Optimal Control of Active Power Generation Levels by Renewable Energy Plants

The purpose of this article is to develop an effective approach to automated control of the level of active power generation in systems based on renewable energy sources in order to ensure maximum electricity generation while complying with the regulatory permissible voltage deviation limits at the points of connection of electricity consumers to the distribution grid. The article analyzes the problems that arise when generating electricity from renewable sources in the conditions of distribution grids - in particular, exceeding the permissible voltage level at the points of connection and reducing the economic efficiency of generation when using typical automatic control systems. It is proposed to improve the system for automatic control of the level of active power generation by installations with renewable energy sources by formalizing the control process as a multi-criteria optimization problem. The main criteria are profit from the sale of electricity and economic losses from voltage quality disturbances. The problem is solved by the method of approximation to the utopian point using the Chebyshev metric and numerical methods of discrete optimization. For this purpose, a step-by-step algorithm was developed, which involves discretization of the area of permissible generation values, calculation of the Pareto-optimal set, determination of the utopian point and minimization of the distance to it. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a computer model of the automatic control system was built, which is based on the specified algorithm. The model was tested in a simulation environment, where it was compared with a traditional control system that provides a strict limitation of the voltage deviation. The simulation results showed that the proposed approach provides an increase in the volume of electricity supply to the network by 8.1% compared to the base model. At the same time, the level of the steady-state voltage deviation at the connection point meets the regulatory requirements for the quality of electricity (integral probability - 95%). Thus, the improved automatic control system allows achieving both technical and economic optimality of the functioning of renewable energy sources in the power system.