Coordinated Load Shedding Control Scheme for Recovering Frequency in Islanded Microgrids

Supply and demand balance is required to assure the normal operation of microgrids. When unintentional islanding occurs in a microgrid, a load shedding (LS) control scheme is necessary to achieve the power balance and frequency stability of an islanded microgrid due to its limited power generation. However, the LS control of a microgrid faces two key challenges, i.e., how to determine the appropriate LS amount and LS objects in an islanded microgrid. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a coordinated LS control scheme based on Double-Q learning for an islanded microgrid. In the proposed coordinated LS control scheme, aiming at the LS amount problem in the process of unintentional islanding, this paper considers the relationship between the active power and frequency deviation of each distributed energy resource (DER) and uses the frequency deviation measured locally to calculate the LS amount and guide LS actions. Aiming at the problem of LS object selection in the process of unintentional islanding, this paper describes the LS control problem as a Markov decision process (MDP). The load priority is considered in a reward value function to ensure the uninterrupted power supply of critical loads in a microgrid. The two value functions of Double-Q learning are used to make the two Q value tables measure each other, which can reduce the overestimation of Q values and improve the accuracy of decision-making. The performance of the proposed coordinated LS control scheme is verified by a microgrid model based on a modified IEEE 13-bus system. The test results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed coordinated LS control scheme.