC) approach to address the LFC challenge in such systems. This method employs linearization techniques to transform nonlinear models into linear systems, thereby enabling optimal control across multiple areas through distributed MPC. Consequently, this significantly reduces computational complexity and real-time requirements. Compared with traditional PID controllers, the proposed distributed MPC method demonstrates superior control performance in simulations, characterized by faster convergence, reduced frequency fluctuations, and lower error rates. The effectiveness of the distributed MPC method in solving LFC problems in large-scale, multi-area power systems with complex constraints has been validated.