Hardening Strategy to Boost Resilience of Distribution Systems via Harnessing a Proactive Operation Model

Nowadays, large-scale power outages induced by ever-growing natural disasters are increasing at a galloping rate. In this regard, this paper aims at improving the resilience of power distribution systems in facing high impact low probability (HILP) events in the planning phase of the system. To this end, optimal switch placement along with the optimal distribution line hardening strategies is proposed to mitigate the repercussions of the natural calamities. So, decreasing the failure probability of the distribution lines alongside the optimal placement of remote-controlled switches (RCSs) to increase the maneuvering capability of the system, the system operator would be able to strengthen the system and cope with disastrous events. To do so, in this paper, a proactive strategy is used to simulate the operation of the system in confronting the HILP events. The proposed model implemented on a real 47-bus power distribution system and the efficacy of the model is approved by the simulation results in enhancing the resilience level of the system.