Decentralized load frequency based on H_∞ control

This paper presents a decentralized load frequency control (LFC) based on H_∞ optimal control theory with an observer. A few LFC schemes have been proposed based on the optimal control theory, but they have not considered the change of system parameters in operation and the characteristics of load disturbances in a target system. In this paper, H_∞ robust control is introduced to address such problems. Owing to its practical merit, the proposed control scheme is a decentralized LFC. Employing observer theory, the proposed method requires only frequency and tie-line power deviation in each area. Numerical simulations are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. H_∞ control was proven to show greater effectiveness of damping disturbance over the conventional optimal control by the design of control systems aimed at restricting the H_∞ norm of its transfer function. In particular, when a decentralized LFC is applied, by reducing the system size, H_∞ norm is easier to dampen; thus H_∞ control is more effective in the decentralized control. Future research topics include the design of H_∞ control system with a weight on frequency response.