A Control Strategy for a Distributed Generation Unit in Grid-Connected and Autonomous Modes of Operation

This paper presents a new voltage control strategy for an electronically-interfaced distribution generation (DG) unit that utilizes a voltage-sourced converter (VSC) as the interface medium. The control strategy is based on the concept of voltage-controlled VSC (VC-VSC) rather than the conventional current-controlled VSC (CC-VSC). The proposed VC-VSC 1. enables operation of a DG unit in both grid-connected and islanded (autonomous) modes, 2. provides current-limit capability for the VSC during faults, 3. inherently provides an islanding detection method without non-detection zone, 4. provides smooth transition capability between grid-connected and autonomous modes, and 5. can accommodate ride-through capability requirements under a grid-connected mode. This paper also investigates performance of the proposed VC-VSC strategy based on an eigenanalysis in MATLAB, and time-domain simulations in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment.