Application of bacteria foraging algorithm for modular multilevel converter-based microgrid with effect of wind power

High penetration of renewable energy resources in to microgrid introduces a wide range of challenges to the power system. These challenges are mainly due to intermittent nature of its generation and unpredictable load demand. As a result, it leads to unstable operation in voltage and frequency of microgrid. To overcome this drawback, a modular multilevel converter-based controlling scheme is implemented in this article, which not only regulates the voltage levels but also frequency. Microgrid is composed several distributed energy resources such as photovoltaic power generation, diesel energy generation, wind energy generation, fuel cell. To analyze the stability of combined power system, small signal model of each system is designed. With the help of designed systems, the stability of the system is investigated. Further, for various loading conditions, the gains of the controller are automatically tuned to give the desired performance, which is accomplished with the help of bacteria foraging optimization technique. The system is investigated in two modes, i.e., islanded mode and grid connected mode. Further, the system response is analyzed with various wind speeds, and results are explored. Thus, obtained results is compared with the conventional Proportional +Integral controller with proposed optimization scheme.