Balancing system survivability and cost of smart grid via modeling cascading failures

Abstract

As a typical emerging application of cyber physical system, smart power grid is composed of interdependent power grid and communication/control networks. The latter one contains relay nodes for communication and operation centers to control power grid. Failure in one network might cause failures in the other. In addition, these failures may occur recursively between the two networks, leading to cascading failures. We propose a k-to-n interdependence model for smart grid. Each relay node and operation center is supported by only one power station, while each power station is monitored and controlled by k operation centers. Each operation center controls n power stations. We show that the system controlling cost is proportional to k. Through calculating the fraction of functioning parts (survival ratio) using percolation theory and generating functions, we reveal the nonlinear relation between controlling cost and system robustness, and use graphic solution to prove that a threshold exists for the proportion of faulty nodes, beyond which the system collapses. The extensive simulations validate our analysis, determine the percentage of survivals and the critical values for different system parameters. The mathematical and experimental results show that smart grid with higher controlling cost has a sharper transition, and thus is more robust. This is the first paper that focuses on on improving smart power grid robustness by changing monitoring strategies from an interdependent complex networks perspective.