Distributed model predictive control for load frequency control with dynamic fuzzy valve position modelling for hydro–thermal power system

Reliable load frequency control (LFC) is very important for a modern power system with multi‐source power generation and has been the primary focus of studies on advanced control theory and applications. In the LFC of a power system, the generation rate constraints (GRC) and position limit of the governor valve present major challenges to the control scheme because they significantly affect the dynamic responses of the system, resulting in larger overshoot and longer settling time. Model predictive control (MPC) is an attractive control strategy that systematically considers the constraints on the process inputs, states, and outputs. It is employed in LFC to cope with the GRC problem. This study proposes a distributed MPC (DMPC) for a four‐area hydro–thermal interconnected power system. In the proposed scheme, the limit position of the governor valve is modelled by a fuzzy model and the local predictive controllers are incorporated into the non‐linear control system. The effectiveness of the proposed non‐linear constraint DMPC was demonstrated by simulations.