2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing

Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

Improving the Synchronous Stability Control Strategy of

Virtual Synchronous Generators

Liwei Wang, Lin Jiang

School of Electrical Engineering and Information, Southwest Petroleum University,
Chengdu 610500, China
[email protected]

Abstract: The microgrid dominated by new energy has small inertia and weak damping, while
a virtual synchronous generator (VSG) is an effective means to enhance inertia and damping to
improve the stability of the microgrid. However, it also introduces power angle oscillation
problems similar to that of synchronous machines. This paper is based on the current inner loop
and voltage outer loop control of the three-phase LCL inverter. It introduces the virtual inertia
and damping coefficient of the virtual synchronous generator, achieving a good grid connection
effect. While a significant change in active power occurs, the system can lose synchronization
and stability. Therefore, the paper proposes an improved synchronization stability control
strategy for virtual synchronous generators by introducing a frequency-proportional integral
feed-forward link in the reactive power loop to suppress power angle oscillation and improve
system synchronization stability. Theoretical analysis was conducted on the synchronous
stability of the improved control strategy in case of sudden changes in active power load. The
effectiveness of the strategy was verified through simulation.

1. Introduction
Under the target of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, the microgrid with wind and solar energy as
the main energy sources has become one of the focuses of attention. The operation of microgrids
composed of new energy leads to small inertia and weak damping characteristics [1]. The virtual
synchronous generator control that simulates the characteristics of synchronous machines has damping
and inertia characteristics, which is an important measure to improve the stability of microgrids.
However, the introduction of the rotor motion characteristics of synchronous generators into inverter
control [2] leads to synchronization stability issues similar to power angle oscillation in synchronous
generators. Therefore, how to improve synchronization stability has become a technical challenge for
virtual synchronous generator control.
A lot of research work focuses on small signal stability analysis, and the introduction of inertia and
damping coefficient plays an important role in the stability control of virtual synchronous generators [3-
4]. Moreover, the control strategy of fixed rotational inertia J and damping D is developing towards
adaptive adjustment of virtual parameters in order to improve the power response dynamic performance
of VSG and enhance the stability of the microgrid. In [5], a microgrid VSG control was proposed based
on frequency deviation adjustment of virtual inertia size based on power angle characteristics to suppress
power oscillation. In [6], a virtual moment of inertia-based fuzzy controller was added to the VSG
control of microgrids to improve the dynamic response characteristics of VSG power and enhance the
stability of microgrids. In [7], a state feedback damping term was added, and the results showed that
increasing damping is beneficial for improving small disturbance stability. Lin et al.’s study [8] was

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

beneficial for online optimization algorithms to adjust damping and moment of inertia to reduce
electromagnetic energy consumption and improve small disturbance stability of VSG control. Wang [9]
proposed a dual adaptive VSG control strategy to alleviate the contradiction between active power
response and frequency response in the VSG control strategy and enhance the small disturbance stability
of VSG control.
When the active load of the grid suddenly changes, the synchronous stability of VSG is an important
issue in maintaining the stable operation of the power system. A low-pass filter (LPF) with a sufficiently
low cutoff frequency in the reactive power control loop (RPCL) can improve transient synchronization
stability. So, the frequency difference between VSG and the power grid is fed back to RPCL, and the
frequency response is obtained through a combination of linearization and nonlinear models. The results
show that the frequency feedforward method can enhance frequency stability [9-10]. However,
frequency response, as a key indicator of VSG and important synchronization stability, has been rarely
studied, Therefore, this paper proposes a new frequency feedforward method based on a combination of
linear and nonlinear models [11], which feeds the frequency difference in the VSG active loop into the
reactive loop through a PI (proportional integration) link to improve system stability. The effectiveness
of this method is verified through theoretical analysis and simulation.

2. Structure and principle of virtual synchronous generator

Figure 1 shows the complete VSG structure topology diagram. The LC-type filter is composed of resistor
R, inductance L, and filtering capacitor Cf. if is the filtering current. The grid is modeled as an infinite
voltage in series with an inductance Lg. vg and ig represent the grid voltage and current, respectively,
and vpcc represents the PCC (point of common coupling) voltage. The DC voltage source VDC is the ideal
voltage source.

P, Q
Lg vg
+ R L pcc
e grid
SPWM - V DC
if Cf
ig v pcc Dp
- + n
Reactive power Control loop
Inner voltage
and current
Vmref + Qe Power Pe 1 Te + 1
Kq
+ n Js 
control loop - calculation

q V0 Qset Pset 1 Tset + Active power

n control loop

1
q s

Figure 1. VSG structure.

The active power loop and reactive power loop jointly simulate the operating characteristics of
synchronous generators in Figure 1. The active loop simulates the inertia and primary frequency
regulation characteristics of a synchronous generator, while the reactive loop simulates the primary
voltage regulation characteristics of a synchronous generator. The mathematical equations for active
and reactive power loops are given in Equation (1).

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

 d
Tset − Te − Dp  = J dt

 Pset = Tset  Tsetn

 Pe = Te  Tsetn (1)

q =  dt

Vmref = V0 + K q ( Qset − Qe )
where Pset and Qset represent the given active power and reactive power, respectively, Pe is output active
power; Qe is output reactive power, Tset is the given torque, Te is the electromagnetic torque, Dp is the
active frequency droop coefficient, Kq is the reactive power voltage droop coefficient, ω is the angular
frequency of VSG, ωn is the rated angular frequency, ∆ω is the difference in electrical angular velocity,
θ is the electrical angle, V0 is the command voltage, J is the virtual moment of inertia, Vmref is output
voltage amplitude.
According to Figure 1, the output active power and output reactive power can be derived as Equations
(2) and (3), respectively.
VpccVg sin 
Pe = 3 (2)
Xg
2
Vpcc − VpccVg cos 
Qe = 3 (3)
Xg
According to the reactive power voltage droop characteristics, i.e., Vmref = V0 + Kq ( Qset − Qe ) .
And assuming Vmref is equal to Vpcc, the function of Vpcc corresponding to the power angle can be
obtained as Equation (4).

(X − 3K qVg cos  ) + 12 K q X g (V0 + K qQset )

2
3K qVg cos  − X g +
Vpcc ( ) =
g
(4)
6Kq
According to conventional stability methods, the parameter design is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. VSG Parameter Values.

Parameter and symbol value Parameter and symbol Value
Grid voltage Vg 200 V Inductance L 3.6 mH
DC bus Voltage VDC 1000 V Filtering capacitor Cf 20 μF
Switching frequency fs 10 kHz Resistance R 2Ω
Rated frequency f 50 Hz Grid inductance Lg 5 mH
Reference active power Pn 10 kW Power frequency droop coefficient Dp 50
Reference reactive power Qn 8 kVar Reactive voltage droop coefficient Kq 0.1
Rotational inertia J 10

3. Virtual synchronous generator control grid connection and active power mutation situation

3.1. Virtual synchronous generator control grid connection situation

At the initial moment, the system is in an unloaded state. At the time of t =1 s, it is connected to the grid,
and its output active power is set to 2 kW (Pset=2 kW). The simulation results during the 0-5 s process
are shown in Figure 2.

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

From Figures 2 (a) and (b), it can be observed that the inverter undergoes a surge from no-load to
grid connection, and the voltage and current have reached stability after 2 seconds. The output waveform
is a good sine wave. From Figures 2 (c) and (d), it can be seen that after the inverter is connected to the
grid, the output active power is 2 kW, which is consistent with the set value, and the reactive power
output is 0.83 kVar. From Figure 2 (d), the power angle of the system stabilizes at 0.27 rad, so the
connected-grid inverter has synchronous stability.

Time of connected to the power grid

2.5
400
300 2
200

P (kW)
1.5
v pcc (V)

100
0 1

- 100
0.5
- 200
- 300 0
- 400 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 t(s)
t(s)
(a) The PCC voltage (c) Active power
40
0.9
30 0.8
20 0.7
Q (kVar)

0.6
10
iga (A)

0.5
0 0.4
- 10 0.3
0.2
- 20
0.1
- 30 0
- 40 -0.1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
t(s) t(s)
(d ) Reactive power
(b) The injected current to the grid
1.004
1.003
Δω(rad/s)

1.002
1.001
1
0.999
0.998
0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3
0.35 0.4
δ (rad)
(e)Frequency- power angle curve

Figure 2. Waveform diagram of virtual synchronous generator connected with grid

3.2. Simulation of sudden changes in active power load with VSG

At the time of 6 s, the output active power of the inverter suddenly increases to 4 kW. The simulation
waveform results during the 5-10 s process are shown in Figure 3.
After a sudden change in active power, the output voltage and current amplitudes in Figures 3 (a)
and (b) oscillate periodically. From Figure 3 (c) and (d), the waveform of active and reactive power
output from the inverter also oscillates, which cannot achieve stable output power. From Figure 3 (e), it
can be seen that the power angle undergoes periodic oscillations and cannot be synchronized and stable.
That is to say, the grid-connected inverter loses synchronization stability when the active power output
steps from 2 kW to 4 kW.

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

Step change of active power load

400
4
300
200 2
vga (V)

P (kW)
100
0
0
- 100 -2
- 200
-4
- 300
- 400 t(s) -6
5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10
t(s) (c) Active power t(s)
(a) The PCC voltage
8
200 7
150 6
100 5
iga (A)

50 4

Q (kVar)
0 3
- 50 2
- 100 1
- 150 0
- 200 -1
-2
5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10
(b) The injected current to the grid t(s) t(s)
(d ) Reactive power
7
6
5
Δω(rad/s)

4
3
2
1
0
5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10
δ (rad)
(e)Frequency- power angle curve

Figure 3. Waveform of active output step change in virtual synchronous with the grid

4. Improving the synchronization stability strategy of virtual synchronous generators

4.1. Frequency PI feedforward to reactive power loop

When the active load undergoes a sudden change, in order to maintain system synchronization stability,
The article proposes an improved synchronous stability control strategy for virtual synchronous
generators. It introduces the frequency difference between the VSG active loop and the grid into reactive
power control through the PI link, as shown in Figure 4. The PI link is set to 𝐾1 + 𝐾2 /s. Due to being
in a steady-state state ω = ωn , the introduction of the loop does not affect steady-state characteristics.
PI
Dp
- + n
Reactive power Control loop
Vmref + Qe Pe 1 Te + 1
Kq
+ - n Js 
V0 Qset Pset 1 Tset + Active power
n control loop

1
q s

Figure 4. Control strategy for improving synchronous stability with

frequency PI feedforward.

According to Figure 4, the improved reactive power control equation is derived as Equation (5).
 1
Vmref = V0 + K q ( Qset − Qe ) + K q  K1 + K 2   = V0 + K q ( Qset − Qe ) + K q K1 + K q K 2 (5)
 s
Substituting Equation (5) into Equation (6), the relationship between Vpcc and δ, ∆ω can be derived
as Equation (6).

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

(X − 1.5K qVg cos  ) + 6 K q X g (V0 + K qQset + K q K1 + K q K 2 ) + 1.5K qVg cos  − X g

2

Vpcc ( ,  ) =
g
(6)
3K q
3𝑉g sin𝛿
According to 𝑃e = 𝑉pcc , so,
𝑋g
  V sin 
(X − 1.5K qVg cos  ) + 6 K q X g (V0 + K qQset + K q K1 + K q K 2 ) + 1.5K qVg cos  − X g  g (7)
2
Ppcc ( ,  ) =  g
  2Kq X g
F ( ,  ) = Vpcc ( ,  ) sin  , according to the dynamic second-order state equation of the system
(8).
 d
 dt = 
 d P − P (8)
J = set e − Dp 
 dt n
The deriviation is Equation (9).
 d
 dt = 

 d D 3Vg P
(9)
 = − p  − F ( ,  ) + set
 dt J J n X g J n
If the differential term in the equation is zero, the equilibrium point can be obtained as 𝒙e =
[e , ∆e ]T . The nonlinear system is linearized at xe, and the Jacobian matrix is obtained as Equation
(10).
0 1
𝐽 (𝒙 𝒆 ) = [ 𝐽 𝐷p ] (10)
21 𝐽22 −
𝐽
3𝑉𝑔 3𝑉𝑔
where 𝐽21 = − ′
𝐹 (), 𝐽22 = − 𝐹 () ,The values 𝐹 ′ () and 𝐹 ′ () at xe for 𝐹 ′ (e ) and
′
𝐽𝑛 𝑋𝑔 𝐽𝑛 𝑋𝑔
𝐹 ′ (e ) can be obtained as Equations (11) and (12).
K q ( 3VgVpcc sin  − X g K 2 ) sin 
F '( e ) = Vpcc cos  −
2 X g + 3K q ( 2Vpcc − Vg cos  )
(11)

2 K1 K q X g sin 
F '(  ) = (12)
2 X g + 3K q ( 2Vpcc − Vg cos  )
Solving the characteristic equation, i.e., det[𝐼 − 𝐽(𝒙𝑒 )] = 0, the eigenvalues are calculated as
Equation (13).
2
Dp D 
J 22 −   J 22 − p  + 4 J 21
J  J 
1,2 = (13)
2
The root trajectory diagram of the K1 eigenvalues of the PI link in the second-order system is drawn,
increasing from 0 p.u. to 785.40 p.u., as shown in Figure 5.
The blue and orange curves in Figure 5 represent the two roots of the characteristic equation, and
their motion trajectories on the coordinate axis are plotted with the transformation of the K1 value.
During the process of increasing the K1 value from 0 p.u. to 785.40 p.u., the two roots of the
characteristic equation change from a pair of complex conjugate roots to two equal negative real roots
and then to two unequal negative real roots.

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

8
6
4
2 K1 = 0p.u.

Im(λ)
0
-2
K1 = 785.40p.u.
-4
-6
-8
-14 -13 -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5
Re(λ )

Figure 5. Root trajectories of K1 eigenvalues in second-order

systems increasing from 0 to 785.40 p. u.

4.2. Analysis and simulation of the stability of improved active power load sudden changes
Similarly, at 6 s, the output active power increases from 2 kW to 4 kW. The integral link parameter K2
in the PI link is set to 10, and the impact of the proportional link parameter K1 in the PI link on system
stability is discussed. The values of K1 are K11=0, K12=100, K13=300, and K14=500, respectively. The
simulation results are shown in Figure 6.
3.5 1.012
4.5
K11 =0 K11 =0
K12 =100 1.01 K12 =100
3 K13 =300 K13 =300
4
K11 =0 K14 =500 1.008 K14 =500
Δω(rad/s)

K12 =100 2.5

Q (kVar)

1.006
P (kW)

3.5 K13 =300

K14 =500
1.004
3 2
1.002
t(s)
2.5 1.5 1
0.998
2 1
0.996
e p
1.5 0.5 0.994
5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
t(s) t(s) δ (rad)

(a) Active power (b) Reactive power (c) Frequency- power angle curve
Figure 6. Waveform diagram of improved active power load step mutation.

Figure 6 shows: (1) When the value of K is 0, that is, K11 is 0, the frequency feedforward PI loop
introduced is equivalent to an integral loop with K being 10. When the active power increases from 2
kW to 4 kW, VSG can achieve synchronous stability by only introducing an integration link. (2) As the
value of K increases, the overshoot of power angle δp decreases, and ultimately the power angle δ tends
to stabilize at 0.82; the overshoot of the active power waveform decreases and the time to stabilize
decreases. (3) When changing the value of proportional link K1 from 0 to 100, the reactive power
overshoot decreases; when increasing from 300 to 500, the reactive power overshoot increases.

5. Conclusion
Based on the current inner loop and voltage outer loop of the three-phase LCL inverter, the virtual inertia
and damping coefficient of the virtual synchronous generator are introduced to achieve a good grid
connection effect. However, when there is a sudden change in active power, the oscillation loses
synchronization and stability. Therefore, this article adopts an improved control method for virtual
synchronous generators by introducing a frequency-proportional integral feedforward link in the
reactive power loop and theoretically analyzes that adding a frequency feedforward PI link can improve
system synchronization stability. Through simulation, it is shown that during the process of active load
mutation, the introduction of frequency feedforward PI link increases synchronous stability, and the
reasonable, proportional coefficient dynamic response is better, thereby proving the effectiveness and
correctness of the frequency feedforward proportional integration link of the paper.

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2023 5th International Conference on Energy Systems and Electrical Power IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2584 (2023) 012088 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2584/1/012088

Funding
This study was funded by Sichuan Science and Technology Program(Grants No. 2023YFG0198 and
2022YFG0300).

Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Ph.D. Hong MIAO for her guidance also.

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