arXiv subjects

Huanhai Xin

Publications and source records attributed to Huanhai Xin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Impacts of Heterogeneous Grid-Forming Devices on Power System Dynamics Quantified by DW Shells

The concept of grid-forming (GFM) converters has gained great attention in the past years. However, it remains challenging to analyze and quantify the impacts of heterogeneous GFM devices (e.g., GFM energy storage systems, GFM wind turbines, GFM HVDC stations) on power system dynamics, especially when taking into account the complex interaction between GFM converters and grid-following (GFL) converters. To this end, this paper focuses on the decentralized and scalable stability analysis of power systems containing both GFM and GFL converters, where we use Davis-Wielandt (DW) shells to characterize the dynamics of the converters and the power grid. In particular, we analytically derive how integrating heterogeneous GFM converters affects the DW shell of the power grid and therefore the system stability. Our approach does not require the detailed parameters or control schemes of the GFM converters; instead, we define the local passivity and imaginary-axis indices of GFM converters to compactly describe their characteristics. These two indices can be conveniently obtained by testing a GFM converter and greatly simplify the stability analysis and computation when handling large-scale power systems.

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arXiv2026

Revisiting Voltage and Synchronization Stability Analysis in Grid-Following Converter-Integrated Weak Grids: Insights from Non-Minimum-Phase Zeros

The increasing penetration of grid-following (GFL) converter-interfaced generators (CIGs) intensifies concerns over small-signal voltage and synchronization stability. While existing theories treat these two stability issues distinctly, practical wisdom in contrast employs a unified and static metric, short-circuit ratio (SCR), to assess both in weak grids. This paper aims to bridge this theory-practice gap by introducing the insight of non-minimum-phase (NMP) zeros. First, we demonstrate that the two stability issues in weak grids can be characterized within a common NMP-zero-based assessment framework: a zero at the origin corresponds to voltage instability, while low-frequency zeros impose fundamental constraints on synchronization dynamics. The traditional SCR is proven to be a special case of our proposed novel stability metric, NMP-zero (NMP-Z) factor, evaluated at the rated operating point. This establishes the theoretical foundation for the empirical success of SCR. Building on this insight, we then develop a unified stability assessment method for multi-converter systems. The method retains the simplicity of SCR, requiring only the NMP-Z factor together with individual CIG dynamic models and enabling stability margin assessment under various operating points. Our work provides a simple yet theoretically rigorous framework for stability analysis in CIG-integrated weak grids, with all theoretical findings and the proposed method validated through detailed time-domain simulations.

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arXiv2026

Geometric Decentralized Stability Certificate of Power Electronics-Dominated Power Systems Covering Variable Operating Points

The integration of power converters is profoundly changing the power system dynamics and poses significant challenges for stability analysis. The dynamic interactions between the power grid and the heterogeneous converters are highly complex and difficult to analyze due to the curse of dimensionality. Moreover, system stability varies with the operating points, which are determined by the voltage magnitude, active power, and reactive power of each converter. This further complicates the analysis as it is difficult to enumerate and examine all the possible operating points. To tackle these challenges, this paper proposes a geometric decentralized stability certificate for power electronics (PE)-dominated power systems, which can simultaneously handle heterogeneous power converters and their variable operating points. The certificate can be checked in a decentralized and modular manner, and it is scalable for large-scale power systems. Our approach is developed based on the concept of Davis-Wielandt (DW) shell and its projections, which can effectively visualize the characteristics of high-dimensional complex matrices. We investigate how the projections of the DW shell vary with operating points and how this variation can guide the search for worst-case operating conditions. We further propose an efficient algorithm to compute the stability margin and construct the certified operating regions. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through case studies on single-converter and 54-converter wind power systems.

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arXiv2026

Quantifying Grid-Forming Behavior: Bridging Device-level Dynamics and System-Level Strength

Grid-forming (GFM) technology is widely regarded as a promising solution for future power systems dominated by power electronics. However, a universally accepted definition of GFM behavior and precise method for its quantification remain elusive. Moreover, the impact of GFM converter on system stability is not precisely quantified, creating a significant disconnect between device and system levels. To address these gaps from a small-signal perspective, at the device level, the paper introduces a novel metric, the Forming Index (FI) to quantify a converter's response to grid voltage fluctuations. Rather than enumerating various control architectures, the FI provides a metric for the converter's GFM ability by quantifying its sensitivity to grid variations. At the system level, a new quantitative measure of system strength that captures the multi-bus voltage stiffness is proposed, which quantifies the voltage and phase angle responses of multiple buses to current or power disturbances. The paper further extends and defines this concept to grid strength and bus strength to identify weak areas within the system. Finally, the device and system levels are bridged by formally proving that GFM converters enhance system strength. The proposed framework provides a unified benchmark for GFM converter design, optimal placement, and system stability assessment.

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arXiv2026

Quantifying Grid-Forming Behavior: Bridging Device-Level Dynamics and System-Level Strength

Grid-forming (GFM) technology is widely regarded as a promising solution for future power systems dominated by power electronics. However, a precise method for quantifying GFM converter behavior and a universally accepted GFM definition remain elusive. Moreover, the impact of GFM on system stability is not precisely quantified, creating a significant disconnect between device and system levels. To address these gaps from a small-signal perspective, at the device level, we introduce a novel metric, the Forming Index (FI) to quantify a converter's response to grid voltage fluctuations. Rather than enumerating various control architectures, the FI provides a metric for the converter's GFM ability by quantifying its sensitivity to grid variations. At the system level, we propose a new quantitative measure of system strength that captures the multi-bus voltage stiffness, which quantifies the voltage and phase angle responses of multiple buses to current or power disturbances. We further extend and define this concept to grid strength and bus strength to identify weak areas within the system. Finally, we bridge the device and system levels by formally proving that GFM converters enhance system strength. Our proposed framework provides a unified benchmark for GFM converter design, optimal placement, and system stability assessment.

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arXiv2026

A Data-Driven Optimal Control Architecture for Grid-Connected Power Converters

Grid-connected power converters are ubiquitous in modern power systems, acting as grid interfaces of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, high-voltage DC systems, etc. Conventionally, power converters use multiple PID regulators to achieve different control objectives such as grid synchronization and voltage/power regulation, where the PID parameters are usually tuned based on a presumed (and often overly-simplified) power grid model. However, this may lead to inferior performance or even instabilities in practice, as the real power grid is highly complex, variable, and generally unknown. To tackle this problem, we employ a data-enabled predictive control (DeePC) to perform data-driven, optimal, robust, and adaptive control for power converters. We call the converters that are operated in this way DeePConverters. A DeePConverter can implicitly perceive the characteristics of the power grid from measured data and adjust its control strategy to achieve optimal, robust, and adaptive performance. We present the modular configurations, generalized structure, control behavior specification, inherent robustness, detailed implementation, computational aspects, and online adaptation of DeePConverters. High-fidelity simulations and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests are provided to validate the effectiveness of DeePConverters.

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arXiv2026

Localization and Reshaping of Non-Minimum-Phase Zeros in Multi-Converter Systems

Non-minimum-phase (NMP) zeros in multi-converter power systems impose bandwidth ceilings on feedback control, yet quantifying them at the system level has been impractical because commercial converters withhold their internal controller models. This paper develops a Jacobian-based framework that decouples the NMP zeros from individual converter dynamics, proves them to be strictly real, and expresses their values as the singular values of a matrix constructed solely from the grid admittance matrix and steady-state power injections. Because these zeros govern the peak magnitude of the complementary sensitivity function, an exponential lower bound on this peak is derived as a function of the dominant zero, establishing that as the zero approaches the origin the stability margin degrades unavoidably. To counteract this degradation, a zero reshaping strategy is proposed that ranks converter nodes by their real participation factors and identifies the optimal site for voltage droop deployment without iterative search, steering the dominant zero away from the origin and thereby suppressing the sensitivity peak.

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arXiv2025

Analysis of Frequency and Voltage Strength in Power Electronics-Dominated Power Systems Based on Eigen-subsystems

The large-scale integration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) has deteriorated the frequency/voltage (F/V) responses of power systems, leading to a higher risk of instability. Consequently, evaluating the F/V strength has become an important task in power electronics (PE)-dominated power systems. Existing methods typically examine F/V strength separately, employing fundamentally different metrics, such as inertia (focusing on device dynamics) and short-circuit ratio (SCR, addressing network characteristics). These fragmented approaches have resulted in a lack of comprehensive understanding of the overall system strength, potentially overlooking critical aspects. To address this problem, this paper proposes a unified framework for analyzing F/V strength. First, a unified modeling of F/V regulations is introduced. Then, based on modal decoupling, the power systems are decomposed into several eigen-subsystems, where the F/V responses are both decomposed into common-mode (CM) and differential-mode (DM) components, namely, CM-F, DM-F, CM-V, and DM-V. The CM-F and CM-V represent the collective response of all devices to external active or reactive power disturbances, independent of the power network characteristics. In contrast, the DM-F and DM-V capture the redistribution of disturbance power within the system, which is strongly influenced by the network topology and the locations of devices. Notably, traditional strength analysis generally ignores the CM-V (global voltage response), which, as discovered in this paper, may also become unstable in PE-dominated power systems. Based on the proposed framework, new metrics are proposed to evaluate the strength of each modal component. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated through simulations.

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arXiv2025

Geometric Decentralized Stability Certificate for Power Systems Based on Projecting DW Shells

The development of decentralized stability conditions has gained considerable attention due to the need to analyze multi-agent network systems, such as heterogeneous multi-converter power systems. A recent advance is the application of the small-phase theorem, which extends the passivity theory. However, it requires the transfer function matrix to be sectorial, which may not hold in some frequency range and will result in conservativeness. To address this issue, this paper proposes a geometric decentralized stability condition based on Davis-Wielandt (DW) shell and its projections. Our approach provides a geometric interpretation of the small-gain and small-phase theorems and enables decentralized stability analysis of power systems. It serves as a visualization method to understand the closed-loop interactions and assess the stability of large-scale network systems in a scalable and modular manner.

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arXiv2025

Dispatchable Current Source Virtual Oscillator Control Achieving Global Stability

This work introduces a novel dispatchable current source virtual oscillator control (dCVOC) scheme for grid-following (GFL) converters, which exhibits duality with dispatchable virtual oscillator control (dVOC) in two ways: a) the current frequency is generated through reactive power control, similar to a PLL ; b) the current magnitude reference is generated through active power control. We formally prove that our proposed control always admits a steady-state equilibrium and ensures global stability under reasonable conditions on grid and converter parameters, even when considering LVRT and current saturation constraints. Our approach avoids low-voltage transients and weak grid instability, which is not the case for conventional GFL control. The effectiveness of our proposed control is verified through high-fidelity electromagnetic transient simulations.

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arXiv2025

Quantitative Parameter Conditions for Stability and Coupling in GFM-GFL Converter Hybrid Systems from a Small-Signal Synchronous Perspective

With the development of renewable energy sources, power systems are gradually evolving into a system comprising both grid-forming (GFM) and grid-following (GFL) converters. However, the dynamic interaction between the two types of converters, especially low-inertia GFM converters and GFL converters, remains unclear due to the substantial differences in their synchronization mechanisms. To address this gap, this paper develops a small-signal synchronous stability model for power systems containing GFM and GFL converters, which considers network line dynamics. Based on subspace perturbation theory, we reveal that GFM and GFL subsystems can be effectively decoupled when GFL converters operate near unity power factor or when GFM converters possess sufficiently large inertia or damping, and provide lower bound of control parameters ensuring decoupling. Under the decoupling condition, we propose decentralized and analytical parameter-based stability criteria which have clear physical interpretations: the positive damping of converters compensates for the negative damping of the network. In the case of coupling, we also propose decentralized stability criteria based on the small phase theorem. The effectiveness of the theoretical analysis is validated through simulations in MATLAB/Simulink.

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arXiv2025

Direct Adaptive Control of Grid-Connected Power Converters via Output-Feedback Data-Enabled Policy Optimization

Power electronic converters are becoming the main components of modern power systems due to the increasing integration of renewable energy sources. However, power converters may become unstable when interacting with the complex and time-varying power grid. In this paper, we propose an adaptive data-driven control method to stabilize power converters by using only online input-output data. Our contributions are threefold. First, we reformulate the output-feedback control problem as a state-feedback linear quadratic regulator (LQR) problem with a controllable non-minimal state, which can be constructed from past input-output signals. Second, we propose a data-enabled policy optimization (DeePO) method for this non-minimal realization to achieve efficient output-feedback adaptive control. Third, we use high-fidelity simulations to verify that the output-feedback DeePO can effectively stabilize grid-connected power converters and quickly adapt to the changes in the power grid.

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arXiv2024

How Many Grid-Forming Converters Do We Need? A Perspective From Small Signal Stability and Power Grid Strength

Grid-forming (GFM) control has been considered a promising solution for accommodating large-scale power electronics converters into modern power grids thanks to its grid-friendly dynamics, in particular, voltage source behavior on the AC side. The voltage source behavior of GFM converters can provide voltage support for the power grid, and therefore enhance the power grid (voltage) strength. However, grid-following (GFL) converters can also perform constant AC voltage magnitude control by properly regulating their reactive current, which may also behave like a voltage source. Currently, it still remains unclear what are the essential differences between the voltage source behaviors of GFL and GFM converters, and which type of voltage source behavior can enhance the power grid strength. In this paper, we will demonstrate that only GFM converters can provide effective voltage source behavior and enhance the power grid strength in terms of small signal dynamics. Based on our analysis, we further study the problem of how to configure GFM converters in the grid and how many GFM converters we will need. We investigate how the capacity ratio between GFM and GFL converters affects the equivalent power grid strength and thus the small signal stability of the system. We give guidelines on how to choose this ratio to achieve a desired stability margin. We validate our analysis using high-fidelity simulations.

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arXiv2024

Ensuring Disturbance Rejection Performance by Synthesizing Grid-Following and Grid-Forming Inverters in Power Systems

To satisfy dynamic requirements of power systems, it is imperative for grid-tied inverters to ensure good disturbance rejection performance (DRP) under variable grid conditions. This letter discovers and theoretically proves that for general networks, synthesizing grid-following (GFL) inverters and grid-forming (GFM) inverters can always more effectively ensure the DRP of multiple inverters, as compared to homogeneous inverter-based systems that solely utilize either GFL or GFM inverters. The synthesis of GFL inverters and GFM inverters can concurrently increase the smallest eigenvalue and decrease the largest eigenvalue of the network grounded Laplacian matrix. This can be equivalent to rematching the proper short-circuit ratio (SCR) for GFL and GFM inverters, thereby ensuring the DRP of inverters both in weak and strong grids. The results reveal the necessity of synthesizing diverse inverter control schemes from the network-based perspective. Sensitivity function-based tests and real-time simulations validate our results.

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arXiv2024

Characterizing the Role of Complex Power in Small-Signal Synchronization Stability of Multi-Converter Power Systems

Small-signal synchronization instability (SSI) may be triggered when a grid-connected converter is operated in weak grids. This problem is highly related to the active and reactive power (referred to as complex power) generation or consumption of the converter. Such an instability phenomenon manifests as power oscillations within the bandwidth frequency of phase-locked loop (PLL). However, in a multi-converter power system (MCPS), it is challenging to characterize the role of each converter's complex power in SSI issues due to the high dimension of system dynamics. In this paper, we focus on the impact regularity of complex power on the small-signal synchronization stability of the MCPS. Firstly, we formulate the modeling of the MCPS and develop a systematical stability indicator to explicitly quantify the stability margin under various operating complex power. Then, based on the proposed stability indicator, the "resultant force" of complex power on the stability margin of the MCPS can be analytically characterized into a weighted summation form. Furthermore, we elaborate on the impact of each converter's active power and reactive power, respectively. Notably, we demonstrate the cancellation effect between the active power generation and consumption on the stability margin, which ultimately helps prevent SSI issues in the MCPS. The correctness of theoretical findings is well verified by simulations results.

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arXiv2024

Gain and Phase: Decentralized Stability Conditions for Power Electronics-Dominated Power Systems

This paper proposes decentralized stability conditions for multi-converter systems based on the combination of the small gain theorem and the small phase theorem. Instead of directly computing the closed-loop dynamics, e.g., eigenvalues of the state-space matrix, or using the generalized Nyquist stability criterion, the proposed stability conditions are more scalable and computationally lighter, which aim at evaluating the closed-loop system stability by comparing the individual converter dynamics with the network dynamics in a decentralized and open-loop manner. Moreover, our approach can handle heterogeneous converters' dynamics and is suitable to analyze large-scale multi-converter power systems that contain grid-following (GFL), grid-forming (GFM) converters, and synchronous generators. Compared with other decentralized stability conditions, e.g., passivity-based stability conditions, the proposed conditions are significantly less conservative and can be generally satisfied in practice across the whole frequency range.

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arXiv2021

Dual Synchronous Generator: Inertial Current Source based Grid-Forming Solution for VSC

In order to improve dynamic characteristics of the power system with high-proportion renewable energy sources (RESs), it is necessary for the voltage source converter (VSC), interfaces of RESs, to provide inertial and frequency regulation. In practical applications, VSCs are better to be controlled as a current source due to its weak overcurrent capacity. According to the characteristic, a dual synchronous theory is proposed to analyze the synchronization between current sources in this paper. Based on dual synchronous idea, a dual synchronous generator (DSG) control is applied in VSC to form inertial current source. In addition, a braking control is embedded in DSG control to improve the transient stability of VSC. Finally, experimental results verify the effectiveness of the theory and the control method.

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arXiv2021

Nodal Frequency Performance of Power Networks

This paper investigates how a disturbance in the power network affects the nodal frequencies of certain network buses. To begin with, we show that the inertia of a single generator is in inverse proportion to the initial rate of change of frequency (RoCoF) under disturbances. Then, we present how the initial RoCoF of the nodal frequencies are related to the inertia constants of multiple generators in a power network, which leads to a performance metric to analyze nodal frequency performance. To be specific, the proposed metric evaluates the impact of disturbances on the nodal frequency performance. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed metric are illustrated via simulations on a multi-machine power system.

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