Resilient Distribution System by Microgrids Formation After Natural Disasters

TLDR

Microgrids with distributed generation provide a resilient solution for distribution systems during major faults caused by natural disasters. The study proposes a real‑time operational approach that forms multiple microgrids powered by distributed generation to restore critical loads during outages. A mixed‑integer linear program controlling switch and generator ON/OFF states maximizes critical load pickup while satisfying self‑adequacy constraints, supported by a distributed multiagent coordination scheme that shares global information through local communications. The resulting microgrids enable power‑quality control and can be integrated into a larger microgrid before main‑grid restoration, and numerical tests on modified IEEE distribution systems confirm the scheme’s effectiveness.

Abstract

Microgrids with distributed generation (DG) provide a resilient solution in the case of major faults in a distribution system due to natural disasters. This paper proposes a novel distribution system operational approach by forming multiple microgrids energized by DG from the radial distribution system in real-time operations to restore critical loads from the power outage. Specifically, a mixed-integer linear program is formulated to maximize the critical loads to be picked up while satisfying the self-adequacy and operation constraints for the microgrids formation problem by controlling the ON/OFF status of the remotely controlled switch devices and DG. A distributed multiagent coordination scheme is designed via local communications for the global information discovery as inputs of the optimization, which is suitable for autonomous communication requirements after the disastrous event. The formed microgrids can be further utilized for power quality control and can be connected to a larger microgrid before the restoration of the main grids is complete. Numerical results based on modified IEEE distribution test systems validate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme.