Quantifying Resiliency of Smart Power Distribution Systems with Distributed Energy Resources

The purpose of smart grid projects worldwide is to revitalize the aging power system infrastructure, and make it more reliable, more resilient and more sustainable. Technological advances has led to diversity of power sources and lesser dependence on fossil fuels; however, it has also increased the complexity of control of the network, which may have a counter-effect on its resiliency and reliability. Also, weather induced power disruptions or targeted attacks on critical power system infrastructure have increased in numbers. Thus there is a need for formal metrics to quantify resiliency of the different distribution system, or different configurations of same network. This paper presents definitions of resiliency of power distribution system, and approach towards resilient design of future power distribution systems with distributed energy resources. These are eventually used to identify parameters for quantification of resiliency. Simulation results for several test cases have been presented to validate the developed resiliency metrics.