Abstract
In this paper, we describe an experiment of complex power grid structure and wind and sleet mapping of territory using two different network indices: standard edge betweenness centrality and new author’s index – electrical grid centrality. Such analysis of the network allows to identify power lines with high load which could be vulnerable elements of the power grid. It is very important for strategic planning of power grids to reduce the risk of accidents by distributing loads across several lines so that they will be able to reserve each other. As a case territory for this research, we took the Ural united power system in Russia which is greatly exposed to different sleet and wind according to the statistics of the power grid operator. The degree of natural hazard consequences could be compensated by the network structure through alternative paths of energy supply or vice versa – increased if they are absent. At the same time, in this paper we consider that power grids have their own features from the graph theory point of view, for example multiple (parallel) edges, branches, different types of vertices. The existing index of edge betweenness centrality does not perfectly cope with them. We compare two indices characterizing power line importance within the system – betweenness centrality and electrical grid centrality and analyze the network structure features together with the spatial distribution of sleet and wind. As a result, we could identify bottlenecks in the study network. According to this study the most vulnerable power lines were detected, for example 500 kV Iriklinskaya CHP – Gazovaya and 500 kV Yuzhnouralskaya CHP-2 – Shagol power lines, that supply big cities such as Chelyabinsk and Orenburg and a bunch of industries around them.
Highlights
Structural vulnerability of geographical networksPower grids are complex geographical objects that supply consumers with electricity
We have developed a programming code for its calculation (Fig. 2). The features of this index are listed below: 1) Shortest paths are calculated only between generation points and substations, paths between two substations are not taken into account; 2) For the generation points subset we considered only power plants with an installed capacity of 200 MW and higher – this corresponds to the power which typically requires transportation using power transmission lines with a voltage of 220 kV and higher; 3) Betweenness centrality for an edge is calculated as the sum of the fraction of all-pairs shortest paths that pass through the edge
We took lines within the Ural united power system (UPS), and lines from bordering power systems that form cycles with lines from the Ural UPS and lines connected to big power stations
Summary
Power grids are complex geographical objects that supply consumers with electricity. Sustainability of energy supply is necessary for the efficient functioning of the economy. The sustainability of any transport network is primarily determined by its configuration and structure (Bugromenko 1987; Tarkhov 2005). The sustainability of a network is its specific property, which allows to identify «bottlenecks» in the power grid, the elements that are most prone to emergency situations. Environmental conditions of a network are important because they can cause great damage to the infrastructure. The consequences may become even more threatening when the supplied territory covers multiple settlements, important facilities, etc. The degree of damage depends on the impact of wind and sleet and on the spatial structure of the network
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