Decentralized robust adaptive-output feedback controller for power system load frequency control

In this paper, a new model reference-decentralized robust adaptive-output feedback controller is proposed for the load frequency control (LFC) of large-scale power systems with unknown parameters. This control strategy requires only local input–output data and can follow random changes in the operating conditions. The controller is designed such that the trajectory errors and the control gains of each area remain uniformly bounded. In the proposed method, firstly an adaptive observer is designed to estimate the state variables and system parameters using local data only. Then a locally linear combination of the estimated states and the model reference states are used to design a robust adaptive-output feedback controller for each area. Simulation results for a three-area power system show that the proposed controller achieves good performance even in the presence of plant parameter changes and system non-linearities. Received: 18 October 2001/Accepted: 24 October 2001