Abstract
The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources in power systems has heightened the importance of grid-forming (GFM) converters, which emulate the dynamic behavior of synchronous machines and are crucial for ensuring stability in converter-dominated grids. However, the complexity of modern grids calls for innovative control mechanisms to unlock the full potential of GFM technology. This work presents a novel automated framework for control design in power systems. Simulated annealing is used to evolve the structural design of control systems represented as graph-based models. The method achieves greater flexibility by using control graphs instead of traditional tree-based representations, supporting complex feedback loop configurations. A simplification process is also included to reduce complexity and improve interpretability, ensuring practical applicability. Validation on a two-generator power system with one GFM converter demonstrates the method's ability to design robust controllers that enhance system stability, achieving better performance metrics, such as smoother frequency responses with significantly reduced frequency deviations compared to benchmark configurations. The improved frequency response arises from differing terminal angle profiles, enabling faster, stronger power responses that quickly arrest frequency deviations during disturbances.

Abstract
In a high-risk sector, such as power system, transparency and interpretability are key principles for effectively deploying artificial intelligence (AI) in control rooms. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel methodology, the evolving symbolic model (ESM), which is dedicated to generating highly interpretable data-driven models for dynamic security assessment (DSA), namely in system security classification (SC) and the definition of preventive control actions. The ESM uses simulated annealing for a data-driven evolution of a symbolic model template, enabling different cooperative learning schemes between humans and AI. The Madeira Island power system is used to validate the application of the ESM for DSA. The results show that the ESM has a classification accuracy comparable to pruned decision trees (DTs) while boasting higher global inter-pretability. Moreover, the ESM outperforms an operator-defined expert system and an artificial neural network in defining preventive control actions.

Abstract
This work proposes a robust methodology for the location and sizing of grid forming (GFM) converters that simultaneously considers the solution costs and the security gains while accounting for the TSO nonlinear cost-security sensitivity. Such methodology, which includes a collection of techniques to reduce the problem dimensionality, formulates the placement problem as a non-linear multi-criteria decision support problem and uses a solution-seeking algorithm based on Bayesian Optimisation to determine the solution. To ease comprehension, a modified version of the IEEE 39 Test System is used as a case study throughout the method's detailed explanation and application example. A sensitivity analysis of the GFM converter's over-current capacity in the solution of the formulated placement problem is also performed. The results show that the proposed method is successful in finding solutions with physical meaning and that respect the decision agent preferences.

Abstract
This work presents a new dump load controller for active power management of hydraulic generator unit using the power system parameters at the generator's terminals. An existing system with an analog controller is evaluated and a new digital open source HPP (Hydraulic power plant) power controller with extended functionality is proposed, designed and realized. A simulation of the voltage measurement sensor in LTspice is performed in order to determine the appropriate hardware parameters. Comparison between the features of the existing analog controller and the new digital controller is performed. Based on the results achieved, valuable conclusions are made. The new solution proposed offers simplified hardware, high reliability, easiness and flexibility of controller settings.

Abstract
This work proposes an innovative methodology for the optimal placement of grid-forming converters (GFM) in converter-dominated grids while accounting for multiple stability classes. A heuristic-based methodology is proposed to solve an optimisation problem whose objective function encompasses up to 4 stability indices obtained through the simulation of a shortlist of disturbances. The proposed methodology was employed in a modified version of the 39-bus test system, using DigSILENT Power Factory as the simulation engine. First, the GFM placement problem is solved individually for the different stability classes to highlight the underlying physical phenomena that explain the optimality of the solutions and evidence the need for a multi-class approach. Second, a multi-class approach that combines the different stability indices through linear scalarisation (weights), using the normalised distance of each index to its limit as a way to define its importance, is adopted. For all the proposed fitness function formulations, the method successfully converged to a balanced solution among the various stability classes, thereby enhancing overall system stability.

Abstract
This paper investigates the stability of a converter-dominated islanded power system when the island’s battery energy storage converters are operated in different control modes (Grid Forming and Grid Following) and combined with different volumes of synchronous compensation. The study is conducted in a realistic simulation model of the future Madeira island, where no thermal generation is present, and the share of converter-based Renewable Energy Sources is large (75 to 80 % of instantaneous penetration). The impact of the different combinations of synchronous condensers and BESS converter control modes on the system stability is evaluated using a stability index-based approach that accounts for multiple operation scenarios. In this procedure, the system’s dynamic response to the reference disturbances (short-circuits in the Transmission and Distribution Network) is obtained via RMS dynamic simulation and is then analyzed to extract two stability indices (Nadir and Rocof). Such indices are computed for the synchronous generator speed and the grid electrical frequency (measured in different points using a PLL) and are later used as the basis for discussion and conclusion drawing.