Optimal distributed control of hybrid AC/DC grids

The decentralization of the electrical system requires the development of new control algorithms to compensate for the intermittent and non-deterministic nature of the energy produced by non-programmable renewable sources and of the one consumed by some new electrical loads, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps. Generally, the management of the electrical networks is achieved by the means of centralized control, which has the advantage of full controllability of the system but the disadvantages of reduced scalability and high complexity. To solve these issues, this paper proposes a hierarchical and distributed control scheme based on Model Predictive Control applied to each portion of the grid and able to solve locally the power management acting on the local resources. These local controllers are also interfaced with a distributed supervisor aiming to manage the exchange of flexibility between the network portions acting on the interfaces between the AC and DC grid. The overall distributed control architecture had been applied and experimentally verified through the Distributed Energy Resources Test Facility of RSE, showing enhanced performances in terms of prompt control action and compensation of the disturbances.