A New Optimized FOPIDA-FOIDN Controller for the Frequency Regulation of Hybrid Multi-Area Interconnected Microgrids

This paper proposes a combined feedback and feed-forward control system to support the frequency regulation of multi-area interconnected hybrid microgrids considering renewable energy sources (RESs). The proposed control system is based on a fractional-order proportional-integral-derivative-accelerated (FOPIDA) controller in the feed-forward direction and a fractional-order integral-derivative with a low-pass filter compensator (FOIDN) controller in the feedback direction, referred to as a FOPIDA-FOIDN controller. Moreover, the parameters of the proposed FOPIDA-FOIDN controller (i.e., twelve parameters in each area) are optimally tuned using a proposed hybrid of two metaheuristic optimization algorithms, i.e., hybrid artificial gorilla troops optimizer (AGTO) and equilibrium optimizer (EO), and this hybrid is referred to as HGTOEO. The robustness and reliability of the proposed control system are validated by evaluating its performance in comparison to that of other counterparts’ controllers utilized in the literature, such as PID, FOPID, and tilt integral derivative (TID) controller, under the different operating conditions of the studied system. Furthermore, the proficiency of the proposed HGTOEO algorithm is checked against other powerful optimizers, such as the genetic algorithm, Jaya algorithm, improved Jaya algorithm, multi-verse optimizer, and cost-effective multi-verse optimizer, to optimally design the PID controller for the load frequency control of the studied two-area interconnected microgrid. The MATLAB simulation results demonstrate the viability and dependability of the proposed FOPIDA-FOIDN controller based on the HGTOEO algorithm under a variety of load perturbations and random production of RESs.