Optimal Resource Allocation for Reducing Distribution System Risk Induced by Hurricane

Abstract

Preventive measures to reduce the risk of large-scale blackouts caused by natural disasters are necessary. This paper focuses on the resource allocation problem in distribution systems before a coming hurricane. The probability evaluation model of critical load service failure is developed. Emergency resources such as crews, materials, and equipment are considered for allocation, which is essential for hurricane preparedness and post-disaster repairing in terms of critical loads. An evaluation method of outage risks is introduced with considering the intensity and path of the coming hurricane. Due to the uncertainties of system failures, the allocation optimization is formulated into a dynamic Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming(MINP). Numerical simulations are performed on the IEEE 33-node feeder with 3 dispatch centers under several scenarios to validate the proposed method. Simulation results show that the risk is largely decreased through the proposed allocation strategy.