Journal of Power, Energy, and Control
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026)

Finite-Time Event-Triggered Distributed Cooperative Secondary Control for Islanded Microgrids with Plug-and-Play Capability and Communication Delay Robustness

Md Nur-A-Adam Dony (Pennsylvania State University, United States)
Bernard Arhin (Chungnam National University, Republic of Korea)
Benjamin Egyin Wilson (University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana)
Emmanuel Agyepong Nyantakyi (University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana)



Article Info

Publish Date
22 Sep 2026

Abstract

Distributed Cooperative Secondary Control (DCSC) is a critical layer in the hierarchical control architecture of islanded microgrids, responsible for eliminating steady-state voltage and frequency deviations introduced by primary droop control. However, conventional linear DCSC strategies suffer from four fundamental limitations: (i) asymptotic convergence with settling times dependent on initial conditions, (ii) continuous communication requirements that consume excessive bandwidth, (iii) vulnerability to abrupt topology changes during Plug-and-Play (PnP) operations, and (iv) performance degradation under communication time delays. This paper proposes a unified Finite-Time Event-Triggered DCSC (FT-ET-DCSC) framework that simultaneously addresses all four challenges. A nonlinear signed-power consensus protocol guarantees exact voltage synchronization within a strict, calculable finite time bound that is independent of initial conditions. A state-dependent event-triggered communication mechanism reduces bandwidth utilization by over 98% relative to a continuous-transmission baseline while provably excluding Zeno behavior. Rigorous Lyapunov-based stability analysis proves finite-time convergence, and a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approach establishes delay-dependent robustness, with stable operation under time-varying communication delays confirmed in simulation up to 500 ms. Furthermore, the framework maintains absolute stability under switching communication topologies induced by PnP events via a common Lyapunov function argument. Comprehensive simulations of a heterogeneous 4-DG microgrid validate the theoretical claims, demonstrating up to a 4.28× convergence speedup over linear methods, seamless recovery during dynamic DG disconnection and reconnection, and stable operation under severe network delays.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

PEC

Publisher

Subject

Control & Systems Engineering Electrical & Electronics Engineering Energy Engineering Mechanical Engineering

Description

Journal of Power, Energy, and Control (PEC) mainly focuses on power engineering, energy engineering, renewable energy, control systems in energy application, and various sustainable energy applications. PEC welcomes the submission of high quality original research papers, review papers, and case ...