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The dynamic performance of a microgrid is governed by the decentralized primary control strategy that is embedded in each of its hosted Distributed Energy Resource (DER) units. The primary control computes the voltage synthesized by the interfacing voltage-sourced converter such that the DER unit contributes active and reactive powers in support of the microgrid voltage amplitude and frequency. These operational requirements must be satisfied with respect to the converter safety and physical limitations, such as the limited magnitude of the converter output current and terminal voltage. In this paper, all the control requirements mentioned above are taken into account in a single constrained optimization problem using the framework of Model-based Predictive Control (MPC). Solving the primary control problem in this way allows the microgrid to respond to major disturbances such short-circuit faults and transitions between modes of operation, while the electronically-interfaced DER units operate within operational and safety limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a state feedback primary control strategy for microgrids with multiple distributed energy resource units, improving their transient behavior in both islanded and grid-connected modes of operation. To that end, the interaction of each distributed energy resource unit within the microgrid is modeled as a lumped dynamic system, which results to be nonlinear and multivariable. For the closed-loop control of such multivariable systems, the full state feedback formulation is preferred which requires a suitable state observer. For the design of the observer and feedback gains, the solution of the linear-quadratic estimation and regulation problems is considered. For simplicity, an approximate linear model at a representative operating point is derived. The linear quadratic Gaussian/loop-transfer recovery is adopted as the design procedure to optimize the trajectory of the state variables subject to a desirable actuation effort, in this case of the voltage amplitude and frequency, yielding a solution that is robust to model uncertainties. The effectiveness of the strategy is assessed through time-domain simulation on the CIGRE benchmark medium-voltage distribution network with three distributed energy resource units. These results are compared to those obtained with conventional static droop gains and with a state-of-the-art technique from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]