Automatic Tuning of PSSs and PODs Using a Parallel Differential Evolution Algorithm

Since Electric Power Systems are constantly subjected by perturbations, it is necessary to insert controllers for damping electromechanical oscillations originally from these perturbations. The Power System Stabilizer (PSS) and Power Oscillation Damper (POD) are two of the most common damping controllers used by the industry. However, just the inclusion of these controllers does not guarantee a satisfactory damping of the system, being necessary a good tune of them. This paper proposes a method for simultaneously tuning different kind of controllers considering several operation conditions at once. A differential evolution technique is used to perform the automatic tuning method proposed, with the great advantage of the parallel computing, since modern computers have more than one core. Simulation results with the benchmark test system New England/New York show the satisfactory performance of the parallel algorithm in a short running time than its non-parallel structure. Automatic Tuning of PSSs and PODs Using a Parallel Differential Evolution Algorithm