Towards the Identification of Maximal Coherent Cut-Sets Within Power Grids

Abstract

This paper formulates and then adapts a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for partitioning a graph into a desirable number of internally connected subgraphs to identify the maximal coherent cut-set for a power grid. For a particular operational snapshot of the grid, a coherent cut-set refers to a set of lines within the grid with the same flow directionality whose removals splits the grid into exactly two internally connected sub-grids. Such cut-sets are of interest as they can represent operational vulnerabilities. This paper suggests a novel methodology that directly detects the maximal coherent cut-sets for power grids. Two important applications are considered for the suggested methodology: i) a novel (N - K) analysis, ii) identifying the worst coherent cut-set that each line is involved in. Moreover, a novel Sankey diagram-based visualisation technique is introduced to portray the grids and the detected cut-sets, improving the situational awareness in the control room.