Performance evaluation of AGC of SHP with multi-area power system

In this paper a detailed study of small hydro power plant, a novel technique to reduce the size of the dump load, automatic generation control, its simulation and case study of Mankulam small hydro plant etc. is done. Two pipe and Three pipe strategy with proportional-integral controller and on/off controller is proposed here. By using Matlab / SIMULINK, frequency deviation response and dump load response, with step input and chirp input are plotted with different load conditions. The water flowing through the penstock is rerouted in smaller pipes, two or three fitted with motor operated valves. The opening or closing of the valves is achieved by on/off controls. The on/off control linearly raises or lowers the generation. A generalized transfer function model for the system is developed with an on/off control logic. Finally, the transient performance of the system is compared for the two-pipe case (50% dump load) and the three-pipe case (30% dump load). Therefore, the proposed scheme is very effective in automatic generation control of the small-hydro system in addition to reduction in the size of the dump load by 50% and/or 30%, and also, the cost of the controllers including valves is considerably less than the dump load cost, in addition to saving water.