Reliability and Resiliency Analysis of Modern Distribution Grids Using Reliability Graphs

This paper presents a novel application of reliability graphs to reliability and parametric resilience analysis of electric power distribution grids, incorporating the effect of communications-based system automation. It is shown that automated reconfiguration improves the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) measure, a metric commonly used to measure distribution grid reliability. Through a parametric resilience study, it is shown that while a component may be very reliable, the distribution network may not be resilient against its failure. This provides a useful tool for system designers and for the assessment of the value of system automation, in a distribution network where significant events such as storms or earthquakes may occur.