Optimizing the robustness of electrical power systems against cascading failures

Electrical power systems are one of the most important infrastructures that support our society. However, their vulnerabilities have raised great concern recently due to several large-scale blackouts around the world. In this paper, we investigate the robustness of power systems against cascading failures initiated by a random attack. This is done under a simple yet useful model based on global and equal redistribution of load upon failures. We provide a complete understanding of system robustness by i) deriving an expression for the final system size as a function of the size of initial attacks; ii) deriving the critical attack size after which system breaks down completely; iii) showing that complete system breakdown takes place through a first-order (i.e., discontinuous) transition in terms of the attack size; and iv) establishing the optimal load-capacity distribution that maximizes robustness. In particular, we show that robustness is maximized when the difference between the c...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2016
• Where: CORR
• Authors: Yingrui Zhang, Osman Yagan
• Keywords: CORR 2016, Education