International audienceIn this paper, an analysis of the vulnerability of the Italian high-voltage (380 kV) electrical transmission network (HVIET) is carried out for the identification of the groups of links (or edges, or arcs) most critical considering the network structure and flow. Betweenness centrality and network connection efficiency variations are considered as measures of the importance of the network links. The search of the most critical ones is carried out within a multi-objective optimization problem aimed at the maximization of the importance of the groups and minimization of their dimension. The problem is solved using a genetic algorithm. The analysis is based only on information on the topology of the network and leads to the identification of the most important single component, couples of components, triplets and so forth. The comparison of the results obtained with those reported by previous analyses indicates that the proposed approach provides useful complementary information

International audienceThe subject of this paper is the analysis of an electrical transmission system with the objective of identifying its most critical elements with respect to failures and attacks. The methodological approach undertaken is based on graph-theoretical (topological) network analysis. Four different perspectives of analysis are considered within the formalism of weighed networks, adding to the purely topological analysis of the system the reliability and electrical characteristics of its components. In each phase of the analysis: i) a graph-theoretical representation is offered to highlight the structure of the most important system connections according to the particular characteristics examined (topological, reliability, electrical or electrical-reliability); ii) the classical degree index of a network node is extended to account for the different characteristics considered. The application of these concepts of analysis to an electrical transmission system of literature confirms the importance of different perspectives of analysis on such a critical infrastructure

This paper addresses the optimization of protection strategies in critical infrastructures within a complex network systems perspective. The focus is on cascading failures triggered by the intentional removal of a single network component. Three different protection strategies are proposed that minimize the consequences of cascading failures on the entire system, on predetermined areas or on both scales of protective intervention in a multi-objective optimization framework. We optimize the three protection strategies by devising a modified binary differential evolution scheme that overcomes the combinatorial complexity of this optimization problem. We exemplify our methodology with reference to the topology of an electricity infrastructure, i.e. the 380 kV Italian power transmission network. We only focus on the structure of this network as a test case for the suggested protection strategies, with no further reference on its physical and electrical properties.

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