Impact of the Integration of Information and Communication Technology on Power System Reliability: A Review

There has been a progressive development in the synthesis of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in power networks recently. ICT systems have become a vital part of every aspect of our daily lives and its integration into the electric power system has become paramount. ICTs support efficient incorporation of activities of all stakeholders of the power system to certify a more cost-effective and sustainable power system. The power system will exhibit intelligent monitoring and control, bidirectional communication between stakeholders and power system elements, security and safety of supply and self-healing qualities. However, asides from the vast benefits ICTs, their implementation within the power network come with some drawbacks which include element failures, failures due to interdependencies as well as vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks. These drawbacks can impact the reliability of the power network negatively. The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of ICTs integration on the reliability of power networks in terms of empirical validation of standard reliability indices. This study groups the findings into four perspectives, including the effects of cyber power interdependencies, ICT infrastructure failures, cyber-attacks and environmental conditions. As expected, results show that failures and maloperations in the ICT network have adverse effects on system reliability and careful considerations need to be made to dampen these shortcomings.