Criticality-Based Designs of Power Distribution Systems

Abstract

The generation and supply of electricity is currently about to undergo a fundamental transition that includes extensive development of smart grids. Smart grids are huge and complex networks consisting of a vast number of devices and entities which are connected with each other. This fact opens new variations of disruption scenarios which can increase the vulnerability of a power distribution network. However, the network topology of a smart grid has significant effects on urban resilience particularly referring to the adequate provision of infrastructures whereby the way in which a distribution network is divided into interconnected microgrids is of particular importance. Such decompositions enable the systematic protection of important infrastructures and furthermore allow new forms of resilient power supply avoiding large-scale power blackouts. Therefore, the authors introduce a concept of criticality adapted to a power system relying on an advanced metering infrastructure and thereby propose a metric for an integrated resilience assessment of power distribution networks.