This paper proposes a supervisory control scheme to facilitate coupling of remote droop-regulated microgrids (MGs) during power shortfalls. In this scheme, instead of power converters, an instantaneous static switch (ISS) is incorporated for the interconnection. Therefore a supervisory controller is essential to cope with the associated challenges, which are 1) the level of supporting power provided by the neighboring MG and 2) isolation procedure of the coupled MGs (CMG) when the power deficiency condition is removed. Droop coefficients of distributed generators (DGs) of the overloaded MG are dynamically updated by the controller according to the three operating modes defined to address the aforementioned challenges. The transit criteria, as well as the controlling signals, are accurately formulated based only on the local measurements to decrease the dependency on the communication systems. This enhances the reliability level of the coupled system. Effectiveness of the proposed strategy is validated through the results obtained from PSCAD/EMTDC simulations. Also, small-signal stability of the CMG operated by the proposed controller is examined using a developed model in MATLAB
Funding
Category 1 - Australian Competitive Grants (this includes ARC, NHMRC)