Analytical reliability evaluation method of smart micro-grids considering the cyber failures and information transmission system faults

Abstract

The reliability of smart micro-grids (SMGs), as a cyber-physical system (CPS), might be influenced by cyber failures and information transmission faults. Several Monte Carlo simulation (MCS)-based approaches have been reported to assess the reliability of SMGs and smart grids. On the other hand, analytical reliability assessment methods have been presented in some research works, while the cyber system has not been concerned. However, the literature shows a research gap in developing an accurate and fast reliability evaluation method for SMGs based on the unavailability of cyber elements and information transmission faults. This article tries to fill the discussed gap by adding the analytical modelling of cyber-physical interdependencies and information transmission faults to available analytical methods, focusing on physical uncertainties. Comparing the proposed model with existing MCS-based and analytical reliability evaluation methods illustrates the advantages of this research. Test results show that less than 5.7% expected energy not supplied (EENS) error occurs by the proposed method, which would be much faster than MCS-based ones. Moreover, the sensitivity analyses highlight the impacts of the cyber network topologies on the cyber-physical interdependencies.