Framework for vulnerability assessment of communication systems for electric power grids

Abstract

Communication systems serve as the key element in the smart grid as it supports observability and controllability of electric power systems. However, communication failures can lead to an electric power grid operating in an abnormal state causing cascading failures. It is therefore crucial to study adverse effects of communication system failures on power system operation. In this study, a vulnerability assessment framework is proposed to evaluate the role of communication networks on wide-area power system operation, in which the reliability is evaluated probabilistically considering both latency and communication interruptions; and impact of communication service interruption is evaluated using a multi-level analytic hierarchy process method. A case study of integrated power and communication systems is used to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework. The proposed method can be used to evaluate the vulnerability of communication systems for electric power grids in both static and dynamic states.