Integrated Synchronization Control of

Grid-Forming Inverters for Smooth

Microgrid Transition
Preprint
Jing Wang, Annabelle Pratt, and Murali Baggu
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Presented at the 2019 IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting
(IEEE PES GM)
Atlanta, Georgia
August 4–8, 2019

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 Integrated Synchronization Control of
Grid-Forming Inverters for Smooth
Microgrid Transition
Preprint
Jing Wang, Annabelle Pratt, and Murali Baggu
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Suggested Citation
Wang, Jing, Annabelle Pratt, and Murali Baggu. 2019. Integrated Synchronization Control
of Grid-Forming Inverters for Smooth Microgrid Transition: Preprint. Golden, CO: National
Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/CP-5D00-72756.
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy20osti/72756.pdf.

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 Integrated Synchronization Control of Grid-Forming
Inverters for Smooth Microgrid Transition

Jing Wang, Annabelle Pratt, Murali Baggu

Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden, CO 80401, USA
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract—This paper develops an integrated synchronization technique mimicking the dynamics of a synchronous generator
control technique for a grid-forming inverter operating within a is proposed in [7] to achieve smooth transients (phase
microgrid that can improve the microgrid’s transients during synchronization) during microgrid transition operation. Some
microgrid transition operation. This integrated synchronization similar conceptual works aim to construct the dynamics of a
control includes the disconnection synchronization control and the
reconnection synchronization control. The simulation results show
virtual synchronous machine as well [8] – [9]; however, the
that the developed synchronization control works effectively to complexity and computational burden might limit their
smooth the angle change of the grid-forming inverter during applications in a real inverter controller. Moreover, coordination
microgrid transition operation. Thus, the microgrid’s transients among the microgrid controller, PCC circuit breaker controller,
are significantly improved compared to the case without and inverter controller is not investigated properly. Therefore,
synchronization control. this paper presents a practical synchronization control technique
of grid-forming inverter(s) coordinating with the PCC circuit
Index Terms— Disconnection Synchronization Control; breaker controller and the microgrid controller to achieve phase
Integrated Synchronization Control; Microgrid Transition
synchronization during microgrid transition operation (from
Operation; Reconnection Synchronization Control.
grid-connected to islanded mode and vice versa).
I. INTRODUCTION The contribution of this paper is to (1) provide comprehensive
analysis of the synchronization mechanism for a grid-forming
A distributed renewable energy-powered microgrid is
inverter, (2) design an integrated synchronization control
becoming feasible especially with increasing numbers of storage
technique in the grid-forming inverter to achieve smooth
units installed [1]. A basic functional requirement for microgrid
transients for various microgrid transition operations, and (3)
is the capability to transition between grid-connected and
present the detailed design and implementation as a good
islanded mode if needed. Because there is no synchronous
example or reference for replication by those researching
machine type of generation working as the grid-forming source
microgrid smooth transition operation.
in this type of microgrid when islanded, at least one inverter-
interfaced distributed energy resource (DER) (e.g., battery) is II. CONTROL STRATEGY FOR GRID-FORMING INVERTER
assigned as the grid-forming source to form the stiff bus voltage FOR SMOOTH MICROGRID TRANSITION OPERATION
in an islanded microgrid [2].
From the control point of view, transients are caused by
The grid-forming source plays an important role in ensuring
changes in the state variables u (e.g., voltage and current). Thus,
smooth transition operation. From islanded to grid-connected
smooth transition operation can be achieved by minimizing
mode, the grid-forming source adjusts its output voltage and
changes in the state variables prior to and after transition
frequency to meet the reconnection criteria (differences in
operation (𝑢− = 𝑢+ ) [2]. Following this strategy and an in-depth
voltage, frequency, and phase angle between the grid voltage and
understanding of the grid-forming inverter control, two
the microgrid voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC)
fundamental requirements should be included in the grid-
within the thresholds), thus reconnecting to the main grid with
forming inverter control: a fixed control structure (using voltage
smooth transients [3]. Extensive research has been done to
control in both grid-connected and islanded modes) and a fixed
achieve synchronization and smooth reconnection operation,
phase angle for the Park transformation (no/minimal change in
such as [4] – [6].
the phase angle prior to and after transition operation). As a
However, the synchronization from grid-connected to
result, the system transients are minimized, and the impact on
islanded mode is overlooked. The commonly accepted strategy
the whole network, especially sensitive loads, can be reduced,
for smooth disconnection operation is to have “zero” active and
thus achieving smooth and safe transition between the modes.
reactive power at the PCC during the disconnection. But because
A. Fixed Control Structure
the grid-forming source follows its own frequency when the
Typically, active and reactive power (PQ) control is adopted
microgrid transitions to islanded mode, there might be a phase
by all the DER units if no ancillary service is required in grid-
jump if a synchronization control technique is not used. This
connected mode. The commanded power reference (P* and Q*)
causes harmful transients in voltage and current when the
is used to calculate the current reference for the inner current
microgrid disconnects from the main grid. Therefore, smooth
control loop. The current control is used because the output
transients during disconnection also rely on synchronization
voltage of the DER is governed by the grid voltage, so the
between the PCC microgrid voltage and the startup voltage of
voltage control loop fails to offer sound and accurate control [3].
the grid-forming source when the microgrid becomes islanded.
For the islanded mode, the grid-forming inverter uses voltage
Because of the inertia in the rotating mass of a synchronous
and frequency (VF) control to form the stiff bus voltage, and
machine, there is no phase jump during microgrid transition
other DERs continue the PQ control. Therefore, it is necessary
operation if a synchronous machine is used as a grid-forming
to reconfigure the control structure (between the current and
source [7]. A universal integrated synchronization control

1
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voltage control) of the grid-forming inverter during microgrid synchronous frame, and the angle ϴ is generated for the Park
transition operation. Transformation. In grid-connected mode, the PCC status is “1”.
To implement voltage control in both grid-connected and The angle ϴ1 is selected, and the voltage references (Vod*, Voq*)
islanded modes, the injected current can be indirectly controlled for the VC are generated based on the power reference, P*, Q*;
by controlling the inverter terminal voltage if an impedance the voltage magnitude, Vmag, of the connection point voltage,
exists between the grid and the voltage terminal (to be vDER; and the inverter output current, iod and ioq. For the
controlled) of the inverter because the impedance is a given equations of CC to calculate the voltage references, refer to
parameter and the grid voltage is an exogenous observable [10]. In islanded mode, the PCC status is “0”. The angle ϴ0 is
variable. Or a virtual output impedance can be introduced to selected, and the voltage references are fixed values if droop
emulate the physical impedance and thus control the terminal control is not used. Vnom is the nominal voltage magnitude of the
voltage of an inverter in grid-connected mode. But the inverter. When the microgrid operation mode is changed, the
complexity of the control algorithm increases; thus, a practical adjustments of the inverter control algorithm are the angle ϴ for
voltage control algorithm developed in [10] is used as the control the Park transformation and voltage references, Vod* and Voq*.
algorithm for an inverter for both grid-connected and islanded The changes in the voltage references are unavoidable because
modes. the control objectives in the application/system level are
B. Fixed Phase Angle: Synchronization Control different for grid-forming and grid-feeding inverters, and the
The strategies to achieve synchronization control fall into two power references (P*, Q*) are determined by a microgrid
main categories: (1) emulate the dynamics of a synchronous controller. Therefore, we focus only on the angle ϴ to avoid any
machine to add virtual inertia to the system (i.e., changes and have smooth transition operation.
synchroconverter/synchronous converter), and (2) control the Fig. 1 shows that four blocks need the angle information,
phase angle directly. Both approaches are applicable to achieve which reveals that the angle ϴ significantly affects the
synchronization control because of the high controllability of the dynamics and stability of the inverter’s controller. The value of
power converters. The second approach is more straightforward ϴ1 is generated by the inverter’s connecting voltage, vDER, by
and does not require special knowledge of the synchronous using a phase-locked loop (PLL) and ϴ0 is generated by a fixed
machine. Therefore, the second approach is adopted in this frequency reference, ω*, integrated with time. To have smooth
paper. transients in ϴ when the microgrid changes operation mode, the
rule of thumb is to make ϴ1≈ϴ0. This also indicates the
III. DESIGN OF THE INTEGRATED SYNCHRONIZATION
“synchronization” control in this paper. Because of the grid-
CONTROL FOR GRID-FORMING INVERTER following feature of the grid-feeding inverter, the flexibility lies
A. Mechanism of Synchronization Control in the grid-forming inverter. Further, the angle augment must be
In islanded mode, the grid-forming inverters are controlled as implemented differently from grid-connected to islanded mode
an ideal voltage source with a given amplified E* and frequency and vice versa because the angle ϴ0 does not take effect until
ω* [3]. For a system with a single grid-forming inverter, E* and the microgrid switches from grid-connected to islanded mode
ω* can be set as nominal values. If there are multiple grid- and the angle ϴ0 is already used from islanded to grid-connected
forming inverters, droop control is usually used to generate the mode.
common E* and ω* references for all grid-forming inverters for B. Development of the Synchronization Control
power sharing. In grid-connected mode, the grid-forming The development of the synchronization control technique
inverters change to grid-feeding or grid-supporting inverters for disconnection and reconnection is carried out separately.
depending on the network condition. Because the grid-feeding Also, coordination among signals is necessary to allow
function is the more commonly used control strategy for grid- automatic operation for various transition operation scenarios.
connected inverters, here we discuss only the grid-feeding The overall design schematics of the synchronization control
inverter when the microgrid is grid-connected. are presented in Fig. 2, which includes coordination among the
signals, disconnection synchronization control, and
reconnection synchronization control.
1) Coordination
This block is essential to make the synchronization control
work because it triggers the right synchronization block at the
right time and sends out the correct augmented angle ϴ0. The
transition and steady-state signals are received from the
microgrid transition controller. According to [11], the meaning
of these two signals are as listed in Table 1. When the microgrid
is grid-connected, the values of the steady-state and transition
modes are 0, so Δϴ is 0. In disconnection, the transition value
is “2” and “Enable1” is high, so the output of the disconnection
synchronization control will be selected. During islanded mode,
the angle from the disconnection control will be set as the initial
angle. In reconnection, the transition value is “1” and “Enable2”
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the control algorithm for grid-forming and grid- is high, so the output of the reconnection synchronization
feeding inverters.
control will be chosen. To ensure continuity, this angle will be
As discussed in the previous section, it is necessary to have
added with the angle from the steady-state islanded mode. Note
the same control structure working for both the grid-forming
that the enable signal will be disabled when the PCC circuit
and grid-feeding inverters. Fig. 1 outlines the general form of
breaker takes the expected action.
an inverter-level control algorithm, which has the same control
Scenario Steady Transition Enable
structure for grid-forming and grid-feeding inverters. The outer
State
loop is the voltage control (VC), and the inner loop is the current
Grid-connected 1 0 N/A
control (CC). The implementation is performed in a
2
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 Disconnection 1 2 Enable1 Based on the signs and values of sin(ϕ) and cos(ϕ), the angle
Islanded 0 0 N/A difference, ϕ, can be calculated and integrated to allow the
Reconnection 0 1 Enable2 angle difference to be compensated continuously. The
2) Disconnection synchronization control integrated angle difference is then the final compensation angle
When the microgrid disconnects from the main grid, there are we are searching for. Note that this angle output must be “held”
a few ways to force ϴ0 to approach ϴ1: (1) add the angle when the disconnection synchronization block is disabled.
difference (ϕ=ϴ1-ϴ0) to the angle ϴ0 directly; (2) check the Thus, the grid-forming inverter can use this angle as the initial
angle difference ϕ, if it is within the threshold, and disconnect angle when the microgrid transitions to islanded mode.
the microgrid; and (3) combine 1 and 2 to diminish the angle 3) Reconnection synchronization control
difference between ϴ1 and ϴ0 for disconnection, similar to the For the reconnection synchronization control, the inputs are
active synchronization control used to transition from islanded the three-phase grid-side voltage at the PCC, vg, and the voltage
to grid-connected mode. The third option is selected, and the of the grid-forming inverter, voabc; and the output is the
design is shown in Fig. 2, marked in the upper grey box. compensation angle, Δϴcom2. The two three-phase voltages, vg
“Enable1” is the signal generated in the microgrid transition and voabc, are per unitized. Equation (1) and (2) are used to
control to initialize the disconnection check block in the PCC calculate sin(ϕ) with 𝜑 = 𝜃𝑣𝑔 − 𝜃𝑣𝑜𝑎𝑏𝑐 . When the angle, ϕ, is
circuit breaker control and to enable the synchronization control small, sin(𝜑) ≈ 𝜑. A proportional integral control is used to
in the grid-forming inverters. The disconnection regulate the angle difference, ϕ. The proportional gain is 1, and
synchronization control block operates only when the the integration gain is 5.
disconnection action is initialized by the microgrid transition The grid-side voltage is used as the angle reference for the
controller. The inputs are the three-phase voltage, vDER, and the inverter to approach. But the goal is to let the angle of the
voltage magnitude, “1”, and the output of the disconnection inverter’s output voltage increase/decrease toward the angle of
synchronization control is the compensation angle, Δϴcom1. This the grid voltage, not to make it equal to the angle of the grid
angle will be added with ϴ0 to get the new angle for the grid- voltage; smooth reconnection is achieved when the angle
forming inverter. Inside the disconnection synchronization difference between the grid voltage, vg, and the microgrid
block, vDER is per unitized first as v’DER, and the grid-forming voltage, vmg, is very small. In the PCC circuit breaker controller,
inverter’s three-phase voltage, v’o, is also constructed with the there is one function block to check the conditions for
angle of the compensation angle, Δϴcom1. The angle of vDER is reconnection (the voltage magnitude, frequency, and phase
ϴ1, the angle of the three-phase voltage source is ϴ0, the angle angle between the main grid voltage and microgrid voltage at
difference between them is ϕ (ϕ=ϴ1-ϴ0). We have the the PCC are within the thresholds). If the conditions are met,
following calculation: the PCC circuit breaker is then closed. The reconnection
′ ′ ′ ′ ′ ′
3 synchronization control block is then disabled because the
𝑣𝐷𝐸𝑅,𝑎 𝑣𝑜,𝑎 + 𝑣𝐷𝐸𝑅,𝑏 𝑣𝑜,𝑏 + 𝑣𝐷𝐸𝑅,𝑐 𝑣𝑜,𝑐 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜑) = 𝑚
2 signal “Enable2” will be low. The output Δϴcom2 will be reset to
′ ′ ′ ′ ′ ′
3 3√3 “zero”. If the angle of vmg is close to the angle of vg, the angle
{𝑣𝐷𝐸𝑅,𝑎 𝑣𝑜,𝑏 + 𝑣𝐷𝐸𝑅,𝑏 𝑣𝑜,𝑐 + 𝑣𝐷𝐸𝑅,𝑐 𝑣𝑜,𝑎 = − 4 cos(𝜑) − 4 sin(𝜑) = 𝑛 ϴ0 is close to ϴ1 when the PCC is closed because the angle
Then we have sin(ϕ) and cos(ϕ), calculated as: difference between vg and voabc is the almost the same as the
2
𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜑) = 𝑚 angle difference between vmg and vDER when the PCC is closed.
3
{ −2𝑚−4𝑛
Note that we do not know the ϴ1 before reconnection, and we
sin(𝜑) = can know vg. Because of the network between the inverter and
3√3
the PCC, there will be a noticeable angle difference between vg
and voabc.

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the Integrated Synchronization Control of the Grid-forming source.

3
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 IV. SIMULATION RESULTS microgrid is disconnected. The third figure shows the enable
signal “Enable1” and the compensated angle Δϴcom1. When the
To verify the proposed synchronization control, numerical signal “Enable1” is high, the disconnection synchronization
simulation is performed in MATLAB/Simulink. The example control starts to operate, and the accumulated angle difference
microgrid model is taken from reference [2], which is a 100% is calculated. Because the angle difference is within a threshold,
renewable microgrid with two battery energy storage systems the PCC circuit breaker is open and the “Enable1” returns to
(BESSs), two photovoltaic (PV) units, commercial building low. In-line with the design, the output Δϴcom1 is kept “held”,
loads, and residential loads. The BESS 1 works as the grid- and this angle will be the initial angle for the islanded mode.
forming source when the microgrid is islanded, and all other The three-phase microgrid voltage, vmg, presented in the fourth
DERs (PV and BESS 2) work as grid-feeding sources. For the figure exhibits very smooth transients, and the same applies for
low-level inverter control algorithm shown in Fig. 1, refer to the output voltage of the grid-forming inverter, vo.
[10]. Two cases are studied to verify the design: disconnect the
microgrid from the main grid, and reconnect the microgrid to the
main grid. For each case, the results without synchronization
control are presented first for comparison.
A. Test Case 1: Disconnect from the Main Grid
In this test case, the microgrid performs intentional islanding
at 6 s. The steady-state value remains “1”, and the transition
signal changes from “0” to “2” during the disconnection. As
described in [11], when the active and reactive power at the
PCC are lower than a certain limit (5 kW and 5 kVar,
respectively), the PCC circuit breaker will be “open” for the
case without disconnection synchronization control. For the
case with synchronization control, one more condition (the
angle difference, ϕ, is smaller than a limit) is added to open the
circuit breaker.
Test results without the disconnection synchronization
control are presented in Fig. 3. After the microgrid is
disconnected, the grid voltage, vDER, is formed by the grid-
forming inverter BESS 1, and we can see the abrupt change of
Fig. 4. With disconnection synchronization control: PCC status, angle of the
its angle without synchronization control. This is because of the grid voltage and voltage source, angle compensation, microgrid voltage,
direct switch from ϴ1 to ϴ0 in the grid-forming source when the and BESS 1 output voltage.
PCC circuit breaker is opened. The microgrid three-phase The simulation results for the case without and with the
voltage vmg, exhibits an abrupt angle change as well, which disconnection synchronization control clearly demonstrate
causes significant transients during the disconnection process. significant improvements in the system’s transients with
The grid-forming inverter’s output voltage, vo, is also shown, disconnection synchronization control. This also shows that the
which exhibits worse transients compared to the microgrid-side smooth angle change in the grid-forming inverters is key to
voltage vmg because it is the source of transients/dynamics. having smooth transients for the grid-forming inverter itself and
for the rest of the system in an islanded microgrid during
microgrid disconnection.
B. Test Case 2: Reconnect to the Main Grid
In this test case, the microgrid is requested to reconnect to the
main grid between 5 and 9 s. If the reconnection criteria are not
met, the microgrid reconnects to the main grid at 9 s.
Test results without reconnection synchronization control are
shown in Fig. 5. Because the angle difference between the
microgrid voltage, vmg, and the main grid, vg, is bigger than the
angle defined in the reconnection criteria, the microgrid is not
able to be reconnected at the defined time slot (between 5 and 9
s), and it is reconnected at 9 s, as designed. As shown in the
second and the third figures in Fig. 5, there is a nonnegligible
angle difference between vmg and vg. When the PCC circuit
breaker is closed, the microgrid voltage, vmg, quickly follows the
main grid voltage, vg, and no obvious transients are observed.
For the grid-forming inverter, the transition transients are
significant and harmful, and the voltage magnitude exhibits
significant overshoot.
Fig. 3. Without disconnection synchronization control: PCC status, angle of
the grid voltage vDER and voltage source vo, microgrid voltage, and
The results with reconnection synchronization control are
BESS 1 output voltage. shown in Fig. 6. The first figure shows that the PCC circuit
The results with disconnection synchronization control are breaker is closed around 5.175 s. The second figure shows that
shown in Fig. 4. As shown in the second figure from the top in the angle difference between vmg and vg reduces gradually after
Fig. 4, the angle difference between vDER and vo is adjusted to 5 s and becomes almost zero before the PCC circuit breaker is
have the angle of the voltage source ϴ0 the same as the angle of closed. The third figure shows the enable signal “Enable2” and
the grid-following voltage ϴ1. This achieves the angle the compensated angle, Δϴcom2. When the signal “Enable2” is
continuity of vDER, which ensures smooth transients when the high, the reconnection synchronization control starts to operate,
and the compensated angle, Δϴcom2, is calculated. The fourth
4
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figure shows Phase A of the microgrid voltage, vmga, and the V. CONCLUSIONS
main grid voltage, vga, from the beginning of the reconnection This paper presents an integrated synchronization control that
synchronization control to the closing of the PCC circuit smooths the angle change of a grid-forming inverter to
breaker. Once the synchronization control block starts to operating within a microgrid during microgrid transition
operate, the angle difference between the microgrid and the operation. This is shown to improve the microgrid’s transients
main grid starts to reduce gradually. After a few cycles, the two and dynamics during microgrid transition operation. This
signals are in phase. At 5.165 s, the angle difference between integrated synchronization control includes the disconnection
the main grid and the microgrid is within the predefined synchronization control and reconnection synchronization
threshold, and other conditions are met as well, and the PCC control. The detailed design and implementation of the
circuit breaker is then closed. This also disables the enable integrated synchronization control is presented. Numerical
signal “Enable2”, and the compensate angle is then reset. The simulation is performed in MATLAB/Simulink with an
waveforms of the microgrid voltage, vmga, and the three-phase example microgrid to verify the proposed design compared to
voltage of the grid-forming inverter BESS 1, voabc, exhibit the conventional method without synchronization control. Two
smooth transients when the PCC circuit breaker is closed. test cases including microgrid disconnection and reconnection
operation are investigated. The simulation results show that the
proposed synchronization control technique works effectively
to smooth the angle change of the grid-forming inverter during
microgrid transition operation. This improves the microgrid’s
dynamic and transient performance compared to the case
without synchronization control.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by Alliance for Sustainable
Energy, LLC, the manager and operator of the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308.
Funding provided by the U.S. DOE, Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability. The views expressed in the
article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the
U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the
publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges
that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up,
irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the
Fig. 5. Results without reconnection synchronization control: PCC status,
angle of the grid voltage and voltage source, microgrid three-phase
published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S.
voltage, and BESS 1 output voltage. Government purposes.
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developed reconnection synchronization control works properly Smooth Transition Operation Under Normal Conditions,” IEEE
Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference Europe (ISGT-Europe),
to smooth the angle change of the grid-forming inverter when Torino, 26-29, Sept., 2017.
the microgrid reconnects to the main grid.

5
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.