Service Restoration Algorithm for Distribution Grids under High Impact Low Probability Events

Abstract

The increasing number of natural calamities and unprecedented terrorist attacks may significantly impact the supply security of the distribution grids. These High Impact Low Probability (HILP) events cause major blackouts in the electrical networks that may impair operation of other critical infrastructures (in health, transportation, gas networks, emergency services, communication, etc.). Therefore, a fast service restoration scheme is required, which ensures supply security to the system components. To achieve this goal, this work presents a rule-based Service Restoration (SR) algorithm, which can act as first responder to an emergency outage in active distribution grids. This algorithm accounts for the load criticality, to tackle single and multiple faults in the grid. The optimality of the SR schemes is assessed via Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), considering the power loss and/or the line utilization. A software platform for the testing and deployment of the SR algorithm for real time application has been developed and is presented here.