Load Frequency Control of Multi-source Multi-area Hydro Thermal System Using Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System Devices

This article describes the load frequency control of a multi-area system. Each control area contains both a hydro and thermal power plant to form a multi-source multi-area hydro thermal system. The secondary proportional-integral controller has been tuned using Ziegler–Nichols, genetic algorithm, and fuzzy gain scheduling methods. On comparing the controller performance based on various performance indices, it is found that a fuzzy gain scheduling tuned proportional-integral controller is suitable for a multi-source multi-area hydro thermal system. Further improvement on the load frequency dynamics has been achieved by connecting superconducting magnetic energy storage unit in each control area and a static synchronous series compensator unit on a tie-line.