Event-Triggered Distributed Model Predictive Control for LFC of Interconnected Power System

This article studies the event-triggered distributed model predictive control (ET-DMPC) strategy for the load frequency control (LFC) issue of multiarea interconnected power systems (IPSs) subject to bounded disturbances and load reference set-point constraints. The entire IPS comprises multiple dynamically coupled subsystems, each exchanging information with interconnected subsystems through the communication network. Local DMPC controllers are designed with robust constraints and load reference set-point constraints, where robust constraints limit the impact of tie-line power deviations and disturbances. To further alleviate the computational and communication burdens of subsystems, a distributed event-triggered mechanism is proposed, in which the threshold integrates the information of current subsystem state, disturbances, and tie-line power deviations between areas. By comparing this threshold with the deviation between the actual trajectory and the optimal prediction, the instants of optimization problem solving and information transmission are determined, effectively balancing control performance and resource utilization. Moreover, the theoretical conditions guaranteeing Zeno-free behavior, recursive feasibility, and closed-loop stability are analyzed. Finally, simulation results and analysis for a three-area IPS demonstrate that computational and communication burdens are significantly reduced while achieving a satisfactory LFC objective, which validates the effectiveness of the ET-DMPC strategy.