Optimizing Frequency Stability in Power Systems through Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Control Strategies

Maintaining frequency stability in modern power grids is paramount for regulating overall system frequency and interconnection power flow. Immediate frequency disruptions often result from unexpected variations between energy demand and supply. Furthermore, the adoption of intermittent renewable energies into the power grid introduces additional challenges in frequency stabilization. Traditional control techniques tend to be constrained and slow in adapting to the target frequency when faced with sudden load changes and unpredictable influxes of renewable energy. As power systems increasingly rely on renewable energy sources, there is a noticeable reduction in the system's inherent inertia, rendering it more susceptible to frequency disturbances. This underscores the limitations of conventional control strategies. Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) aids in stabilizing the system's frequency. An enhanced control scheme is proposed, which integrates the SMES input through both Proportional-Integral (PI) and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers in the secondary loop. The configuration is subsequently optimized using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). This methodology is evaluated within a dual-region interconnected power system using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The robustness and efficiency are assessed across a range of load conditions and renewable energy integrations. Few performance indicators, i.e., overshoot, undershoot, and settling time, are used to evaluate its effectiveness. Notably, this optimized coordinated control method consistently mitigates frequency deviations to within 0.5 Hz under all conditions, representing a significant advancement over conventional control methods.