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Publication

Evaluation of Power System Reliability Management: Towards Socially Acceptable Short-term Reliability Criteria

Book - Dissertation

An adequate level of reliability in power systems is crucial due to the criticality of reliable, but affordable electricity supply for society. Nowadays, power system reliability is managed based on the deterministic N-1 criterion. This N-1 approach does not aim at cost-optimality and is challenged by the evolutions in power systems. Probabilistic reliability management on the contrary takes into account risks related to power system uncertainties and aims at making decisions based on socio-economic principles. Adequate performance evaluation is required to convince system stakeholders to change their reliability management. The objective of this work is to contribute to the fundamental understanding of performance evaluation and comparison of short-term reliability management approaches and criteria. A quantification framework is developed, which is modular and generic in design and takes into account the specific characteristics of the evaluation of reliability management. A basic implementation of the quantification framework is applied to test systems to determine characteristics and trends in relative performance, rather than to find the fundamentally optimal reliability management approach and criterion. A performance metric is proposed to verify the technical, economic and social acceptability, practicality and applicability of reliability management. Missing indices to evaluate the inequality between consumers in terms of reliability are developed. Ideally, reliability management is cost-effective, results in a high reliability level and distributes unreliability equally among consumers. In practice, equality, reliability and efficiency should be balanced, constituting a ‘performance trilemma’. Controllable factors of reliability criteria that define intermediate steps between the N-1 approach and fully probabilistic reliability management and the level of detail of the value of lost load data have an intertwined impact on the three aspects of the trilemma. To manage reliability in a way that considers both society’s preferences and system operator’s capabilities, a transparent dialogue between power system stakeholders is required and transmission system operators should carry out the multi-dimensional analysis proposed in this work for their own systems.
Number of pages: 231
Publication year:2018
Accessibility:Open