Distributed optimal load frequency control for multi-area power systems with controllable loads

With the proliferation of distributed energy resources, power imbalance may fluctuate rapidly with a large amount, which may make the conventional frequency control scheme not respond fast to the fluctuation and operate in an economically inefficient manner. This paper proposes a distributed optimal load frequency control (DOLFC) scheme for multi-area power systems with controllable loads, which optimally dispatches generators and controllable loads to participate the frequency regulation with cost minimization. It can restore the nominal frequency and only needs local measurements and local communication for implementation. With the DOLFC, we prove that the closed-loop LFC system asymptotically converges to an equilibrium point which minimizes the control cost of generators and controllable loads, and the equilibrium point is unique if and only if the multi-area power network is a tree. Compared with the conventional LFC and economic LFC in literature, the proposed DOLFC has higher economic efficiency and better control performance. Finally, a four-area power system is employed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme by numerical simulations.