AC Cascading Failure Model for Resilience Analysis in Power Networks

Cascading failures are one of the main mechanisms causing widespread blackouts of power networks. Models simulating the behavior of cascading failures are widely used in the literature to understand fault propagation and investigate effective mitigation strategies. However, there is a lack of validated models that address the specific requirements of resilience analysis in power networks and that are computationally fast and converge reliably for very large contingency sizes that may occur under extreme events. This article presents a novel comprehensive ac cascading failure model particularly designed for resilience analysis in power networks. The model is capable to deal with large contingency sizes, it is computationally efficient in large networks and integrates seamlessly with established resilience metrics. It incorporates dynamic phenomena and protection mechanisms using static representations. The model is verified following the recommendations by the IEEE PES working group on cascading failures using internal validation, sensitivity analysis, and comparison to historical outage data. Furthermore, an analysis of the impact of different contingency sizes and the dependency of cascades on network loading level, are given to illustrate some applications of the model and to highlight its capabilities.