Reliability Analysis of Modern Substations Considering Cyber Link Failures

With the increasing deployment of smart grid technologies, modern electric power systems are becoming more and more dependent on their cyber infrastructure. The unavailability of communication networks inevitably influences the reliability of power systems. Therefore, it is very important to study the malfunctions of cyber networks and their impact on power system reliability. In this paper, to illustrate the ideas, a 4-bus power system is extended to include the Ethernet-based protection system at each bus. The failure modes and impact of each individual component are analyzed. The effects of link failures resulting from packet delay are also considered. The term "link failure" in this paper refers to an event in which a link temporarily or permanently fails to transmit information in a timely manner. The example presents an effective approach to evaluate integrated cyber-physical power systems and provides possible enhancement suggestions for future research.