A scientific contextualisation and methodology for analysing cascade generation failures in power systems

Abstract

Electrical power systems form the key infrastructure that underpins the health, stability, and general prosperity of modern societies. However, the stability and reliability of such power systems are not absolute, and vulnerabilities expose them to disruptions that, in turn, threaten to disrupt the very societies they serve.

Electrical power systems are among the largest physical systems created by mankind, consisting of various constituent parts like power lines, substations, municipal distribution systems, and end-user customers. One of the most important components of any electrical power system is power stations - vast assets comprising intricate systems and processes that function in a coordinated fashion to generate electricity. When a power station is compromised, it threatens the stability and integrity of the electrical power system in which it is embedded.

Disruption of power generation facilities (like power stations) constitutes a specific subset of adverse events that require in-depth understanding to manage and mitigate effectively. Such an understanding needs to be derived by investigating and analysing the events that caused the disruption.

As a distinctly separate subset of adverse events in the diverse suite of undesirable societal disruption events, power station disruption events internationally suffer from an absence of a uniform methodology for investigation and analysis. This is particularly surprising given the ever-increasing number of large-scale power system disruption events that affect millions of people every year across the globe.

This study provides an overview of the engineering endeavour that is electricity generation, its evolution, and its disruption. It explores the inherent vice of all power stations, namely interdependencies and co-dependencies, to provide a context for the problem of power system disruption.

This study provides an overview of the engineering endeavour that is electricity generation, its evolution, and its disruption. It explores the inherent vice of all power stations, namely interdependencies and co-dependencies, to provide a context for the problem of power system disruption.

Ultimately, a methodology is developed whereby cascade disruption events of power generation facilities can be appraised for analysis, recording, ranking and evaluating such events. For the development to be undertaken, various factors are identified that erode the integrity of an electrical power system during a disruption.

Metrics are developed to assess an event's impact and severity, using suitable integrity erosion factors as inputs.

Finally, a framework for collating event data and information is provided to aid in systematically recording and archiving event information.