Dynamically induced cascading failures in power grids

Benjamin Schäfer,Dirk Witthaut,Vito Latora,Marc Timme

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04287-5

Abstract

Reliable functioning of infrastructure networks is essential for our modern society. Cascading failures are the cause of most large-scale network outages. Although cascading failures often exhibit dynamical transients, the modeling of cascades has so far mainly focused on the analysis of sequences of steady states. In this article, we focus on electrical transmission networks and introduce a framework that takes into account both the event-based nature of cascades and the essentials of the network dynamics. We find that transients of the order of seconds in the flows of a power grid play a crucial role in the emergence of collective behaviors. We finally propose a forecasting method to identify critical lines and components in advance or during operation. Overall, our work highlights the relevance of dynamically induced failures on the synchronization dynamics of national power grids of different European countries and provides methods to predict and model cascading failures.

Highlights

Our daily lives heavily depend on the functioning of many natural and man-made networks, ranging from neuronal and gene regulatory networks to communication systems, transportation networks and electrical power grids[1,2]
In this work, we have proposed and studied a model of electrical transmission networks highlighting the importance of transient dynamical behavior in the emergence and evolution of cascades of failures
The model takes into account the intrinsic dynamical nature of the system, in contrast to most other studies on supply networks, which are instead based on a static flow analysis

Summary

Introduction

Our daily lives heavily depend on the functioning of many natural and man-made networks, ranging from neuronal and gene regulatory networks to communication systems, transportation networks and electrical power grids[1,2]. We go beyond purely topological or eventbased investigations and present a dynamical model for electrical transmission networks that incorporates both the event-based nature of cascades and the properties of network dynamics, including transients, which, as we will show, can significantly increase the vulnerability of a network[10]. These transients describe the dynamical response of system variables, such as grid frequency and power flow, when one steady state is lost and the grid changes to a new steady state. We find that the distance of a line failure from the initial trigger and the time of the line failure are highly correlated, especially when a measure of effective distance is adopted[41]

Methods

Results

Conclusion