Abstract
Modern power grids increasingly rely on power converters due to the high penetration of renewable energy sources, requiring advanced control strategies. In vector control of PWM voltage source converters (PWM-VSC), a common structure includes an inner current loop and an outer-loop regulating the dc-link voltage or output power. However, this outer-loop can be limited in dynamic performance and robustness. This paper enhances to this common vector control structure by replacing the outer-loop with a continuous-control-set model predictive control (CCS-MPC). The proposed method regulates the dc-link voltage in grid-following mode, using a discrete-time model solved via convex optimization to generate reference currents for the inner PI current controller. Stability is ensured by using the control objective as a Lyapunov function. Numerical simulations and experiments at the SINTEF Smart Grid Laboratory confirm the method's high performance and improved dynamic behavior over conventional vector control.