Integrated model and automatically designed solver for power system restoration

Abstract

Power system restoration strategies schedule the power plants to re-energize the power network and loads after a blackout. These strategies are of great significance to ensure a resilient power system. Most power system restoration models consider either certain restoration stage(s) or all stages, with each or some of the stages managed independently. They destroy the essential characteristics of the interaction among the restoration stages and lead to sub-optimal solutions. To address this issue, in this paper, we first propose an improved integrated power system restoration (IPSR) model covering the entire restoration process without decoupling and sectionalization. We then develop both mathematical and metaheuristic solvers for the proposed model. In particular, we introduce the automated solver design paradigm to the highly non-linear constrained restoration problem-solving. By the paradigm, we automatically design the metaheuristic solver that gains enhanced performance beyond handcrafted solvers without algorithmic expertise. It is suggested that the automatically designed metaheuristic solver is a promising new option in variable and complicated power system operation scenarios without algorithmic expertise. Finally, a comprehensive case study demonstrates the proposed model’s significance and the proposed solver’s efficiency. Numerical tests show that the proposed IPSR model and solver obtained over 20% lower restoration time than current restoration methods, demonstrating IPSR’s and the proposed solver’s efficiency and effectiveness.