Resilience Assessment in Distribution Grids: A Complete Simulation Model

Abstract

For several years, the increase of extreme meteorological events due to climate change, especially in unusual areas, has focused authorities and stakeholders attention on electric power systems' resilience. In this context, the authors have developed a simulation model for managing the resilience of electricity distribution grids with respect to the main threats to which these infrastructures may be exposed (i.e., ice sleeves, heat waves, water bombs, floods, tree falls). The simulator identifies the more vulnerable network assets by means of probabilistic indexes, thus suggesting the best corrective actions to be implemented for resilience improvement. The fulfillment of grid constraints, i.e., loading limits for branches and voltage limits for buses, under actual operating conditions, is taken into account. Load scenarios extracted from available measurements are evaluated by means of load flow analyses in order to choose, among the best solutions identified, those compatible with the constraints. The proposed tool can assist Distribution System Operators (DSOs) in drawing up the Action Plan to improve, on one hand, the resilience of the network and, on the other hand, to remove any possible limitation for the adoption of the best solutions to ensure maximum operational continuity during extreme weather events.