Development and implementation of an enhanced design for automatic generation control

Bibliography: leaves 74-76.Automatic generation control (AGC) is the centralised short-term closed-loop control (regulation) of generating units in a control area. The main objectives of AGC are to maintain the system frequency at 50 Hz; to obtain correct tie-line interchange; and to operate each generating unit at its most economic value. The cost of operation of a regulating (moving) generating unit is, however, higher than that of the same unit being used at a fixed output. Primary energy cost as well as longer-term maintenance cost and life expectancy is affected by regulating generating units. With the continuous drive to reduce costs, the question was raised whether the amount of regulation done by AGC is justified. The original AGC system could not be set up to achieve the required quality of supply while using the minimum control expected. An enhanced design of load following and distinctive ACE regulation was developed and implemented. Although the load-following component of the original controller could be applied with minor modifications, the short-term ACE regulation component had to be improved significantly. The main alterations involved the addition of a derivative component by means of fuzzy logic and the elimination of nonlinearities from the control. This research describes the enhanced design developed to obtain the required performance while minimising the control effort