Fractional modeling and control of a complex nonlinear energy supply‐demand system

This article deals with the fractional‐order modeling of a complex four‐dimensional energy supply‐demand system (FOESDS). First, the fractional calculus techniques are adopted to describe the dynamics of the energy supply‐demand system. Then the complex behavior of the proposed fractional‐order FOESDS is studied using numerical simulations. It is shown that the FOESDS can exhibit stable, chaotic, and unstable states. When it exhibits chaos, the FOESDS's strange attractors are plotted to validate the chaotic behavior of the system. Moreover, we calculate the maximal Lyapunov exponents of the system to confirm the existence of chaos. Accordingly, to stabilize the system, a finite‐time active fractional‐order controller is proposed. The effects of model uncertainties and external disturbances are also taken into account. An estimation of the stabilization time is given. Based on the latest version of the fractional Lyapunov stability theory, the finite‐time stability and robustness of the proposed method are proved. Finally, two illustrative examples are provided to illustrate the usefulness and applicability of the proposed control scheme. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 20: 74–86, 2015