Power distribution system resilience: A perspective of the power system operator

Abstract

The increasing global temperature has led to heightened climate uncertainties, resulting in high-impact low-probability extreme weather events that pose significant challenges to critical power system infrastructure. Resilience of power systems is the capability to minimize the impact of these events while maintaining essential services during the events. Resilience can be broadly categorised into operational resilience and infrastructural resilience. Although existing research focuses extensively on operational part as it ensures continuity of power supply to the customers, but lacks comprehensive methodologies and metrics to effectively quantify infrastructural resilience. However, infrastructural resilience is vital for power system operators as it measures the quality of infrastructural components. This paper introduces a systematic approach to define and quantify both operational and infrastructural resilience through a stepwise metric-based framework, while focusing on the improvement of infrastructural resilience. To validate the proposed model, multiple simulation scenarios under varying extreme wind speed conditions are analysed. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed metrics in assessing power system resilience and offer valuable insights into potential enhancement strategies. This paper provides a foundational methodology for improving resilience assessment and decision-making in power system operations.