Hierarchical dual loop voltage and frequency control in stand alone microgrid with priority based intelligent load management

The paper presents a hierarchical voltage and frequency control framework for peak and off-peak hours to enhance grid resiliency. The primary control is equipped with dual loop control mechanisms to maintain voltage and frequency during off-peak hours. Further, it provides additional inertia (virtual inertia) to reduce overshoot present in frequency transient (due to sudden switching of Loads). The secondary control strategy incorporates priority based intelligent management of Thermostatic Control Loads (TCLs) considering Customer Thermal Comfort (CTC). A Deep-learning based aggregation and control of TCLs (heating and cooling) is implemented to mitigate frequency deviation and moderates the overall energy usage during peak hours. Further, priority be-tween the heating and cooling load (to be controlled) is decided with seasonal variation. Coordination between the primary and secondary control mechanism is established to enhance the dynamic response of the system during both peak and off-peak hours. Performance assessment of the proposed strategy is carried out in MAT-LAB/Simulink platform considering several dynamics. Further, the Hardware in Loop (HIL) is performed on OPAL-RT to showcase the efficacy of the proposed mechanism under realistic conditions.