International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems (IJPEDS)

Vol. 12, No. 1, Mar 2021, pp. 334~344

ISSN: 2088-8694, DOI: 10.11591/ijpeds.v12.i1.pp334-344  334

Active damping method for voltage source inverter-based

distributed generator using multivariable finite-control-set
model predictive control

Jonggrist Jongudomkarn, Warayut Kampeerawat

Department of Electrical Engineering, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

Article Info ABSTRACT

Article history: Despite its advantages, the LCL filter can significantly distort the grid current
and constitute a substantially more complex control issue for the grid-
Received Oct 26, 2020 connected distributed generators (DGs). This paper presents an active
Revised Jan 20, 2021 damping approach to deal with the LCL filter's oscillation for the finite-
Accepted Feb 4, 2021 control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC)-three-phase voltage source
inverters (VSIs)-based DG. The new approaches use the multivariable
control of the inverter side's filter current and capacitor voltage to suppress
Keywords: the LCL filter resonance. The proposed method has been tested in steady-
state and under grid voltage disturbances. The comparative study was also
Active damping conducted with the existing virtual resistance active damping approaches for
Distributed power generations an FCS-MPC algorithm. The study validates the developed control schemes'
Power quality superior performance and shows its ability to eliminate lower-order grid
Predictive control current harmonics and decrease sensitivity to grid voltage distortion.
Voltage source inverter
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.

Corresponding Author:
Jonggrist Jongudomkarn
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University
123 Moo 16 Mittraphap Rd., Nai-Muang, Muang District, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand
Email: [email protected]

1. INTRODUCTION
The indiscriminate uses of fossil fuels to supply the indefinite demand of the world's energy have
led to the rapid depletion of these non-renewable resources. Furthermore, their exploitation is also believed to
be the leading cause of global warming and climate change [1]. One possible solution for this problem lies in
using renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind and solar power. This is evidenced by the global
capacity of wind turbines and solar cells, which are increasing annually. However, unlike conventional power
generation, RESs usually require a topologically power-source-dependent power converter to deliver their
power to the grid [2]-[4]. Such power-converter-based- generators are often operating in parallel with the
utility distribution system near the loads. Hence, they are commonly referred to as "distributed generator
(DG). In the past years, the finite control set (FCS-MPC) has cemented its place as an appealing alternative
for controlling power converters, thanks to its versatile control scheme that enables easy inclusion of multiple
control variables, restrictions, and nonlinearities [5]-[14]. Previously, several control algorithms based on
FCS-MPC for DGs' applications have been proposed in the literature; for instance, a FCS-MPC strategy for a
grid-connected 3L-NPC appears in [9]. A study on the FCS-MPC scheme for grid-connected VSIs was
conducted in [10]. Additionally, other FCS-MPC-based methods for various power converters' topologies are
proposed in [11]-[15]. Conclusively, the FCS-MPC scheme's benefits are presented, including simple
implementation, straightforward control law, and fast dynamic response. The conventional FCS-MPC-based
DG system, however, has been designed for a system with simple inductive filters (L filters) or inductive

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  335

capacitance filters (LC filters), e.g., presented in [13]-[14]. On the other hand, to achieve sinusoidal grid
currents with low distortions, an LCL filter is an attractive alternative with relatively lower cost compared
with conventional LC filters [16]-[17]. Nevertheless, the third-order LCL filter poses a substantially more
complicated control issue as harmonics components close to the resonance’s frequencies may be generated
by the switching harmonics. Moreover, the average switching frequency of FCS-MPC is unfeasible to
predetermine because it does not depend only on the sampling frequency and varies with the inverters
operating point. To fulfill the grid code requirements, it is essential to reduce the total harmonic distortion
(THD) under a certain threshold. Therefore, active damping (AD) methods are necessarily required for grid-
connected DG applications with LCL filters. According to the literature [17]-[21], scholars have proposed
many damping approaches, mainly divided into passive damping and active damping. Passive damping is not
a preferred method as it adds additional loss to the system and has low flexibility. On the other hand, extra
attention must be paid while introducing active damping methods to FCS-MPC applications, as suggested in
[17]-[19], because FCS-MPC produces variable switching frequencies. One of the preferred choices of active
damping methods for FCS-MPC is the virtual resistance (VR) method. This scheme's essence is to add
parallel virtual impedance at the filter capacitor to suppress the filter resonance. The advantage of this
scheme is the high dynamic response of the power control. However, it utilizes a grid-following/ grid-
injecting strategy and can only operate in the grid-connected operation. Furthermore, when harmonics distort
the grid voltage, there is a chance that those harmonics will be unendingly fed back to the current reference
through the VR current leading to increased distortion of the current waveforms.
Recently, several active damping solutions based on multivariable control for grid-connected
rectifiers have been proposed [22]-[24]. The concept of FCS-MPC-based multivariable control can also be
applied to grid-connected voltage source inverters (VSIs), as suggested in [13]-[15]. Nevertheless, in the
referred works, the purpose of a filter current control inclusion was to achieve overcurrent prevention.
Moreover, the study regarding the active damping ability of the multivariable FCS-MPC-based DG is still
mostly uncovered. In this paper, a new feedback approach, including multivariable control of output filter's
voltage and current based on FCS-MPC, are presented and compared with the well-known virtual-resistance
active damping method. The proposed AD's approach helps to maintain the sinusoidal waveforms of the
inverter's side filter current and the capacitor voltage through the real-time control of these two variables in
𝛼𝛽-coordination. Meaning, unlike the VR-method, there is no distorted current reference feeding back to the
system during grid disturbances. Hence, the proposed control is more robust against grid voltage distortion.
With the voltage and current regulation, the proposed scheme can also operate in both grid-connected and
stand-alone operations. Simultaneously, the flexibility of the multivariable control allows easy integration of
the proposed AD scheme with different control algorithms. This is very beneficial for DG applications,
where various conditions need to be carefully observed simultaneously throughout the operation. The paper
is structured as follows: In Section 2, the system description, the control problems, and the critical aspects of
system modeling are given. Consequently, the fundamental concept of active damping and the proposed
active damping method are introduced in the same section. To validate the theoretical concept, the
comparative studies between the proposed scheme and different AD methods are conducted and further
discussed in Section 3. Finally, Section 4 presents the conclusion of this work.

2. RESEARCH METHOD
2.1. The modelling of finite-control-set model predictive control of voltage source inverter with LCL
filter
As its name implies, MPC relies heavily on the precision of the system model. Therefore, proper
system modeling and discretization are the critical elements that decide the control system's performance.
Hence, a detailed explanation of system modeling is presented in this subsection. Figure 1 shows the circuit
configuration of a voltage source inverter (VSI) with a LCL output filter. The current through the inverter-
side filter inductance 𝐿1 and the corresponding filter resistance 𝑅1 filter current is represented with 𝒊𝑓 =
𝑇 𝑇
[𝑖𝑓,𝛼 𝑖𝑓,𝛽 ] . The current 𝒊𝑜 = [𝑖𝑜,𝛼 𝑖𝑜,𝛽 ] symbolizes the output current flew through the grid-side
𝑇 𝑇
inductance 𝐿𝑔 . Additionally, the voltages 𝒗𝑐 = [𝑣𝑐,𝛼 𝑣𝑐,𝛽 ] and 𝒗𝑖 = [𝑣𝑖,𝛼 𝑣𝑖,𝛽 ] describe the output voltage
measured across the filter capacitance and the internal inverter voltage, respectively. Finally, the voltage
𝑇
𝒗𝑔 = [𝑣𝑔,𝛼 𝑣𝑔,𝛽 ] represents the grid voltage. For a balanced three-phase system, the zero sequence
components can be neglected. Hence, all generic three-phase variables are converted into 𝛼𝛽-frame with the
simplified, amplitude-invariant Clarke transformation. Thus, the model of a three-phase inverter with a LCL
filter is described in the 𝛼𝛽-frame with the capacitor dynamics equation (1) and the inductance dynamics
equation (2).

Active damping method for voltage source inverter-based distributed generator… (Jonggrist Jongudomkarn)
336  ISSN: 2088-8694

𝑑𝒗𝑐
𝐶 = 𝒊𝑓 − 𝒊𝑜 (1)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝒊𝑓
𝐿1 = 𝒗𝑖 − 𝒗𝑐 (2)
𝑑𝑡

The system model based on (1) and (2) can be rewritten in the state-space form with the (3):
dx
= Ax + Bvi − Bd io (3)
dt

1
−𝐿 0 1
𝑖𝑓,𝛼 0 0 1 0 0 0
1 𝐿1
0 0 0 −𝐿 0 0
𝑖 1
where 𝒙 = [𝑣𝑓,𝛽 ] , 𝑨 = 1
1 ,𝑩 = 0 𝐿1 and 𝑩𝒅 = − 1 0 .
𝑐,𝛼 𝐶
0 0 0 0 0 1
𝑣𝑐,𝛽 𝐶
1 0 0 [0 0] [ 0 − 𝐶]
[0 𝐶 ]

As described by [8], a discrete-time model of the system derived from (3) for a sampling time 𝑇𝑠 can
be expressed in (4).

𝑥(𝑘 + 1) = 𝐴𝑞 𝑥(𝑘) + 𝐵𝑞 𝑣𝑖 (𝑘) + 𝐵𝑑𝑞 𝑖𝑜 (𝑘) (4)

𝑇 𝑇
where 𝑨𝑞 = 𝑒 𝑨𝑇𝑠 , 𝑩𝑞 = ∫0 𝑠 𝑒 𝑨𝜏 𝑩𝑑𝜏 and 𝑩𝑑𝑞 = ∫0 𝑠 𝑒 𝑨𝜏 𝑩𝑑 𝑑𝜏.
From (3)-(4), it shows that the future values 𝒗𝑐 (𝑘 + 1) and 𝒊𝑓 (𝑘 + 1) can be discovered following
possible control set of input voltage 𝒗𝒊 (𝑘). Nevertheless, the applications of FCS-MPC methods [9]-[12]
conventionally only focus on the control of 𝒊𝑓 (𝑘 + 1), without considering the regulation of 𝒗𝑐 (𝑘 + 1).
However, such control methods are vulnerable to the filter resonance and current distortion, as explained in
the following section.

Figure 1. The power configuration of a grid-connected three-phase VSI with an LCL filter

2.2. Control Problem: filter resonance

The main task of the DG is to control the amount of active and reactive power, which is feeding into
or/and out of the power grid. Following this, the LCL filter is included in the system to improve the quality of
the DG current that is proportional to these powers. However, the third-order system of the LCL filter means
we need to consider the presence of the resonance frequency described by the relationship (5):

1 1
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠 = √𝐿 (5)
2𝜋 1𝐶

As mentioned in the previous section, most of the FCS-MPC-based grid-connected DG in the

literature employs the predictive direct current control or predictive power control strategies [9]-[11] and
only 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) is directly governed. To mitigate resonance, the other states of the filter, such as 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) and 𝑖𝑜 (𝑠)
needs to be indirectly regulated through the control of 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠). This can be realized, as shown in Figure 2, by
the so-called virtual resistance (VR) active damping method, which has been deployed in the FCS-MPC-

Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2021 : 334 – 344
Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  337

based grid-connected VSI with some success [19]-[21]. However, problems might arise as soon as 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠), is
distorted by harmonics, which cannot be eliminated by the VR method.
Nevertheless, as mentioned previously, the resonance occurs between 𝐿1 and 𝐶, because only 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) is
controlled directly, whereas two other states, i.e., 𝑖𝑜 (𝑠) and 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠), are indirectly controlled and, hence,
strongly reliant on filter impedances. Therefore, if we can control, 𝑖𝑜 (𝑠) and 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠), directly and
simultaneously, we can reduce the level of dependency of 𝑖𝑜 (𝑠) and 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) on filter impedances. With the
proposed control scheme, we achieve this by utilizing the FCS-MPC scheme's multivariable control of both
voltage and current of the LCL-filter simultaneously, thus restraining the resonant energy oscillation between
the inductors and the capacitors. This idea was successfully applied to the grid-connected FCS-MPC-based
AC/DC converter [22]-[24]. Later in the paper, we illustrate and compare two control methods (the VR-AD
and the multivariable control AD methods) regarding their abilities to subdue the LCL filter's resonance. The
description of each of the control methods includes simulation results carried out in the PSCAD environment
are also presented.

2.3. Conventional virtual resistance active damping method

Additional resistances are usually enclosed within the system for the prevention of resonant effects
in the grid-side current. However, adding resistive units to the filter generate further losses. A well-known
approach to avoid these losses is to utilize a VR-concept. This method simulates a damping resistance 𝑅𝑑 by
injecting a virtual inverter-side resistive current component [16] and [19]-[21]. In this work, we implemented
the control scheme with the VR-AD method based on the model predictive direct power control with AD
ability proposed in [16]. Although different damping resistance realizations are possible, we chose only to
insert the virtual 𝑅𝑑 in parallel to the filter capacitance due to a limited calculation burden. This is realized by
injecting an additional current reference derived from the capacitor voltage's additional feedback, as shown in
the block diagram of the VR-AD approach in Figure 2(a). It should be remembered, however, that if the
distortion of the grid voltage is induced by harmonics, which cannot be eliminated by the VR-AD, those
harmonics will be perpetually fed back to the current reference resulting in increased distortion of the grid-
side current waveforms. The transfer functions between the grid and the inverter currents, considering the
passive damping shown in Figure 2(b) and2(c). The relationship between the damping factor 𝑘𝑑 and the
parallel resistor 𝑅𝑑 can be found in [20] and 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠 is given by 𝑘𝑑 = 1/𝑅𝑑 . The determining procedure of 𝑘𝑑 is
well explained in [20] and thus will be omitted from this work.

(a)

(b) (c)

Figure 2. (a) Equivalent circuit and (b) control diagram of the VR-AD method for the VSI with LCL output
filters, (c) the FCS-MPC diagram with the VR-AD method

Active damping method for voltage source inverter-based distributed generator… (Jonggrist Jongudomkarn)
338  ISSN: 2088-8694

2.4. The proposed multivariable control active damping method

The proposed FCS-MPC utilizes a multiple-inputs-multiple-outputs (MIMO) system to control both
𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) and 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) simultaneously as illustrated by the control diagram in Figure 3. The multivariable control of
FCS-MPC is carried out with the same bandwidth. This ascertains that the regulation of 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) can dampen
the distortion caused by the harmonics of 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) and the control of 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) can reduce the disturbance caused by
the harmonics of 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠). This approach is fundamentally different from the traditional cascade control with
outer loop voltage and inner loop current control, where the dynamic response of the inner loop has to be
substantially higher than its outer loop counterpart. Therefore, the outer loop's control is not quick enough to
provide a damping effect when both 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) and 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) are oscillating with the resonant frequency.
Additionally, only two degrees of liberation prevail out of the three states of the LCL-filter since 𝑖𝑜 (𝑠) is a
function of 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) and 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠). Hence, by controlling both degrees of freedom of the LCL-filter, the filter's
frequency response is no longer highly dependent on the filter impedance. The unregulated oscillation
between the inductors and the capacitors is thus effectively mitigated. Since both the filter current and the
capacitor voltage will be controlled in this approach, we will refer to this AD method as the multivariable
control AD method Moreover, considering the control diagram in Figure 2(c), it is shown that the oscillation
in the filter occurs because the harmonic contents in the 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) is amplified by the impedance of the capacitor,
and similarly, the harmonic contents in 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠) is influenced by the filter impedance. Thus, the oscillation
caused by the LCL filter resonance can be damped by merely reducing the harmonics induces distortion
in 𝑖𝑓 (𝑠) and 𝑣𝑐 (𝑠). Since the control of the FCS-MPC occurs in real-time and in 𝛼𝛽-frame, if we can ensure
that the inverter's side filter current and the capacitor voltage always track sinusoidal command waveforms, it
will fortify the active damping ability of the control scheme. In order to achieve this, we insert a function
proposed in [25], referred to as second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) bandpass filter, to the current and
voltage command, as shown in Figure 3. Only the content at the fundamental frequency remains in the
current and voltage command, and the oscillation caused by the filter resonance is suppressed with this
function. As illustrated in Figure 3, we chose to employ the virtual synchronous generator (VSG) in this work
to obtain the voltage command. In contrast, the current command is derived from the voltage command and
the real-time system's variables by imitating the relationship between the inverter voltage, filter currents, and
the capacitor voltage. The VSG control scheme can regulate the inverter's output active and reactive powers
by manipulating the output voltage. Hence, it is suitable for the proposed control scheme for DG application,
where proper power control and multivariable control of voltage and current are desired. Additionally, with
the output voltage and current regulation, the VSI can operate in both grid-connected and stand-alone
operations. The concept of VSG is derived from the well-known swing equation (6).
𝑑𝜔𝑚
𝑃𝑖𝑛 − 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐽𝜔𝑚 + 𝐷(𝜔𝑚 − 𝜔𝑔 ) (6)
𝑑𝑡

where 𝑃𝑖𝑛 is virtual shaft power, 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 and 𝑄𝑜𝑢𝑡 are the active and reactive power of the measured
output. 𝜔𝑚 is virtual rotor angular frequency. 𝜔𝑔 is output voltage angular frequency, and J, D are virtual
inertia and virtual damping factor, respectively. The VSG control scheme is adopted from [14], and since the
VSG control is not the focus of this work, its explanation will be omitted.
As mentioned earlier, the current reference can be obtained by imitating the connection between the
inverter voltage, filter currents, and the capacitor voltage, shown in Figure 1, which can be represented in a
stationary frame (αβ) with (7).

𝒗𝑖,𝛼𝛽 = 𝒗𝑐,𝛼𝛽 + 𝒊𝑓,𝛼𝛽 (𝑅𝑓 + 𝑗(𝑋𝐿,𝑓 + 𝑋𝑆 )) (7)

Where 𝒗𝑖,𝛼𝛽 is inverter voltage, 𝒊𝑓,𝛼𝛽 symbolizes the filter current and 𝒗𝑐,𝛼𝛽 represents the capacitor
voltages. Let 𝑋𝑆 indicate the virtual stator reactance, 𝑋𝐿,𝑓 indicate the filter reactance and 𝑅𝑓 symbolize filter
resistance. If we equalize the 𝒗𝑖,𝛼𝛽 in (7) to the voltage command of the VSG control, the currents command
𝑖𝛼∗ and 𝑖𝛽∗ can be described as (8)

𝑖𝛼∗ 𝐸 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑚 𝑣𝑐,𝛼

[𝑖 ∗ ] = 𝒀 {[ 0 ] − [𝑣 ]} (8)
𝛽 𝐸0 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑚 𝑐,𝛽

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  339

1 𝑅𝑓 𝑋𝑆
Where 𝒀 = [ ], 𝐸0 represents the internal emf command and 𝜃𝑚 the phase angle
𝑅𝑓 2 +𝑋𝑆 2
−𝑋𝑆 𝑅𝑓
command from the VSG control. In the proposed FCS-MPC, the control algorithm is set to follow the voltage
and current command (𝒗∗ 𝛼𝛽 and 𝒊∗ 𝛼𝛽 ) simultaneously. This is realized by defining the cost function (9).

𝑔 = 𝑘𝑣 (𝒗𝑐,𝛼𝛽(k+1),pu − 𝒗∗ 𝛼𝛽,pu )2 + 𝑘𝑖 (𝒊𝑓,𝛼𝛽(k+1),pu − 𝒊∗ 𝛼𝛽,pu )2 (9)

𝑇
Where 𝒗∗ 𝛼𝛽,𝑝𝑢 = [𝑣 ∗ 𝛼 𝑣 ∗𝛽 ] is the voltage command in the per-unit system, 𝒊∗ 𝛼𝛽,𝑝𝑢 = [𝒊∗ 𝛼 𝒊∗𝛽 ] 𝑇 is
the current command in the per-unit system, 𝒗𝑐,𝛼𝛽 (𝑘 + 1) = [𝑣𝛼 𝑣𝛽 ] 𝑇 symbolizes the predicted filter
𝑇
capacitor voltage and 𝒊𝑓,𝛼𝛽 (𝑘 + 1) = [𝑖𝛼 𝑖𝛽 ] represents the predicted filter current. Furthermore, weighting
factors 𝑘𝑖 and 𝑘𝑣 are included to customize the cost between the voltage and current controls in the cost
function.

Figure 3. The control diagram of the proposed multivariable control AD scheme for the VSI-based DG
system

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

To study the filter resonance effect and evaluate the proposed AD method's performance, we
conducted the test circuit's simulation study depicted in Figure 1 in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. The
simulation study is conducted under three different cases. In case 1, the LC and LCL filter's effects on the DG
system are first studied. The differences between the voltage and current waveforms are observed when
either the LC or LCL filters are used. In these cases, no active damping approach is deployed in the control
scheme, meaning the 𝑘𝑣 of the cost function of the FCS-MPC is set to 0, while the 𝑘𝑖 is set at 1. In this
condition, only the output current (𝒊𝑜 ) is controlled through the control of inverter current (𝒊𝑖𝑛𝑣 ), and the filter
voltage is uncontrolled. The current command is obtained directly from 𝒗𝑔 and the instantaneous active and
reactive power equations. It is noteworthy that the power command changing is not conducted in this test. In
case 2, similar to case 1, the control scheme is set to regulate only 𝒊𝑜 . However, the virtual resistive current
generated by the VR method is included in the current command to provide the system with an AD ability.
For case 3, the ratio of 𝑘𝑣 : 𝑘𝑖 is set to 1:1 to achieve the simultaneous control of the filter voltage and the
output current. Then we observed the two AD approaches' effectiveness in suppressing the oscillation caused
by the LCL filter resonance. Furthermore, to study the AD methods' robustness under grid voltage
disturbances, additional tests were conducted for case 2 and case 3 with a 6th order harmonic current contents
injecting to the grid voltage. The harmonic content's size was set to 2 A (0.08 pu) and 4 A (0.16 pu),
respectively. The DG system was operating in grid-connected mode. In cases 1 and 2, it is set to operate with
nominal output power 𝑃0 equal to 5 kW and the nominal reactive output power 𝑄0 is set at 0 Var. To observe
the effect of the dynamic response of the control schemes, the nominal output power 𝑃0 is changed to 3.5 kW
at T = 4s. In case 3, the system was operating with the reference active power obtained from the VSG
control. The VSG control utilizes the equation of 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑓 = 𝑃0 − 𝑘𝑝 (𝜔𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑 − 𝜔𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 ), where the calculated grid

Active damping method for voltage source inverter-based distributed generator… (Jonggrist Jongudomkarn)
340  ISSN: 2088-8694

Frequency is 𝜔𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑 , the grid nominal frequency is 𝜔𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 , which is fixed at 376.99 rad/s, and the
frequency droop gain 𝑘𝑝 is selected at 20 pu, for which nominal output power 𝑃0 is set at 5 kW. The nominal
reactive output power 𝑄0 is set at 0 Var. Also, in this case, 𝑃0 changed to 3.5 kW at T = 4 s. The sampling
frequency 𝑓𝑠,𝑣𝑠𝑖 is selected at 30 kHz for all three cases, which generates an average switching frequency of
around 15 kHz in the DG system. The essential parameters of the simulation study are given in Table 1.

Table 1. The parameters used in the test circuits.

Parameters Values Parameters Values
𝑆𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 5 kVA 𝐿1 2.5 𝑚𝐻
𝐿𝑔 0.4 𝑚𝐻 𝐶 10µF
𝑈𝑑𝑐 400 V 𝑓𝑠,𝑣𝑠𝑖 30 kHz
𝑉𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑 200 V 𝑅𝑑 16 Ω

3.1. Effect of LCL filters on the FCS-MPC-based DG system without AD methods

Without AD methods, the DG's voltage and current waveforms are illustrated in Figure 4 (a) when
LC filters are deployed between the VSI and the grid. It displayed that the current-controlled FCS-MPC can
achieve a sinusoidal grid current. However, as shown in Figure 4 (b), when we utilize LCL filters in the
system instead of the LC filter, the DG's voltage and current waveforms suffer from resonance and distortion.
It verifies that AD methods are required for FCS-MPC-based DG when LCL filters are included in the
system. In case LC filters are utilized, the filter current THD amount to 2%, while the filter current THD is as
high as 6% when LCL filters are deployed. The collection of current THD of all cases
is presented in Table 2.

(a) (b)

Figure 4. Voltage 𝑣𝑐 and current 𝑖𝑜 waveforms of the DG system without AD methods,

(a) when LC filters are deployed. (b) when LCL filters are deployed

3.2. The conventional VR-AD method

In case 2, the VR-AD method is included in the control scheme. The voltage and current waveforms
of the DG system are illustrated in Figure 5 (a). It clearly shows that the LCL filter resonance distortion
significantly reduced thanks to the VR method's employment. As shown in Table 2, the current THD of this
case amounts to 2.75%, significantly lower than the 6% THD when no AD approach is deployed. The output
active and reactive power is also included in Figure 5 (a) to verify that the control scheme has proper control
over the output power. The control's dynamic response is rapid, as seen when the power command changes at
T = 4 s. Moreover, to evaluate the AD ability's performance, we purposely create an additional 0.08 pu
harmonic content near the resonant frequency. However, as discussed earlier, the harmonics caused by grid
voltage distortion are unendingly fed back to the current reference resulting in increased distortion of the
current waveforms. The voltage and current waveforms of the DG system during grid disturbances are
illustrated in Figure 5 (b). As concluded in Table 2, the THD of the current increases to 6.5% when a 0.08 pu
6th harmonic contents distort the grid voltage, and the THD is as high as 12% when a 0.16 pu A harmonic
contents distort the grid voltage.

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Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst ISSN: 2088-8694  341

(a) (b)

Figure 5. Voltage 𝑣𝑐 and current 𝑖𝑜 waveforms of the DG system with LCL filters using the VR-AD method
(a) without additional harmonic contents, (b) with additional harmonic contents

Table 2. The collection of the current THDs for the test study
AD types Current THD (%)
LC LCL LCL with 0.08 pu harmonic LCL with 0.16 pu
current contents harmonic current contents
No AD 2 6 - -
VR-AD - 2.75 6.5 12
Multivariable control AD - 3 4.5 6.5

3.3. The proposed multivariable AD method

In case 3, the proposed multivariable control AD method is included in the control scheme. The
voltage and current waveforms of the DG system are illustrated in Figure 6 (a). Similar to case 2, the LCL
filter resonance distortion significantly reduced thanks to the proposed AD method's employment. The output
active and reactive powers are also correctly managed, as illustrated in Figure 6 (a). Although it shows a
slower dynamic response when the power command is changed compared to the direct power control, the
settling time is within 0.2 s, which is within an acceptable range for the DG application. The result of the
current THD collected in Table 2 shown that the proposed control has similar AD performance compared
with the VR method. The voltage and current waveforms of the DG system illustrated in Figure 6 (b) also
shown that the grid current distortion can be efficiently suppressed when an additional 0.08 pu 6th harmonic
content is added to the grid. In this case, the proposed control has a superior AD performance compared with
the VR method, as the current THD amounts to 4.5% compared with the 6.5% THD of the VR method. The
difference becomes more apparent when 0.16 pu 6th harmonic content distorted the grid voltage, as the
current THD amounts to 6.5% compared with the 12% THD of the VR method. This trend continues even
when a higher amount of harmonic contents exist in the grid voltage. However, results with higher harmonics
contents might not be realistic. Thus, they are excluded from this study. Nevertheless, the results indicate that
the proposed control scheme is more robust under grid voltage disturbances than the existing method.
Furthermore, the proposed control offers more flexibility than the VR method since the proposed
AD approach only uses the multi-control of filter states to damp the filter resonance without any additional
command. Hence, other parts of the control algorithms are not influenced by the AD approaches. For
example, the proposed method's power control is not affected by the added current command part, unlike in
the VR method, where the effect of VR current to the power command needs to be compensated. It is also
easy to integrate additional control algorithms such as the VSG control to the multivariable control. This
enables the proposed control to operate in both grid-connected and stand-alone modes, making it a suitable
control algorithm for DG applications.

Active damping method for voltage source inverter-based distributed generator… (Jonggrist Jongudomkarn)
342  ISSN: 2088-8694

(a) (b)

Figure 6. Voltage 𝑣𝑐 and current 𝑖𝑜 waveforms of the DG system with LCL filters using the proposed AD
method; (a) without additional harmonic contents; (b) with additional harmonic contents

4. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a FCS-MPC-based active damping method has been proposed and compared with a
virtual resistance active damping algorithm, applying in a predictive control scheme. The study shows that
LCL filter resonance oscillations were effectively damped using the novel FCS-MPC-based multivariable
control algorithm. Simulation results confirmed the proposed method's capability to eliminate lower-order
grid current harmonics and decrease sensitivity to grid voltage distortion. In the steady-state, the proposed
method's performance in damping the oscillation is comparable to the existing method. When the grid is
suffering from voltage distortion, the proposed method showed significant AD performance improvements
compared to the existing method. Additionally, with the multivariable control of voltage and current, the
proposed control system can also operate in both grid-tied and stand-alone operations. Finally, thanks to the
flexibility and ease of integrating with different control algorithms, the proposed multivariable FCS-MPC-
based AD method offers excellent control performance and can be considered a serious alternative to the
classical PWM-based AD method. The present work was an initial step, verifying the effectiveness of
applying a multivariable control AD method in a VSI-based DG, and for future steps of this work,
conducting experimental tests to evaluate and validate the proposed control strategy is intended.

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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS

Active damping method for voltage source inverter-based distributed generator… (Jonggrist Jongudomkarn)
344  ISSN: 2088-8694

Jonggrist Jongudomkarn received the B.Eng. and Diplom-Ingenieur Univ. (M.Sc.) degrees in
electrical engineering and information technology from the Technical University of Munich,
Germany, in 2012 and 2013, respectively. He then received the Ph.D. degree in electrical
engineering from Osaka University, Japan, in 2020.
He was with the Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University in Thailand from 2014 to 2016
and is currently working at the Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University in Thailand. His
research interests include distributed generators, power quality, electric machine drives, and
power conversion.

Warayut Kampeerawat received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in electrical engineering from
Khon Kaen University, Thailand, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He then received the Ph.D.
degree in electrical engineering and information systems from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in
2019.
He was with the Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University from 2012 and is currently an
assistant professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Khon Kaen University in Thailand. His
research interests include optimization techniques applied to power system and electric railway,
power and energy management, power system protection, and power quality.

Int J Pow Elec & Dri Syst, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2021 : 334 – 344