Location-dependent distributed control of battery energy storage systems for fast frequency response

Abstract This paper proposes a distributed strategy to control multiple battery energy storage systems (BESS) delivering fast frequency response in low-inertial power systems with high penetration of renewable energy sources. A novel distributed control algorithm is designed to optimise the operation of an arbitrary number of BESS while incorporating frequency-related constraints to meet the service requirements of fast frequency response. The proposed algorithm uses a consensus-based alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) method to solve the formulated optimisation problem. Since the BESS contribution to the system frequency response depends on the BESS locations in the network, a location-dependent term is incorporated into the control strategy to account for the effect of BESS locations on the frequency response. Using a multi-agent system framework the proposed control strategy can be implemented in a distributed fashion to efficiently utilise and coordinate the flexibility of multiple storage systems. Simulation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating both a location term and frequency-related constraints into the control strategy to provide a cost-effective improved frequency response as well as the suitability of the proposed solution to coordinate a large and arbitrary number of BESS.