International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems (IJPEDS)

Vol. 12, No. 1, Mar 2021, pp. 99~111

ISSN: 2088-8694, DOI: 10.11591/ijpeds.v12.i1.pp99-111  99

Reactive power sharing among distributed generators in a

microgrid by using virtual current

Eder A. Molina-Viloria1, John E. Candelo-Becerra2, Fredy E. Hoyos Velasco3

1Tecnologico de Antioquia, Institución Universitaria, Facultad de Ingeniería, Medellín, Colombia
2UniversidadNacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín - Facultad de Minas - Departamento de Energía Eléctrica y
Automática, Medellín, Colombia
3Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín - Facultad de Ciencias - Escuela de Física, Medellín, Colombia

Article Info ABSTRACT

Article history: This paper presents a new autonomous effective power distribution control
strategy for three-phase parallel inverters. The proposal uses a controller that
Received Feb 7, 2020 can provide the system with accurate power sharing among distributed
Revised Jan 19, 2021 generators installed in the microgrid once some load variations are presented
Accepted Feb 5, 2021 in the network. The methodology uses a virtual current loop introduced into
the current controller of the inverter to optimize the output signal, which goes
directly to the PWM. This virtual current is obtained by using a virtual
Keywords: impedance loop. Furthermore, a small-signal model of the system is used to
check stability of the proposed control strategy, which was developed for
Distributed generation island mode operation of the microgrid. Simulations were performed for a
Microgrid microgrid with two generators and a load with five households and
Reactive power sharing implemented in MATLAB/Simulink software. The results show that the
Virtual current model provides a wide margin of stability and a rapid response when
Virtual impedance electrical loads change, thus fulfilling the reactive power sharing among
generators. The proposed method shows a large margin of stability and a
rapid transient response of the system.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.

Corresponding Author:
Fredy E. Hoyos Velasco
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín
Facultad de Ciencias, Escuela de Física
Carrera 65 No. 59A – 110, Medellín, 050034, Colombia
Email: [email protected]

1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, there has been a trend toward the decentralization of electricity generation; hence,
the penetration of distributed generation (DG) has significantly increased and microgrids (MGs) are
becoming an important concept to integrate these generation units [1]. Thus, the MG concept has been
introduced as a very effective technology to integrate renewable energy sources in the network [2] and, when
compared with conventional distribution systems, new partial systems can operate either while connected to
the main power grid or isolated mode operation [3], [4]. A droop control scheme is generally used by
paralleling multiple inverters [5]–[7] in which the voltage and frequency of each inverter are adjusted in
order to control the active and reactive power.
In an MG in island operation mode, power must be properly shared to loads by the multiple DG
units that conform the network. Conventionally, the frequency and voltage magnitude droop control is
adopted with the objective to share active and reactive power in an MG, and performed in a decentralized
manner without using any communication between DG units [1], [3], [8], [9]. In this control category, the

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100  ISSN: 2088-8694

active and reactive power are calculated using low-pass filters [10]; consequently, the main focus of droop
control is the exchange of average active and reactive power.
Active power sharing is accurate, whereas reactive power sharing depends on line impedances [11],
[12]. To improve MG performance, some modified droop control methods have been presented in literature.
In [13], an interesting method of dropping Q-V points is proposed, where the authors show a new cooperative
harmonic filtering strategy for the interface converters of distributed generation sources. A droop control
method based on the reactive volt-ampere consumption of harmonics of each interface converter is designed
and implemented. However, the shared reactive power errors can hardly be completely eliminated using this
method, especially in weak MGs.
Furthermore, the island operation can be considered as one of the most attractive features of an MG,
as it guarantees service continuity in the case of network interruption [14]. When the MG is in island
operation mode, the DG units must be able to cooperatively regulate the voltage and frequency, and maintain
the balance between power generation and the power consumed by the load within the MG. Consequently,
the concepts of droop control have been widely adopted in [9], [15], [16] to provide decentralized control of
power sharing without relying on communications.
As the MG allows DG units to work in an island operation mode, the system can improve reliability
and power quality for customers [14]. However, when operating in island mode, some challenging issues
appears such as the difficulty of maintaining the power balance between generation and loads and reactive
power sharing [15], [17]. When an MG operates in island mode, the droop control technique provides a
decentralized control capability that does not depend on external communication links in the control strategy;
although the frequency droop technique can manage active power sharing accurately, the voltage droop
technique generally results in a poor reactive power sharing due to the mismatch in the impedances of the DG
unit feeders and, also, due to the different values of DG units [18]. Consequently, the reactive power sharing
problem in an MG working in island operation mode has received considerable attention in the literature and
many control techniques have been developed to address this problem [19]-[23].
Commonly, in high voltage networks, reactive power sharing among generators is not usually a
major concern due to capacitive compensation between loads and transmission lines. However, in low-
voltage MGs, the low capacity to supply reactive power from generation sources and compensators, and
small distances between units, does not allow an exact distribution of reactive power to avoid overloads [24].
Line impedances and DG impedances significantly affect the reactive power sharing during the operating
mode connected to the network and during the island mode due to voltage drops [21]. At present, the voltage
controllers in the MGs are unable to share the demand for reactive power among even identical inverters
operating in parallel [25]. Some researchers have previously worked on this issue as in [22], which proposes
an alternative controller for reactive power sharing between parallel inverters with nominal voltages. Design
of control strategies for Distributed generation systems is very important to achieve smoother transition
between the grid connected and islanding modes of operation [26]–[28]. Also power management strategy of
parallel inveters based system, to enhance the power generation capacity of the existing system with
distributed energy sources [29].
The references consulted in this research show that previous works have focused more on
performing an active power control while reactive power sharing still requires better applications to improve
accuracy. Therefore, the objective of this work is to show that the reactive power can be shared between
generators in an MG more accurately by using virtual current injected to the current controller of the inverter
in order to optimize the output signal. The main contribution in this paper is related to the virtual currents
calculated from each inverter based on the active output power of the inverter. This new current control
achieves an accurate exchange of reactive power between generators of the MG when load variations are
presented. Section 2 explains the new control strategy for sharing reactive power after each load variation
and presents the mathematical formulation of the control method, small-signal model, current loop controller,
three-phase half-bridge circuit, output LC filter, line impedance, and the inverter used in the control strategy.
In addition, Section 3 shows the results of the simulations performed in a distribution system test case using
MATLAB/Simulink software. Finally, Section 4 presents the conclusions and future work.

2. MATERIALS AND METHOD

2.1. Control method
A strategy using virtual current is proposed as a method to control the reactive power and voltage in
the MG when the load changes in certain periods of time. Figure 1 shows a detailed configuration of a DG
unit using the proposed control strategy. The P-ω controller is adopted to regulate the frequency and achieve
an accurate exchange of active power between the different distributed generators that conform the MG.

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  101

The design of the controller starts by measuring the current in the capacitor 𝑖𝑐 and the output voltage
𝑉. Besides, the active power 𝑃𝑑𝑞 and reactive power 𝑄𝑑𝑞 are calculated by using the output voltage 𝑉 and
the current measured in the output of the system 𝑖𝑜 , both transformed into 𝑑𝑞 coordinates. Then, the
reference voltage 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑓 is calculated using the droop control and used to calculate the voltage error. Finally,
in the inner loop the voltage error is amplified by the proportional resonant (PR) and used to subtract both the
virtual current obtained as the square root of the activate power divided by a virtual impedance, and the
current measured in the capacitor and transformed into 𝑑𝑞 coordinates. The final signal obtained in the inner
loop is multiply by a gain P, which increases the signal that is sent to the PWM to make the switch in the
inverter obtain the desired current and voltage values.

Figure 1. Droop controller with the virtual current

2.2. Small-signal model

To analyze the stability of the controller, a small-signal model of the inverters with the proposed
control strategy is included. Each inverter is modeled with individual reference and includes the dynamics of
the voltage and current controller, LC filter, and line impedance to reach equilibrium. The internal voltage
controller is based on a PR structure in the steady-state reference, where generalized integrators are used to
achieve a zero steady-state error. Based on the abc/dq-coordinated transformation principle, a three-phase
system can be modeled in two independent single-phase systems. Thus, the block diagram of Figure 2 shows
the voltage controller in a synchronous reference frame that includes all feedback terms and the four states
𝐴𝑑𝑞 and 𝐵𝑑𝑞 .
The corresponding state equations can be expressed as in (1) and (2):
𝑑𝐴𝑑
= (𝑉𝑑 ∗∗ − 𝑉𝑑 ) − 𝑤0 2 𝐵𝑞 + 𝑤0 𝐴𝑞 , (1)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝐴𝑞
= (𝑉𝑞 ∗∗ − 𝑉𝑞 ) − 𝑤0 2 𝐵𝑞 − 𝑤0 𝐴𝑑 . (2)
𝑑𝑡

Thus, the algebraic equations are expressed as in (3) and (4):

𝑖𝑖𝑑 ∗ = 𝑘𝑝𝑣 (𝑉𝑑 ∗ − 𝑉𝑑 ) + 𝑘𝑖𝑣 𝐵𝑑 + 𝐼𝑅𝑑 , (3)

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𝑖𝑖𝑞 ∗ = 𝑘𝑝𝑣 (𝑉𝑞 ∗ − 𝑉𝑞 ∗ ) + 𝑘𝑖𝑣 𝐵𝑞 + 𝐼𝑅𝑞 . (4)

The linearized small-signal state space models of the voltage controller are presented in (5):

∆Ȧ𝑑𝑞 ∆𝐴𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞

[ ] = 𝐴𝑣𝑜𝑙 [ ] + 𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙1 [∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] + 𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙2 [ ], (5)
∆𝐵𝑑𝑞 ∆𝐵𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞

Where the terms 𝐴𝑣𝑜𝑙 is the system matrix. 𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙1 and 𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙2 are the input matrices as shown in (6),
(7), and (8):

0 𝑤0 −𝑤0 2 0
−𝑤0 0 0 −𝑤0 2
, (6)
1 0 0 𝑤0
[ 0 1 −𝑤0 0 ]
1 0
0 1
𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙1 =[ ], (7)
0 0
0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙2 = [ ]. (8)
−1 0 0 0
0 −1 0 0
The linearized small-signal state space models of the voltage controller are presented in (9):
∆𝐴𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞
[∆𝑖𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] = 𝐶𝑣𝑜𝑙 [ ] + 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙1 [∆𝑉𝑜𝑑 ∗ ] + 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙2 [ ] +𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙3 [∆𝐼𝑅𝑑𝑞 ], (9)
∆𝐵𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞

Where the term 𝐶𝑣𝑜𝑙 is the output matrix and the terms 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙1 , 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙2 , and 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙3 are the feed-forward
matrices as shown in (10)–(13):
0 0 𝑘𝑖𝑣 0
𝐶𝑣𝑜𝑙 = [ ], (10)
0 0 0 𝐾𝑖𝑣
𝑘𝑝𝑣 0
𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙1 = [ ], (11)
0 𝑘𝑝𝑣

0 0 −𝑘𝑝𝑣 0
𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙2 = [ ], (12)
0 0 0 −𝑘𝑝𝑣

1 0
𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙3 = [ ]. (13)
0 1

Figure 2. Droop controller with the virtual current

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  103

2.3. Current loop controller

The internal current controller is based on a stationary frame structure as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Internal current controller

The input currents on the 𝑑 and 𝑞 axes for the controller are 𝐼𝑅𝑑 and 𝐼𝑅𝑞 , which are the result of the
algebraic sum of the output current of the voltage controller 𝑖𝑜𝑑 ∗ and 𝑖𝑜𝑞 ∗ , minus the virtual current as
expressed in (14) and (15):

𝐼𝑅𝑑 = 𝑖𝑜𝑑 ∗ − 𝑖𝑜𝑑 ∗∗ , (14)

𝐼𝑅𝑞 = 𝑖𝑜𝑞 ∗ − 𝑖𝑜𝑞 ∗∗ . (15)

Next, the previous equations related to the 𝑑 and 𝑞 axes are obtained by replacing the value of the
virtual current 𝑖𝑜𝑑 ∗∗ and 𝑖𝑜𝑞 ∗∗

With its equivalent:

1
𝑃𝑜𝑑𝑞 2
(𝑅 )
𝑣𝑖𝑟

The algebraic equations for the reference current can be expressed as (16) and (17):
1
𝑃𝑜𝑑 2
𝐼𝑅𝑑 = 𝑖𝑜𝑑 ∗ − ( ), (16)
𝑅𝑣𝑖𝑟

1
𝑃𝑜𝑞 2
𝐼𝑅𝑞 = 𝑖𝑜𝑞 ∗ − ( ). (17)
𝑅𝑣𝑖𝑟

The linearized small-signal state space models of the above equations can be represented in a simple
way as shown in (18):
1
[ 𝐼𝑅𝑑𝑞 ] = 𝐶[∆𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] − 𝐷 [∆𝑃𝑜𝑑𝑞 ]2 , (18)

where the terms 𝐶 and 𝐷 are matrices that can be represented as (19) and (20):

1 0
𝐶=[ ], (19)
0 1
1
1 2
(𝑅 ) 0
𝑣𝑖𝑟
𝐷= 1 . (20)
1 2
[ 0 (𝑅 ) ]
𝑣𝑖𝑟

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From Figure 3, we can observe and obtain the algebraic equation of the internal loop current control,
which can be expressed as (21) and (22):

𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑 ∗ = 𝑘𝑝𝑖 (𝐼𝑅𝑑 − 𝑖𝑙𝑑 ), (21)

𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑞 ∗ = 𝑘𝑝𝑖 (𝐼𝑅𝑞 − 𝑖𝑙𝑞 ). (22)

The linearized small-signal state space models of the current controller loop are presented in (23)-
(25):

∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞
[∆𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] = 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 [∆𝐼𝑅𝑑𝑞 ] + 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟2 [ ], (23)
∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞

where the terms 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 and 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟2 are matrices that contain the control parameters 𝑘𝑝𝑖 as shown in (24) and
(25):

𝑘𝑝𝑖 0
𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 = [ ], (24)
0 𝑘𝑝𝑖

−𝑘𝑝𝑖 0 0 0
𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟2 = [ ]. (25)
0 −𝑘𝑝𝑖 0 0

Based on (11)–(14), the output of the current controller ∆𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑𝑞 ∗ can be derivated as in (26):

∆𝐴𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞
[∆𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] = 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐶𝑣𝑜𝑙 [ ] + 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙1 [∆𝑉𝑜𝑑 ∗ ] + (𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙2 + 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟2 ) [ ]+
∆𝐵𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞
(𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙3 )[∆𝐼𝑅𝑑𝑞 ]. (26)

2.4. Three-phase half-bridge circuit and output LC filter

The corresponding state equations are expressed as shown in (27)–(29):

𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑑 −𝑟 𝑘𝑝𝑤𝑚 1
= 𝑖𝑖𝑑 + 𝑤0 𝑖𝑙𝑞 + 𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑 ∗ − 𝑉𝑜𝑑 , (27)
𝑑𝑡 𝐿 𝐿 𝐿

𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑞 −𝑟 𝑘𝑝𝑤𝑚 1
= 𝑖𝑖𝑞 + 𝑤0 𝑖𝑙𝑑 + 𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑞 ∗ − 𝑉𝑜𝑞 , (28)
𝑑𝑡 𝐿 𝐿 𝐿

𝑑𝑉𝑜𝑑 1 1
= 𝑤0 𝑉𝑜𝑞 + 𝑖𝐿𝑑 − 𝑖𝑜𝑑 , (29)
𝑑𝑡 𝑐 𝑐

𝑑𝑉𝑜𝑞 1 1
= −𝑤0 𝑉𝑜𝑑 + 𝑖𝐿𝑞 − 𝑖𝑜𝑞 . (30)
𝑑𝑡 𝑐 𝑐

The output variables of the LC filter are the state variables 𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 . Thus, the (31) represents the
linearized small-signal state space:

̇
∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞
[ ] = 𝐴𝐿𝐶 [ ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 [∆𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶2 [∆𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑞 ], (31)
∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞

where the terms 𝐴𝐿𝐶 , 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 , and 𝐵𝐿𝐶2 are matrices that consider the parameters of the system as presented in
(32)–(34):
−𝑟 −1
𝑤0 0
𝐿 𝐿
−𝑟 −1
−𝑤0 0
𝐿 𝐿
𝐴𝐿𝐶 = 1 , (32)
0 0 𝑤0
𝑐
1
[ 0 𝑐
−𝑤0 0]

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𝑘𝑝𝑤𝑚
0
𝐿
𝑘𝑝𝑤𝑚
𝐵𝐿𝐶1 = 0 , (33)
𝐿
0 0
[ 0 0 ]
0 0
0 0
−1
𝐵𝐿𝐶2 = 0 . (34)
𝑐
−1
[0 𝑐 ]

In (19), the output of the controller in the current loop ∆𝑉𝑝𝑤𝑚𝑑𝑞 ∗ can be replaced by (26); then, (31)
can be expressed as in (35):
̇
∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞 ∆𝐴𝑑𝑞
[ ] = 𝐴𝐿𝐶 [ ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐶𝑣𝑜𝑙 [ ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙1 [∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 (𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙2 +
∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∆𝐵𝑑𝑞
∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞
𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟2 ) [ ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙3 [∆𝑖𝑅𝑑𝑞 ] + 𝐵𝐿𝐶2 [∆𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑞 ]. (35)
∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞

2.5. Line impedance

Line impedances are considered in the MG to connect each inverter and the load; thus, real line
impedance must be considered in the model to identify the power losses of the circuit. The corresponding
state equations can be expressed as in (36) and (37):
𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑑 −𝑟𝐿 1 1
= 𝑖𝑜𝑑 + 𝑤0 𝑖𝑜𝑞 + 𝑉 − 𝑉 , (36)
𝑑𝑡 𝐿𝑖 𝐿𝑖 𝑜𝑑 𝐿𝑖 𝑏𝑢𝑠 𝑑

𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑞 −𝑟𝐿 1 1
= 𝑖𝑜𝑞 + 𝑤0 𝑖𝑜𝑑 + 𝑉 − 𝑉 . (37)
𝑑𝑡 𝐿𝑖 𝐿𝑖 𝑜𝑞 𝐿𝑖 𝑏𝑢𝑠 𝑞

The output variables of the line impedance are the state variables 𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑞 . Linearized models of small-
signal state space are as in (38):

̇ ] = 𝐴 [∆𝑖 ] + 𝐵 [ ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞 ] + 𝐵 [∆𝑉

[∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞 𝐿 𝑜𝑑𝑞 𝐿1 ∆𝑉 𝐿2 𝑏𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑞 ], (38)
𝑜𝑑𝑞

where the terms𝐴𝐿 ,𝐵𝐿1 , and 𝐵𝐿2 are matrices that consider the parameters of the system as presented in (39)–
(41):
−𝑟𝐿
𝑤0
𝐿
𝐴𝐿 = [ 𝑖 −𝑟𝐿 ], (39)
−𝑤0
𝐿𝑖

1
0
𝐿𝑖
𝐵𝐿1 = [ 1 ], (40)
0
𝐿𝑖

1
− 0
𝐿
𝐵𝐿2 =[ 𝑖 1 ]. (41)
0 −
𝐿𝑖

2.6. Complete model of the inverter

A complete small-signal state space model of the inverter, as expressed in (42) and (43), can be
obtained by combining the status space models of the voltage controller, current controller, LC output filter,
and line impedance given by (5), (18), (35), and (38), respectively:

[∆𝑋̇] = 𝐴[∆𝑋] + 𝐵1 [∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∗ ] + 𝐵2 [∆𝑉𝑏𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑞 ], (42)

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106  ISSN: 2088-8694
1
∆𝑋 = [ ∆𝐴𝑑𝑞 ∆𝐵𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑉𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑞 ∆𝑃𝑜𝑑𝑞 2 ]. (43)

Next, the complete small-signal state space model of the inverter is obtained with the proposed of
applying the control strategy that modifies the current controller by combining the different state space
models. Herein, the terms 𝐴, 𝐵1 , and 𝐵2 correspond to the matrices shown in (44)–(46):

𝐴𝑣𝑜𝑙 𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙2 0 0
0 0 𝐶 −𝐷
𝐴=[ ], (44)
𝐵𝐿𝐶1 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐶𝑣𝑜𝑙 𝐴𝐿𝐶 + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 (𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙2 + 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟2 ) 𝐵𝐿𝐶2 + 𝐵𝐿𝐶1 (𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙3 𝐶) 0
0 𝐵𝑙1 𝐴𝑙 0

𝐵𝑣𝑜𝑙1
0
𝐵1 = [ ], (45)
𝐵𝐿𝐶1 𝐷𝑐𝑜𝑟1 𝐷𝑣𝑜𝑙1
0
0
0
𝐵2 = [ ]. (46)
0
𝐵𝐿2

3. RESULTS
This section shows the results related to the response of the power inverter applied to each generator
when the control strategy presented in Section 2 is considered. This control strategy is related to the virtual
current considered as an input for the current control of the inverter. This strategy allows sharing the reactive
power with precision and regulating the voltage in the nodes. The simulations were carried out by
considering a distribution network test case where the loads are connected and disconnected at different
periods of time.

3.1. System test case

The MG used for this investigation is shown in Figure 4. This network is formed by two distributed
generators designed to supply one load. The load considers five household consumptions that are connected
and disconnected over time. The power of the distributed generators must be delivered considering the
impedances of the lines in order to supply the power of the changing load. In addition, voltage regulation is
achieved by using the inverter with the virtual current that changes based on the connected and
disconnected loads.

Figure 4. Microgrid test case with two distributed generators and a load.

3.2. Active power supplied by DG

Figures 5(a) and 5(b) show the active power delivered by DG1 and DG2, respectively, which
consider the droop control versus the virtual current control strategies. The figure shows in red the active
power supplied by DGs with the proposed control strategy and in blue the active power supplied by DGs with
the droop control strategy. These figures compare the control strategies and behaviors when the loads are
connected and disconnected at different times. The active power increases depending on the amount of power
load connected to the node. It is observed that the greater the number of loads connected to the node, the
greater the active power consumption.

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  107

During the first 12 seconds, a load of 10+j0.05 Ω is connected to the load node and both control
strategies respond very well to the connection of the load with approximately 1000 W. In the 12-second
period, a load of 15+j0.05 Ω is connected for a few seconds and the active power consumption of the load in
the node increases by more than 100% based on the consumption of the previous period. The same load is
disconnected from the MG at 24 seconds and, at the same period, a load of 20+j0.60 Ω is connected, where
the power consumption is reduced. At 36 seconds, a load 25+j0.10 Ω is connected, which generates an active
power consumption increase of almost 50% of the initial load. Finally, at 48 seconds, the load 10+j0.05 Ω is
disconnected and a load 50+j0.20 Ω is connected, which causes the active power supplied by the two
generators to decrease and allowing the system to deliver less active power.
Figures 5(a) and 5(b) show that the new proposed controller responds faster and better than the
droop controller when a load is connected and disconnected. Besides, both controllers share the active power
accurately for the changes. However, the proposed control strategy manages to stabilize the active power
much faster than the droop control strategy.

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Active power supplied by (a) DG1 and (b) DG2 when the systems use virtual current (blue line) and
droop controls (red line)

3.3. Reactive power supplied by DG

Figures 6(a) and 6(b) show the reactive power delivered by DG1 and DG2, respectively, considering
the droop control versus the virtual current control strategies. The figure shows in red the reactive power
supplied by DGs with the proposed control strategy and in blue the reactive power supplied by DGs with the
droop control strategy. These figures compare the control strategies and behaviors when the loads are
connected and disconnected at different times. Reactive power increases depending on the amount of power
load connected to the node. It is observed that the greater the number of loads connected to the node, the
greater the reactive power consumption.

(a) (b)

Figure 6. Reactive power supplied by (a) DG1 and (b) DG2 when the systems uses virtual current (blue line)
and droop controls (red line)

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The results show that the proposed virtual current control strategy manages better the reactive power
sharing with different load changes than the droop control. During the first 12 seconds, a load of 10+j0.05 Ω
is connected to identify the response of the control strategy and around 1500 VAR of power consumption is
observed. Later, after the 12-second period, a load of 15+j0.05 Ω is connected for a few seconds and the
reactive power increases and, based on the consumption of the previous period, this load is disconnected
from the MG at 24 seconds. Then, at the same period, a load of 20+j0.60 Ω is connected to the node of the
MG and the reactive power is reduced as the load 15+j0.05 Ω has been disconnected and the new connected
load is not as large as the previous one. Over a period of 36 seconds, a load of 25+j0.10 Ω is connected to the
network, which generates a reactive power consumption increase, and the control strategy responds quickly
to stabilize the power and to share the reactive power with the same amount between the two generators. At
48 seconds, a load of 10+j0.05 Ω is disconnected and a load of 50+j0.20 Ω is connected, which causes a
reactive power decrease in the two generators of approximately 50% of the previous load.
The results show that the droop control strategy does not allow reactive power to be shared
accurately between the generation units as does the new proposed control strategy. The proposed control
strategy manages to share with precision the reactive power between two DGs in the MG. Besides, the
proposed new controller responds faster and better than the droop controller when a load is connected and
disconnected at different times and power.

3.4. Frequency
Figure 7 shows the frequency of the system using both the droop and the virtual current controllers
when considering different load variations. The figure shows in red the system frequency with the proposed
control strategy and, in blue, the system frequency with the droop control strategy. This figure is obtained by
considering multiple variations in power loads as described above for the active and reactive power.

Figure 7. Frequency of the system when using virtual current (blue dotted line) and droop (red line) controls.

Figure 7 shows how both control strategies act when the load changes during different periods of
time and the results show that the new proposed controller responds faster and better than the droop
controller. Furthermore, the results show that the proposed control strategy ensures that the frequency of the
two generators stabilizes at a single value, a few seconds after the load changes. In addition, the more
different the change in load on the MG connection, the more abrupt is the change in the frequency value.
However, no matter how large the load changes (connection and disconnection of different electrical loads),
the controller maintains the frequency close to 50 Hz, which is the desired value.

3.5. Voltage and currents

Figure 8 shows the behavior of the RMS voltage at the node where the five electrical loads of the
MG are connected. The figure shows in red the voltage in the load with the proposed control strategy and in
blue the voltage in the load with the droop control strategy. These results show that at the beginning of the
first load connection, the node voltage tends to drop sharply, but immediately the control strategy recovers
the voltage close to the original value. Therefore, the proposed control strategy with a virtual current
maintains a stable voltage value during the period in which the electrical loads are connected and
disconnected. However, when the droop control strategy is used, the voltage drops beyond the proposed
method as the proposed new control strategy responds faster and better than the droop controller.
Figure 9 shows the current consumed in the node where the loads are connected. The figure shows
in red the current in the load with the proposed control strategy and in blue the current in the load with the
droop control strategy. The current is lower with the proposed current control strategy compared to the droop

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  109

control strategy, which brings much benefit because there is less loss in the conductors and winding of the
inductive load due to Joule effect.

Figure 8. Voltage in the load when using virtual Figure 9. Current in the load when using virtual
current and droop controls current and droop controls.

4. CONCLUSION
The paper presented a new control strategy that uses a virtual current to share reactive power
accurately between two DGs in an MG when electrical loads are connected and disconnected at different time
periods. Results were obtained for a system with two distributed generators and a load with five different
power consumptions, in which the reactive power shared was correctly distributed between the two
generators of the MG, according to the time period that corresponds to the variation of the load. Therefore,
within a few moments, the reactive power supplied by the distributed generators increases and, in another
time period, it decreases to regulate the voltage in the MG. Therefore, the control strategy based on an
adaptive virtual current related to the output power of the inverters works successfully. The proposed control
strategy effectively regulates the frequency close to 50 Hz and also maintains the active and reactive power
balance. The strategy can be easily adapted to the MG to share accurately the active and reactive power.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank COLCIENCIAS and the National Doctorate program and the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia, Sede Manizales and Sede Medellín.

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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS

Eder A. Molina Viloria: from Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia, received the Bachelor’s
degree in electrical engineering from Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla - Colombia, in 2008
and his Ph.D. in Engineering with an emphasis in Automatic Engineering in 2020 from
Universidad Nacional de Colombia. His employment experiences include the Reficar-Ecopetrol,
SENA, ITSA, and Universidad del Norte. His research interests include microgrid, distributed
generation, operation, and control of power systems; artificial intelligence; and smart grids. He is
a member of the Research Group - GIISTA, at the Tecnológico de Antioquia, Institución
Universitaria. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1052-7207.

John E. Candelo-Becerra: received his Bs. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2002 and his
Ph.D. in Engineering with an emphasis in Electrical Engineering in 2009 from Universidad del
Valle, Cali - Colombia. His employment experiences include the Empresa de Energía del
Pacífico EPSA, Universidad del Norte, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín.
He is now an Assistant Professor of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín,
Colombia. His research interests include: engineering education; planning, operation, and control
of power systems; artificial intelligence; and smart grids. He is a Senior Researcher in
Colciencias and a member of the Applied Technologies Research Group - GITA, at the
Universidad Nacional de Colombia. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9784-9494.

Fredy Edimer Hoyos: received his BS and MS degree from the National University of
Colombia, at Manizales, Colombia, in Electrical Engineering and Industrial Automation, in 2006
and 2009, respectively, and an Industrial Automation Ph.D. in 2012. Dr. Hoyos is currently an
Associate Professor of the Science Faculty, School of Physics, at the National University of
Colombia, at Medellin, Colombia. His research interests include nonlinear control, system
modeling, nonlinear dynamics analysis, control of nonsmooth systems, and power electronics,
with applications extending to a broad area of technological processes. Dr. Hoyos is an Associate
Researcher in Colciencias and a member of the Applied Technologies Research Group (GITA)
at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8766-5192).

Reactive power sharing among distributed generators in a microgrid by using … (Eder A. Molina-Viloria)