Data Center Oscillation Isolation and Grid Support: Fundamental Limits and Source-Selective Control

Cheng Feng

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2610.26812

Data Center Oscillation Isolation and Grid Support: Fundamental Limits and Source-Selective Control

Cheng Feng

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The grid integration of large data centers poses a growing power-system stability challenge. Rapidly varying computing demand can induce oscillations, while the facilities must provide a prescribed response to grid disturbances. Existing controls address load fluctuations and grid support but do not establish their jointly achievable performance. This paper derives fundamental limits and develops a source-selective controller for simultaneous oscillation isolation and grid support. A coupled closed-loop model gives a condition for distinguishing disturbance sources and reveals a direct isolation-support conflict under grid-import-power feedback alone; additional electrical measurements can remove this pointwise conflict but leave a conditional cross-frequency sensitivity limit. Guided by these limits, we design a local residual-feedback storage controller through convex frequency-domain optimization with stability, isolation, and grid-response constraints across operating points. Tests on a single-generator interconnection and a modified nine-bus network show stronger oscillation isolation than equal-order optimized comparators while meeting the prescribed grid response across operating points.

Explore related subjects

eess.SY cs.SY math.DS

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Cheng Feng. 2026-10-19. Data Center Oscillation Isolation and Grid Support: Fundamental Limits and Source-Selective Control. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26812

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Braess' Paradoxes in Coupled Power and Transportation Systems

Transportation electrification introduces strong coupling between the power and transportation systems. In this paper, we generalize the classical notion of Braess' paradox to coupled power and transportation systems, and examine how the cross-system coupling induces new types of Braess' paradoxes. To this end, we model the power and transportation networks as graphs, coupled with charging points connecting to nodes in both graphs. The power system operation is characterized by the economic dispatch optimization, while the transportation system user equilibrium models travelers' route and charging choices. By analyzing simple coupled systems, we demonstrate that capacity expansion in either the transportation or the power system can deteriorate the performance of both systems, and uncover the fundamental mechanisms for such new Braess' paradoxes to occur. We also provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the occurrence of Braess' paradoxes in general coupled systems, leading to managerial insights for infrastructure planners. For general networks, by characterizing generalized user equilibria of coupled systems, we develop charging-pricing policies to mitigate Braess' paradoxes.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2026

Analytical Prediction of Voltage Collapse in Current-Limited Grid-Forming Inverters

As converter-interfaced units become dominant in power systems, understanding nonlinear stability phenomena involving discrete switching events becomes essential for secure operation. The limited overcurrent capability of grid-forming (GFM) inverters makes current limiting essential during large disturbances. Activation of a circular current limiter (CCL) can cause the operating equilibrium to disappear under certain circumstances. This paper develops an analytical framework to predict the grid-voltage boundaries for CCL activation and determine whether the operating equilibrium persists or disappears after activation. For CCL-based GFM inverters with frozen anti-windup, closed-form expressions for the activation boundaries are derived while accounting for the filter capacitor. A criterion is established to determine whether a saturated (i.e., current-limited) stable equilibrium point (satSEP) persists following limiter activation. A continuation method is also developed to trace equilibria across normal-control and current-limited operation. Power-angle analysis and dynamic-model continuation in single-inverter and modified 9-bus systems validate these predictions. Time-domain simulations further confirm the results. The results show that CCL activation can either cause immediate loss of the stable equilibrium or allow stable current-limited operation to continue until the equilibrium is lost as operating conditions change further.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2026

Reduced Arc-Weight Heterogeneity for Master Stability Analysis of Directed Networks

Master stability analysis can be applied to directed networks even when their Laplacian matrices are not diagonalizable. Nevertheless, a diagonalizable Laplacian is easier to analyse because the perturbations governing synchronization separate into independent modes. This paper asks how many different positive coupling strengths are needed to obtain this simplification without adding or removing any directed connections. We first give an elementary construction showing that suitable positive weights exist for every weakly connected directed network and explain its relationship to stronger genericity results in the literature. We then introduce a measure of the smallest number of distinct coupling strengths required for diagonalizability. If a common coupling strength already produces a diagonalizable Laplacian, only one value is needed. For directed acyclic networks, we give a constructive upper bound based on the length of the longest directed path from a source. This bound is exact for rooted outward directed trees. Consequently, an outward star requires only one coupling value, whereas a directed path requires a different value on every arc. These results reduce coupling heterogeneity while retaining the simpler modal form of master stability analysis. Diagonalizability is treated as an analytical convenience, not as a sufficient condition for synchronization.

eess.SY↗