A Comparative Analysis of Flow-Based Resilience Indices Using Topological and Load Flow Models

Abstract

Power grid is recognized as one of the most important critical infrastructures of society. In our modern world, more parts of our everyday lives are now dependent on electrical energy, and thus hard to find a system that is utterly independent of electricity. Extreme weather events driven by climate change are a major threat to the power systems as a majority of the grid exists above ground, hence exposed to extreme weather. Recent widespread power cuts due to severe weather have proven that power grid is vulnerable to such events. The vulnerability of power system infrastructures is generally assessed using complex network analysis, and graph theory is a prominent approach that is computationally inexpensive, however, physical characteristics of the system are disregarded. Based on the geometric configuration of power networks, various indices have been proposed to measure the importance of components with respect to their contribution to the network functionality. In this paper, we have presented a comprehensive analysis of several flow-based indices using topological and physics-based models. Numerical results are carried out on IEEE 6-bus system. The outcomes of the analysis can provide important insights to the system operators and decision-makers on enhancing power system resilience.