Assessment and Possible Solution to Increase Resilience: Flooding Threats in Terni Distribution Grid

Abstract

In recent years, because of increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, the main stakeholders of electric power systems are emphasizing issues about resilience. Whenever networks are designed and development plans are drawn, this new feature must be assessed and implemented. In this paper, a procedure to evaluate the resilience of a distribution network against flooding threats is presented. Starting from a detailed analysis about the resilience of each asset of the grid, the procedure implements the exploration of the network in order to evaluate the impact of interruptions (e.g., in terms of number of disconnected users) produced by the specific threat; then, it calculates the resilience indices of the whole system. The procedure is applied with respect to the flooding threats, on a real distribution network in the center of Italy (i.e., the distribution network of Terni). Referring to this case study, the proposed method suggests countermeasures able to reduce the impact of flooding events and evaluates their benefits. Results indicate that, at the present time, the network is adequately resilient with respect to flooding events, as demonstrated by the index values. However, the remedial actions identified by the procedure are also able to improve the resilience of the network and, in addition, they are in agreement with the development plan already established by the distribution system operator (DSO).