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Dynamic passivity multipliers for plug-and-play stability certificates of converter-dominated grids

  • Andrey Gorbunov
  • , Youhong Chen
  • , Jin Ma
  • , Gregor Verbič
  • , Petr Vorobev
  • University of Sydney
  • Imperial College London
  • Nanyang Technological University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Ensuring small-signal stability in power systems with a high share of inverter-based resources (IBRs) is hampered by two factors: (i) device and network parameters are often uncertain or completely unknown, and (ii) brute-force enumeration of all topologies is computationally intractable. These challenges motivate plug-and-play (PnP) certificates that verify stability locally yet hold globally. Passivity is an attractive property because it guarantees stability under feedback and network interconnections; however, strict passivity rarely holds for practical controllers such as Grid Forming Inverters (GFMs) employing P-Q droop. This paper extends the passivity condition by constructing a dynamic, frequency-dependent multiplier that enables PnP stability certification of each component based solely on its admittance, without requiring any modification to the controller design. The multiplier is parameterised as a linear filter whose coefficients are tuned under a passivity goal. Numerical results for practical droop gains confirm the PnP rules, substantially enlarging the certified stability region while preserving the decentralised, model-agnostic nature of passivity-based PnP tests.

Original languageEnglish
Article number113583
Number of pages8
JournalElectric Power Systems Research
Volume263
Early online date3 Jul 2026
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 3 Jul 2026

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Acknowledgements

The work of P. Vorobev was supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under AcRF TIER 1 Grant RG 75/25. The work of Y. Chen was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK, under Grant EP/Y025946/1.

Funding

The work of P. Vorobev was supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under AcRF TIER 1 Grant RG 75/25. The work of Y. Chen was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK, under Grant EP/Y025946/1.

Keywords

  • Frequency-dependent multipliers
  • Grid-forming converter
  • Passivity
  • Plug-and-play stability
  • Systune

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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