Power System Dynamics as Primal-Dual Algorithm for Optimal Load Control

We formulate an optimal load control (OLC) problem in power networks where the objective is to minimize the aggregate cost of tracking an operating point subject to power balance over the network. We prove that the swing dynamics and the branch power flows, coupled with frequency-based load control, serve as a distributed primal-dual algorithm to solve OLC. Even though the system has multiple equilibrium points, we prove that it nonetheless converges to an optimal point. This result implies that the local frequency deviations at each bus convey exactly the right information about the global power imbalance for the loads to make individual decisions that turn out to be globally optimal. It allows a completely decentralized solution without explicit communication among the buses. Simulations show that the proposed OLC mechanism can resynchronize bus frequencies with significantly improved transient performance.