Open Access

ARTICLE

Virtual Synchronous Generator Control Strategy Based on Parameter Self-Tuning

Jin Lin^1,*, Bin Yu², Chao Chen¹, Jiezhen Cai¹, Yifan Wu², Cunping Wang³
1 School of Automation, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
2 School of Automation, Wuxi University, Wuxi, 214105, China
3 State Grid Beijing Electric Power Research Institute, Beijing, 100075, China
* Corresponding Author: Jin Lin. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Innovations and Challenges in Smart Grid Technologies)

Energy Engineering https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2025.069310

Received 20 June 2025; Accepted 14 August 2025; Published online 19 September 2025

Abstract

With the increasing integration of renewable energy, microgrids are increasingly facing stability challenges, primarily due to the lack of inherent inertia in inverter-dominated systems, which is traditionally provided by synchronous generators. To address this critical issue, Virtual Synchronous Generator (VSG) technology has emerged as a highly promising solution by emulating the inertia and damping characteristics of conventional synchronous generators. To enhance the operational efficiency of virtual synchronous generators (VSGs), this study employs small-signal modeling analysis, root locus methods, and synchronous generator power-angle characteristic analysis to comprehensively evaluate how virtual inertia and damping coefficients affect frequency stability and power output during transient processes. Based on these analyses, an adaptive control strategy is proposed: increasing the virtual inertia when the rotor angular velocity undergoes rapid changes, while strengthening the damping coefficient when the speed deviation exceeds a certain threshold to suppress angular velocity oscillations. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a grid-connected VSG simulation platform was developed in MATLAB/Simulink. Comparative simulations demonstrate that the proposed adaptive control strategy outperforms conventional VSG methods by significantly reducing grid frequency deviations and shortening active power response time during active power command changes and load disturbances. This approach enhances microgrid stability and dynamic performance, confirming its viability for renewable-dominant power systems. Future work should focus on experimental validation and real-world parameter optimization, while further exploring the strategy’s effectiveness in improving VSG low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability and power-sharing applications in multi-parallel configurations.

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Keywords

New power system; grid-connected inverter; virtual synchronous generator (VSG); virtual inertia; damping coefficient; adaptive control

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