A preliminary study of AGC structure for a regional system considering communication delays

The East China Regional Market (ECRM) is one of the first two experimental regional power markets in China. In order to build efficient and high performance regional power markets, a significant problem is to determine the suitable AGC structure. In this paper, based on North American power market experiences on AGC structures, possible alternatives of AGC structures are outlined. Considering the present AGC control mode in East China Power Grid (ECPG), multi-area AGC mode is then studied in details. Further more, systems with non-commensurate communication delays are modeled and investigated. Simulation results based on actual system load data and operation conditions are presented.

I. INTRODUCTION

Depending on the governor droop characteristic and frequency sensitivity of the load (primary control), a sudden change of system load will result in a frequency deviation. As system load is continually changing, it is necessary to adjust the speed governor set points automatically (secondary control). The primary objectives of Automatic Generation Control (AGC) are to regulate frequency within acceptable bounds and to maintain the interchange power between control areas at the scheduled values by adjusting the output of selected generators. AGC is one of main means of achieving Load Frequency Control (LFC) [1], [2].