A network approach for power grid robustness against cascading failures

Wang, X.; Koç, Y.; Kooij, R.E.; van Mieghem, P.

doi:10.1109/RNDM.2015.7325231

A network approach for power grid robustness against cascading failures

Title

A network approach for power grid robustness against cascading failures

Author

Wang, X.
Koç, Y.
Kooij, R.E.
van Mieghem, P.

Contributor

Papadimitriou, D. (editor)
Mas Machuca, C. (editor)
Vinel, A. (editor)
Rak, J. (editor)
Oki, E. (editor)
Walkowiak, K. (editor)

Publication year

2015

Abstract

Cascading failures are one of the main reasons for blackouts in electrical power grids. Stable power supply requires a robust design of the power grid topology. Currently, the impact of the grid structure on the grid robustness is mainly assessed by purely topological metrics, that fail to capture the fundamental properties of the electrical power grids such as power flow allocation according to Kirchhoff's laws. This paper deploys the effective graph resistance as a metric to relate the topology of a grid to its robustness against cascading failures. Specifically, the effective graph resistance is deployed as a metric for network expansions (by means of transmission line additions) of an existing power grid. Four strategies based on network properties are investigated to optimize the effective graph resistance, accordingly to improve the robustness, of a given power grid at a low computational complexity. Experimental results suggest the existence of Braess's paradox in power grids: bringing an additional line into the system occasionally results in decrease of the grid robustness. This paper further investigates the impact of the topology on the Braess's paradox, and identifies specific substructures whose existence results in Braess's paradox. Careful assessment of the design and expansion choices of grid topologies incorporating the insights provided by this paper optimizes the robustness of a power grid, while avoiding the Braess's paradox in the system. © 2015 IEEE.

Subject

Cascading failures
complex networks
Power grid
Complex networks
Design
Electric fault currents
Electric load flow
Electric power systems
Electric power transmission
Topology
Cascading failures
Existence results
Fundamental properties
Low computational complexity
Network expansion
Network properties
Power grids
Topological metrics
Electric power transmission networks