Optimization of automatic generation controllers in renewable multi-area power systems using the Fata Morgana algorithm

The increasing integration of renewable energy sources introduces severe intermittency in multi-area power systems (MAPS), resulting in significant voltage and frequency fluctuations. This study addresses this problem by implementing an automatic generation control (AGC) framework for a two-area hybrid power system composed of solar, wind, and thermal units. Four types of controllers (PI, PIDn, fractional-order PI (FOPI), and predictive PIDn (PPIDn)) were optimized using four recent metaheuristic algorithms: golden jackal optimization (GJO), educational competition optimizer (ECO), escape algorithm (ESC), and the newly proposed Fata Morgana Algorithm (FATA). The results demonstrate that the FATA-optimized PIDn controller provides the best dynamic performance, achieving an ITAE value of 0.18676, which represents an improvement of over 4.6% compared to the best established optimizer (ESC). Real-time validation on the OPAL-RT OP5707 platform confirmed the practical feasibility of the proposed FATA-based control strategy, verifying its ability to enhance frequency stability. These findings highlight the novelty and efficiency of FATA in optimizing AGC parameters for renewable-based multi-area power systems.