RELIABILITY MODELING AND EVALUATION OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES AND SMART POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

From the date of the very first electrical network until now, power system engineers have always been concerned with supplying electricity to the loads reliably. A reliable power system may be realized as an art of determining a balance between the customer satisfaction and the associated expenses. As power systems are being upgraded with today’s communication and control technologies and additional uncertainties are introduced through integration of intermittent generation units, it is critical to develop new models, methods, and indices to evaluate and improve the future power system reliability. This dissertation has a twofold objective. First, the reliability of distributed and renewable energy resources as an expanding and critical contributor to the future power system is analyzed. The power generated from renewable generation units, such as wind turbines, is stochastic and difficult to predict. Therefore, a number of analytical, simulation, and hybrid methods are proposed for modeling and reliability assessment of renewable generation in different operation conditions, considering aging of the equipment, maintenance, etc. The second objective of this dissertation considers a bigger scope of future power distribution systems and oversees the urge for improving the reliability and availability of electricity supplied to the customers. Thus, three simulation models of a smart power distribution system have been developed using Multiagent systems, Monte Carlo simulation, and power system software. These models include the impact of several components, such as renewable generation, energy storage, customer power interactions, demand side management, etc., and are used to evaluate and improve power system reliability. The reliability of the power system is evaluated using typical system-perspective indices as well as a number of newly defined indices from the customers’ perspective. In addition, these models are used to determine the optimum capacities of renewable generation and storage system in order to supply electricity reliably. The work in this dissertation can be expanded to incorporate communication and control system reliability as well as cyber security for future power system studies. Adviser: Sohrab Asgarpoo