Active Load Control for Dynamic Frequency Support and Harmonic Compensation in Autonomous Microgrids

Abstract

Aimed at the sustainable growth of energy production from renewable sources, the accelerated development of reliable technologies for the future smart grid has become an immediate necessity. In addition to exploiting various other resources, an important measure is changing the conventional approach to consumer interaction with the grid, thereby pursuing the development of more flexible loads. In this context, the current paper presents a control solution for active loads (ALs) in order to enhance their controllability and interactivity with the grid. Providing dynamic frequency support in autonomous microgrids (MGs) is the main target application of the ALs. The proposed solution includes a novel approach to controlling the harmonics currently produced by the AL, which allows performing harmonic compensation in the presence of nonlinear loads or grid voltage distortions. To prove the concept, the paper includes an experimental analysis that highlights both the dynamic frequency support potential of the AL and its harmonic compensation capability.