Distributed component-level modeling and control of energy dynamics in electric power systems

Abstract: The widespread deployment of power electronic-based technologies is transforming modern power systems into fast, nonlinear, and heterogeneous systems. Conventional modeling and control approaches, rooted in quasi-static analysis and centralized control, are inadequate for these converter-dominated systems, which operate on fast timescales and involve proprietary models of diverse components. This paper adopts and extends a previously introduced energy space modeling framework grounded in energy conservation principles to address these challenges. We generalize the notion of a port interaction variable, which encodes energy exchange between interconnected, heterogeneous components in a unified and physically intuitive manner. A multilayered distributed control architecture is proposed, wherein the nonlinear physical dynamics of each component are lifted to a higher-level linear energy space through well-defined mappings. Distributed controllers are designed in this energy space using only local states and minimal neighbor information via port interaction variables. Two control designs, energy-based feedback linearizing control (FBLC) and sliding mode control (SMC), are proven to achieve asymptotic convergence to reference outputs. The approach is validated on two systems: an inverter-controlled RLC circuit and a synchronous generator connected to a load. In both cases, energy-based control improves transient response and reduces control effort.