Stability, Control, and Resilience of Future Power Systems with High Penetration of Distributed Energy Resources

Dear Colleagues,

The global energy transition is driving an unprecedented integration of distributed energy resources (DERs), including rooftop photovoltaics, battery energy storage systems, electric vehicles, and wind turbines, into modern power grids. While this transition is essential for achieving decarbonization targets, the high penetration of DERs introduces significant challenges to the stability, control, and resilience of power systems. The displacement of conventional synchronous generators by power electronics-interfaced resources fundamentally alters system dynamics, reducing inertia, weakening frequency and voltage regulation capability, and introducing new modes of oscillatory instability. Meanwhile, the increasing reliance on digital communication and control infrastructure exposes these systems to cybersecurity threats, further jeopardizing their secure and resilient operation.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research addressing the stability, control, and resilience challenges arising from the deep penetration of DERs in future power systems. We seek original contributions that advance both theoretical understanding and practical solutions across multiple scales — from the device-level control of power electronic converters to the system-level coordination of virtual power plants and electricity markets.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Modeling and stability analysis of power electronics-dominated power systems, including small-signal, transient, and converter-driven stability, as well as dynamic equivalencing of DERs for system-level studies;
• Stability-constrained operation and voltage/frequency regulation support from DERs in transmission and distribution networks;
• AI-driven and data-driven methods for stability assessment, monitoring, and early warning in low-inertia grids;
• Grid-forming and grid-following converter control, synchronization, and interoperability in DER-rich and hybrid AC/DC systems;
• Distributed, decentralized, and hierarchical control architectures for microgrids and DER coordination;
• Intelligent and adaptive control strategies, including reinforcement learning, for autonomous operation of converters, microgrids, and virtual power plants;
• Cybersecurity and cyber-physical resilience of distributed energy systems, including attack detection, defense, and resilient control design;
• Resilience enhancement and restoration strategies for DER-rich power systems under extreme events and cascading failures.

By bridging the disciplines of power electronics, power systems, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, this Special Issue seeks to provide a comprehensive and forward-looking collection of works that address the multifaceted challenges of operating future DER-rich power systems in a stable, secure, and resilient manner. We welcome contributions from both academia and industry worldwide. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Xin Lu
Dr. Yihao Wan
Dr. Jiafeng Lin
Dr. Huanxin Liao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• power system stability
• resilience
• distributed energy resources
• grid-forming control
• microgrids
• data-driven control
• cyber-physical systems
• converter-dominated grids