Economic analysis of the N-k power grid contingency selection and evaluation

Abstract

Contingency analysis is important for providing information about the vulnerability of power grids. Many methods have been purposed to use topological structures of power grids for analyzing contingency states. Considering failures of buses and lines, we present and compare several graph methods for selecting contingencies in this chapter. A new method, called critical node detection, is introduced for selecting contingencies consisting of failures on buses. Besides these methods, we include an interdiction model which provides the worst case contingency selection. Our measurement for contingency evaluation is to maximize the social benefit, or to minimize the generating and load shedding cost. Comparing with other measurements for contingency selection, our model is based on economic analysis and is reasonable for evaluating the selected contingency state. Additionally, a contingency consisting of both buses and lines is also studied. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.