Towards Forming Optimal Communication Network for Effective Power System Restoration

Restoration of modern interdependent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and power networks relies on preplanned and reactive strategies to consider simultaneous communication and power system recovery. This paper addresses the problem of finding and energizing a proper communication network connecting the distributed power grid assets in the restoration process, assuming a probability of infeasibility of recovering each communication node. The proper network has the minimum size, meets the communication requirements of power system recovery, and guarantees robustness against ICT nodes not being recoverable during restoration. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem and solved using the genetic algorithm to find the optimal subgraph that ensures enough node-disjoint paths between the communicating power grid assets. Simulation results for the restoration strategy of the communication network associated with a power network are provided and discussed. The results show that networks’ ability to mitigate the adverse consequences of node failures can be significantly improved by incorporating just a few additional nodes and links while keeping the ICT network compact and feasible for restoration.