A Resource Allocation Method for Attacks on Power Systems Under Extreme Weather

Abstract

This paper addresses the allocation method of offensive resources for man-made attacks on power systems considering extreme weather conditions, which can help the defender identify the most vulnerable components to protect in this adverse situation. The problem is formulated as an attacker-defender model. The attacker at the upper level intends to maximize the expected damage considering all possible line failure scenarios. These scenarios are characterized by the combinations of failed transmission lines under extreme weather. Once the disruption is detected, the defender at the lower level alters the generation and consumption in the power grid using DC optimal power flow technique to minimize the damage. Then the original bi-level problem is transformed into an equivalent single-level mixed-integer linear program through strong duality theorem and Big-M method. The proposed attack resource allocation method is applied on IEEE 39-bus system and its effectiveness is demonstrated by the comparative case studies.