Negative Results on Deploying Distributed Series Reactance Devices to Improve Power System Robustness Against Cascading Failures

Distributed Series Reactances are devices that dynamically increase the impedance of a line to reduce the power flow it carries. This work explores whether widely deploying these devices enhances a power system's robustness against line overload cascading failures. The presence of Distributed Series Reactances may make it less likely that equipped lines would become overloaded by contingencies elsewhere, and so their presence may arrest the propagation of line overloads through a system. However, the efficacy of these devices in this role has not been widely investigated. Likewise, there are few extant methodologies for siting dynamic reactances within the grid to mitigate the propagation of cascades. In this paper, the ability of these devices to arrest the propagation of cascading failures within power grids is investigated. First, a novel
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power flow is formulated, which models dynamic line impedances. A novel methodology is proposed for siting the devices on lines spread throughout the network. With these innovations in hand, the devices’ effects on cascade propagation are simulated using a sizeable database consisting of multiple load & generation snapshots across eight test networks. No major beneficial effect is found, even when 25% of lines are equipped.