Identifying cascading failures on synthetic power transmission systems

Abstract:

Cascading failures across a network propagate localized issues to more broad and potentially unexpected failures in the network. In power networks, where load must be delivered in real-time by a generation source, network layout is an important part of cascading failure analysis. In lieu of real power network data protected for security reasons, we can use synthetic networks for academic purposes in developing a validating methodology. A contingency analysis technique is used to identify cascading failures, and this involves randomly selecting initial failure points in the network and observing how current violations propagate across the network. This process is repeated many times to understand the breadth of potential failures that may occur, and the observed trends in failure propagation are analyzed and compared to generate recommendations to prevent and adapt to failure. Emphasis is placed on power transmission networks where failures can be more catastrophic.