Distributed Wind Resilience Metrics for Electric Energy Delivery Systems: Comprehensive Literature Review

Abstract

W hile most people have a general concept of what it means to be "resilient, " an examination of definitions from different sources reveals that there are key commonalities, but key differences as well. The lack of a generally accepted definition and application of resilience extends to electric energy delivery systems. Without an accepted definition, it is difficult to implement programs or processes to improve resiliency. In this paper, existing work from industry, regulatory bodies, and national laboratories to define and apply resilience to electric energy delivery systems is studied to understand the key components to define resilience and better understand associated metrics. This understanding is then applied to distributed wind for a specific example of how resilience of a system is affected by the technologies and generation sources used to support it.A key finding is that there is no "one size fits all" process for resilience. Each system has a "distinctiveness" characteristic, which qualifies the possibility of differences in resilience due to different threats, geography, stakeholders, risk tolerance, and mitigations. The distinctiveness characteristic extends to distributed wind technologies and applications where different configurations may lend the distributed wind assets to contribute to the resilience of each system in a variety of ways.The findings of this research demonstrate the need for a resilience framework that can be readily applied by stakeholders to improve resilience based on the specific system, threat, risk tolerance and stakeholders.

Case Study: Applying the Idaho National Laboratory Resilience Framework to St. Mary’s, Alaska

“…The resilience of an EEDS is described as a characteristic of the people, assets, and processes that make up the EEDS and their ability to identify, prepare for, and adapt to disruptive events (in the form of changing conditions) and recover rapidly from any disturbance to an acceptable state of operation [9]. This definition suggests a few key considerations.…”

“…However, care should be taken so that metrics selected are specific enough to enable decision making, whether for operational or planning purposes. Metrics should ideally aid in direct and indirect assessment of resilience, cover both quantitative and qualitative properties of the system, meet as many of the characteristics shown in Figure 3 as possible, and consider the entire physical and operational scope of the system, including inputs, capacity, capabilities, performance, and outcomes [9].…”

Resilience for Advanced Distributed Wind Systems: Identifying the resilience benefits of advanced controls and hybrid systems for distributed wind

“…Following an extensive literature review on resilience definitions and metrics, INL defines resilience as: "a characteristic of the people, assets, and processes that make up the EEDS and their ability to identify, prepare for, and adapt to disruptive events (in the form of changing conditions) and recover rapidly from any disturbance to an acceptable state of operation." [2].…”

“…In INL's literature review of resilience metrics, one key finding suggested resilience metrics could be categorized in three dimensions: resolution, type, and maturity [2]. That second dimension, type, breaks metrics down into five categories: inputs, capacities, capabilities, performance, and outcomes [11].…”

“…In the initial assessment of resilience metrics by INL, it was clear that there are many ways to measure resilience: direct, indirect, qualitative, quantitative, operational, infrastructure, singular, combined [2]. Certain metrics, particularly certain metrics of performance, are better suited to various system components.…”