1

Ziegler-Nichols based Controller Parameters Tuning

for Load Frequency Control in a Microgrid
G. Mallesham, Member, IEEE, S. Mishra, Senior Member, IEEE and A. N. Jha, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractThis paper deals with the load frequency control of

a small scale microgrid consisting of wind, solar, diesel generator
and fuel cell as power generating sources and battery, flywheel
and aqua electrolyzer as energy storage elements. To improve
the load frequency control, the controllers are properly tuned so
as to reduce the mismatch between the real power generation
and the load demand leading to minimum power and frequency
deviations. A systematic approach to obtain frequency bias
parameter followed by tuning the gains of Proportional, Integral
and Derivative controller (PID) using Integral Square Time
Error evaluation criterion (ITSE)and Ziegler Nichols method
respectively is proposed. The simulation studies are carried out
for different cases and it is found that the dynamic responses of
the frequency and power of the microgrid is quite acceptable.
Index TermsAutomatic generation control, frequency and
power deviations,proportional, integral and derivative Control
(PID), integral square time error evaluation criterion (ITSE),
simulation analysis, Ziegler-Nichols method.

I. I NTRODUCTION

HE rise in population, urbanization and rapid industrialization has lead to a comprehensive increase in the
electrical power demand. The various sources of power include fossil fuels, hydro, thermal, geothermal, solar and wind
energies. The reduction in fossil fuels reserve has lead to an
increase in the price of the existing resources. Moreover, the
green house gases released because of burning the fossil fuels
create environmental hazards. This led to the development of
alternate energy sources and thrust on efficient utilization of
existing renewable energy sources[1].
Microgrid serve as a perfect alternative in some regions
and can be combined with fossil fuel based megagrid and
is progressively being used to meet the energy needs. It
uses small electric power generation systems comprising of
renewable energy sources as well as small capacity fossil fuel
sources located near consumers and load centers providing
them reliable source of electric power with less transmission
and distribution losses[2]. In addition, microgrid if integrated
with the megagrid will allow bulk consumers to save on electricity costs by using their generators during high peak demand
periods when power from the megagrid becomes expensive

thereby enhancing the efficiency, reliability and security of

large and centralized plants. This technology offer new market
opportunities and enhances the industrial competitiveness.
The various types of small scale generation systems used
in a microgrid can be categorized into two groups namely
primary sources consisting of solar and wind energy systems
and secondary sources such as diesel generator, fuel cell,
aqua electrolyzer , battery and flywheel [3]-[5]. The solar and
wind fall into the category of not correctly predictable energy
sources in which the power varies with time i.e., not a constant
power source. This results in power and frequency fluctuations
in the microgrid. To overcome this problem secondary sources
are used to supply power to balance out the increase in
load demand or the reduction in power generation. However
due to the delay in the output characteristics of secondary
sources, the frequency oscillations are still present in the
microgrid [6], [7]. Hence there is a need of designing proper
controllers for secondary sources for optimal utilization of
energy and to maintain minimum frequency deviations. In
the conventional Automatic Generation Control (AGC), it is
well established that smaller the droop characteristics, lesser
will be the frequency deviations. However, if the droop is
larger, then there is a requirement for frequency bias term
to be included in AGC as a secondary controller. In the
past, the modelings of microgrid in the context of AGC has
already been explained with controller gains and frequency
bias decided through trial and error approach [8]. Therefore,
in this paper, a systematic method is proposed for the selection
of the controller parameters such as frequency bias Kf based
on Integral of Time Squared Error (ITSE) [9], [10] and Kp , Ki
and Kd of the PID controller through Zeigler Nichols method
[11].
This paper is organized as follows. Section II illustrates
microgrid model and its main elements. Section III presents
calculation of the optimal frequency bias Kf and tuning
of the PID controller by Ziegler Nichols method and the
procedure to incorporate them in microgrid. simulation results
are demonstrated under various conditions in section IV.
II. T HE M ICROGRID M ODEL

This research work is supported by DST Govt. of India under the

project Voltage and Frequency control of microgrid having file no:
SR/S3/EECE/0040/2010.
G. Mallesham (email: malleshamg@yahoo.com) and S. Mishra (email:
sukumar@ee.iitd.ac.in) are with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, NewDelhi, INDIA.
A.N. Jha (e-mail: anjha@itmindia.ed) is with the Department of Electrical,
Electronics and Communications Engineering, ITM University, Gurgaon,
Haryana.

c
978-1-4673-0136-7/11/$26.00 2011
IEEE

The proposed microgrid consists of wind power source,

solar power source, diesel generator (dg), fuel cell (fc), aqua
electrolyzer (ae), battery (bat) and flywheel (fw). The varying
output of wind turbine generator, due to fluctuations of wind
speed, can be smoothed out by using a constant power
smoothing strategy [12]. Moreover, the time frame during
which AGC action comes into effect in a microgrid is within
500 sec. Hence it is quite reasonable to assume a constant

power output from the wind turbine and solar system. The net
power available to the load is the sum of the powers from
the primary and secondary sources in microgrid. In this paper,
the simplified models with their first order approximations are
used as transfer functions for all the microgrid components,
and the power system [13]. The proposed system is shown in
Fig. 1. The mathematical models of each component in the
microgrid, and the power system are as follows.

Fig. 2. The block diagram of the diesel generator with its delay characteristics
in output in power system.

oxygen can be achieved by passing electric current between

the two electrodes separated by aqueous electrolyte. The aqua
electrolyzer is modeled as a first order equation given by (4)
and implemented in microgrid as shown in Fig. 3.
Kae
(4)
1 + sTae
Where Tae is the time constant and Kae is the gain of the
aqua electrolyzer are considered as 0.2 sec. and 1 respectively.
It is assumed that the power taken by aqua electrolyzer will
Gae (s) =

Fig. 1. The block diagram of the microgrid with primary sources : solar,
wind energy system and secondary sources: diesel generators, fuel cell, aqua
electrolyzer, battery, flywheel and power system.

A. Diesel generator
Diesel generator can follow the load demand variations by
means of their speed and power control mechanisms within
short intervals of time. When power demand fluctuates, the
diesel generator varies its output via fuel regulation. On the
other hand since this is a synchronous generator, its output
voltage can be regulated by controlling the excitation. In this
paper the diesel generator is represented with a first order
transfer function, represented in (1) as proposed in [14].
Gdg (s) =

Kdg
1 + sTdg

(1)

Where, Kdg is the gain and Tdg is the time constant of the
diesel generator. The gain and time constant of diesel generator
are considered as 1 and 2 sec. respectively. For the diesel
generator it is also considered the delay in the output as
Kd
(2)
1 + sTd
Where Kd =1 and Td =20 sec. Therefore the transfer function of a diesel generator will be represented as
Gd (s) =

GdgT (s) =

Kdg
Kd

1 + sTdg
1 + sTd

(3)

Fig. 3.

The block diagram of the aqua electrolyzer in power system.

be between 0 to 0.2 p.u.

C. Fuel cell
The fuel cell operates on the same principle as that of a
battery and can supply energy as long as fuel is supplied to
it rather than like a battery which requires recharging for its
continuous operation [15]. The hydrogen produced in the aqua
electrolyzer acts as a fuel which is passed over the anode of the
fuel cell where inverse electrolysis takes place. In this paper we
have assumed that there is sufficient hydrogen reserve so that
it does not stop forcedly. The fuel cell is modeled as first order
equation given in (5) and implemented in microgrid through
Fig. 4.
Kf c
Gf c (s) =
(5)
1 + sTf c

It is assumed that the diesel generator power output will be

between 0 to 0.8 p.u. The Fig. 2. presents the integrated block
diagram for a diesel generator with a controller in a microgrid.

Where Tf c is the time constant and Kf c is the gain of the

fuel cell. In our case Tf c and Kf c are taken as 4 sec. and 1
respectively.
It is assumed that the fuel cell power output will be between
0 to 0.3 p.u.

B. Aqua electrolyzer

D. Battery

Part of the generated power from wind and solar is sent to

the aqua electrolyzer to produce hydrogen for fuel cell if the
load demand is less than the combined powers of wind and
solar system. The decomposition of water into hydrogen and

A battery is a combination of one or more electrochemical

galvanic cells which converts the chemical energy stored in
it into electrical energy. Due to its feasibility and simplicity,
the battery has become a common power source for many

Fig. 4.

Fig. 6.

The block diagram of the fuel cell in power system.

The block diagram of the flywheel in power system.

household and industrial applications, and a big economic

industry. The battery is modeled as first order equation as (6)
and implemented in microgrid as shown in Fig. 5.

Where

Kbat
(6)
1 + sTbat
Where Tbat is the time constant and Kbat is the gain of the
battery as 0.1 sec. and 1 respectively. The amount of charging
and discharging powers vary between -0.5 to +0.5 p.u.

Due to the time delay between the system frequency deviation and power deviation, the transfer function for system
frequency variation to per unit power deviation is given by

Gbat (s) =

PS = PW + Psol + Pdg + Pf c Pae Pbat Pf w

Gsys (s) =

f
K
=
Pe
Ms + D

(9)

(10)

Where, K is the system frequency character constant. M

and D are the inertia constant and damping constant of power
system respectively. In this study D and M are chosen as 0.012
and 0.2 respectively.
III. T UNING OF F REQUENCY BIAS AND PID C ONTROLLER
Fig. 5.

GAINS

The block diagram of the battery in power system.

E. Flywheel
A flywheel, in essence is a mechanical battery, simply a
mass rotating about an axis. This may still prove to serve
us as an important component on tomorrows vehicles and
future energy needs. Flywheels are one of the most promising
technologies for replacing conventional lead acid batteries
as energy storage systems for a variety of applications, including automobiles, economical rural electrification systems,
and stand-alone, remote power units commonly used in the
telecommunications industry. With recent advances, the mechanical property of composites has rekindled interest in using
the inertia of a spinning wheel to store energy. The flywheel
is modeled as a first order equation (7) and implemented in
microgrid as shown in Fig. 6.
Gf w (s) =

Kf w
1 + sTf w

(7)

Where Tf w is the time constant and Kf w is the gain of the

flywheel as 0.1 sec. and 1 respectively.
F. Power and frequency deviation
In a power system, if the balance between the generation
and load demand is not maintained, the frequency deviates
depending on the domination of generation or load. The power
deviation is the difference between the power generation PS
and the power demand PL .
Pe = PS PL

(8)

The objective of the controllers is to regulate the power

output of secondary sources, to minimize the frequency deviation by generating appropriate control signals and hence to
enhance the performance of the microgrid. In the presence of
many secondary sources there is a chance of adverse interaction between their regulators which leads to deterioration of
frequency stability of the microgrid. So far there is no single
definition for best tuning that applies to all loops. Therefore,
to avoid the adverse interaction there is a need of appropriate
tuning of the individual PID controller [16]. The control output
from the PID controller subjected to frequency error is given
as
Z
1 t
df
u(t) = Kp [f +
f dt + D
]
(11)
I 0
dt
Where u(t) is the control input to the microgrid elements and
f is the change in frequency. In this paper the ZieglerNichols method, a heuristic method of tuning PID controller
is used to decide about the magnitudes of the controller
parameters. Initially the range of Kf is considered and it
lies between minimum value: 0.1 to maximum value: 10.
For each bias setting Kf , the system is made to oscillate
by increasing the proportional gain Kp and keeping other
controller gains Ki , Kd to zero until it reaches the ultimate
gain Ku at which the output frequency of the system begins to
oscillate with ultimate period Tu . The disturbance to initiate
the oscillation is considered as a sudden increase in load
demand from 0.9 p.u. to 0.95 p.u. For each set of Kf , Ku
and Tu the controller gains: Kp ,Ki and Kd are calculated and
the frequency deviations against time for the above mentioned

disturbance is obtained and the performance criterion J given

by (12) is calculated.
Z t
J = IT SE =
t|f |2 dt
(12)
0

TABLE I
T UNING OF THE PID CONTROLLER GAINS ACCORDING TO Z IEGLER
N ICHOLS METHOD
Controller
P
PI
PID

Kp
0.5 Ku
0.45 Ku
0.6 Ku

Ki
1.2 Kp / Tu
2 / Tu

Kd
Tu /8

The controller gains corresponding to the least valued ITSE

is taken as the optimized one. In this case, there are five
secondary sources and are tuned by calculating gains Ku and
Kf in a sequential manner considering one source after the
other in the system. The controller parameters so obtained
based on the proposed approach are shown in the Table II.
TABLE II
T UNING OF THE PID CONTROLLER GAINS ACCORDING TO Z IEGLER
N ICHOLS METHOD
Microgrid Components
Diesel generator
Fuel cell
Aqua electrolyzer
Battery
Fly wheel

Frequency
Kf
4
2
0.2
0.1
0.1

bias

Kp

Ki

Kd

0.0397
0.1220
0.35
0.4188
0.3654

0.0756
0.2154
0.03
0.01666
0.01666

3.3084
3.1608
0.07
0.01
0.01

IV. S IMULATION A NALYSIS

The components in the microgrid are modeled and are
connected with PID controllers as shown in the Fig. 7. and
it is simulated using MATLAB. The analysis were carried out

Fig. 7.

The Simulink block diagram of the microgrid in MATLAB

by running the system for 500 sec. During this time the system

was put under power variation in load as well as in sources.

Before creating disturbance in all the cases, constant wind
power supply of approximately 0.6 p.u., solar power supply
of 0.3 p.u. and a load demand of 0.9 p.u. are considered.
The time period shown in some plots is the different from
the simulation time since in those cases the system is settling
before the simulation time.
Case1: The wind power is varied from 0.6 p.u. to 0.4
p.u. at 50 sec. by keeping solar power and load demand
constant at 0.3 p.u. and 0.9 p.u. respectively.
In realistic scenario this disturbance can come into picture
owing to a sudden change in wind velocity. The simulation
results are shown in Fig. 8. In the transient period, all the
secondary sources except aqua electrolyzer are supplying the
power to compensate the disturbance. In the steady state
period, the diesel generator and fuel cell taken together are
supplying which is equal to the reduction in wind power of 0.2
p.u. while the power fluctuations both in transient and steady
state period in the system are absorbed by aqua electrolyzer.
In steady state the power absorbed by the aqua electrolyzer is
0.0015 p.u. which is quite small. So, under steady state condition, battery, flywheel and aqua electrolyzer are supplying
zero power. Besides, the peak frequency deviation is between
-0.6464 and 0.1718 Hz which is well within the tolerance
limits and reaches steady state within 100 sec. from the point
of disturbance.

Case2: A sudden decrease of solar power from 0.3 p.u.

to 0.2 p.u. is undertaken at 50 sec.
The dynamic response of the microgrid for this disturbance
is depicted in Fig. 9. In the transient period, the secondary
sources, diesel generator, fuel cell are supplying the power
and aqua electrolyzer is absorbing the power. Similarly both
battery and flywheel are undergoing charging and discharging
cycle resulting in minimum oscillations in the frequency.
In the steady state period, the contributions from the diesel
generator , fuel cell are 0.0416 p.u., 0.0592 p.u. respectively
to compensate the reduction in the solar power by 0.1 p.u.
and a very small part 0.0018 p.u. is in turn absorbed by
aqua electrolyzer. The frequency deviation is observed to be
between -0.2445 and 0.0518 Hz in transient and zero in steady
state period. The frequency deviation in the system subsides
within 100 sec. of the occurrence of disturbance.

Fig. 8. Simulation results of Case 1: (a) Supply power PS (b) Power supply
form diesel generator Pdg (c) Fuel cell Pf c (d) Aqua electrolyzer Pae (e)
Battery Pbat (f) Flywheel Pf w (g) Error in power supply P (h) Frequency
deviation of power systems f .

Case3: The load is increased from 0.9 p.u. to 0.95 p.u.

at 50 sec. while the wind and solar power sources are kept
constant at 0.6 p.u. and 0.3 p.u. respectively.
This variation in load is met by all other microgrid elements
and their dynamic performance is shown in the Fig. 10. In
the transient period, the secondary sources, diesel generator ,
fuel cell are supplying the power whereas aqua electrolyzer
is absorbing the power. Besides both battery and flywheel are
undergoing charging and discharging resulting in a minimum
oscillations in the frequency. In the steady state period, the
contributions from diesel generator and fuel cell are 0.0208
p.u. and 0.0296 p.u. respectively to compensate the difference
in load power of 0.05 p.u. and part of which 0.0003 p.u. is
in turn absorbed by aqua electrolyzer which is negligible. The
frequency deviation is observed to be between -0.0781 and
0.0145 Hz in transient and zero in steady state period.

Fig. 9. Simulation results of Case 2: (a) Supply power PS (b) Power supply
form diesel generator Pdg (c) Fuel cell Pf c (d) Aqua electrolyzer Pae (e)
Battery Pbat (f) Flywheel Pf w (g) Error in power supply P (h) Frequency
deviation of power systems f .

tackle different types of disturbances. The simulation analysis

of microgrid with PID controller shows acceptable dynamic
performance with zero steady state error. It is also found that
when the load is less than the power generated by the primary
sources the excess power goes into the battery and flywheel.
Similarly when load is more than the power generated by the
primary sources, the excess power requirement is mitigated by
diesel generator and fuel cell. Thus, the controllers work in
coordination with the demand from load to obtain a proper
energy management scenario.
R EFERENCES

Fig. 10. Simulation results of Case 3: (a) Supply power PS (b) Power supply
form diesel generator Pdg (c) Fuel cell Pf c (d) Aqua electrolyzer Pae (e)
Battery Pbat (f) Flywheel Pf w (g) Error in power supply P (h) Frequency
deviation of power systems f .

Therefore, from the above simulations, it is seen that the

tuned PID controllers with optimal frequency bias manages to
maintain constant frequency in the microgrid following any
disturbance.

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V. C ONCLUSION
In this paper a systematic approach for tuning of PID controllers in microgrid and calculation of optimal frequency bias
are presented. The frequency bias calculation is an important
aspect in the power system dynamics and plays a key role
in controller gains. This factor directly effects the individual
components and subsequently the overall performance of the
microgrid. So the selection of frequency bias is very crucial
and is addressed in this paper. The tuning of the PID controller through Zeigler Nichols approach is quite robust to

G Mallesham received the B.E degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University College of Engineering (A), Osmania University,
Hyderabad, India in 2000. He received his Masters degree in Control Engineering and Instrumentation from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India
in 2002. Presently he is working towards PhD in the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India

S Mishra (M97-SM04) received the B.E. degree from University College of Engineering, Burla,
Orissa, India, and the M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from
Regional Engineering College, Rourkela, Orissa, India, in 1990, 1992, and 2000, respectively. In 1992,
he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University College of Engineering Burla as
a Lecturer, and subsequently became a Reader in
2001. Presently, he is an Associate Professor with
the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian
Institute of Technology Delhi, India. Dr. Mishra has
been honored with many prestigious awards such as the INSA Young Scientist
Medal in 2002, the INAE Young Engineers Award in 2002, and recognition
as the DST Young Scientist in 2001 to 2002, etc. He is a Fellow of Indian
National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Technology
(IET), London, UK and Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineering (IETE), India. His interests are in soft computing applications to power
system control and power quality and renewable energy.

A. N. Jha obtained his PhD degree in Electrical

Engineering in the year 1977 from Indian Institute
of Technology, Delhi. He joined I.I.T Delhi as a
lecturer in Electrical Engineering Department in the
year 1981.He is Professor in the same department
since February 1994.He is working in areas of
Estimation, Identification and Control of Systems.
He has published more than 110 research papers in
National and International journals and conferences.
He is a senior member of I.E.E.E USA, fellow of
the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication
Engineers, India and life member of system society of India.His interests
are in soft computing applications to power system control, power quality,
distributed generation and renewable energy.