Reinforcement Learning-Driven Proximal Policy Optimization-Based Voltage Control for PV and WT Integrated Power System

The depletion of conventional fuel reserves and the high carbon emissions have alarmed the energy sector drivers. The integration of renewable energy resources (RERs) towards power system transformation is an obvious approach for a new-zero future. However, this integration also brings challenges in terms of 1) voltage stability and 2) power losses due to the variable output of RERs. To address this issue, this work proposes a novel approach utilizing photovoltaic (PV) inverters and static var compensators (SVCs) for reactive power control in power distribution networks (PDNs). It enhances voltage stability and minimizes power losses. The proposed study deploys a proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm for real-time communication and control between reactive power devices. Performance evaluation was made on an IEEE-33 Bus system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in integrating RER-based distributed generators (DGs). The proposed system achieved 68% voltage control, keeping the voltage within a certain range of ±5% while minimizing power losses. The proposed system also reduced the voltage out-of-control ratio to 0.044, which indicates minimum voltage deviation from the standard value. The proposed study provides a promising solution for controlling the voltage of DGs integrated PDN, which can potentially enhance the efficiency and reliability of the power system.