Vulnerability mitigation of transmission line outages using demand response approach with distribution factors

The overloading of lines due to transmission line outages is often the first step that when not appropriately addressed leads to a system-wide blackout. While enhancing generation capacity or reinforcing the grid are recognized mitigation measures, the advances made in demand response are increasingly offering measures of altering demand to keep line flows within thermal limits. As the proportion of dispatchable generation decreases through increased renewable duplicating conventional stations, the use of flexible demand in this will increasingly grow. This paper presents an assessment of the ability of a demand response approach on a large scale to mitigate the vulnerability of transmission line outages. It is demonstrated by means of integrating the power flow analysis tool, MATPOWER with demand side management simulator based on PowerMatcher Technology. Two terms, line outage distribution factor (LODF) and power transfer distribution factor (PTDF), are used to determine the most effective localized demand side action. The methodology is implemented on a simulation of a previous power outage scenario in Southern Thailand, and the results of outage mitigation have shown the measure of contribution to post-fault recovery made.