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In virtual power plants (VPPs), consensus-based distributed optimal dispatch algorithms aim to collectively minimize the operating cost. As ubiquitous latency on communication networks may lead to divergence, convergence to a nonoptimal solution, or a longer convergence time, mitigating the impacts of arbitrarily large but bounded time-varying delays is significant both in theory and in practice. To modify a typical consensus-based optimal dispatch algorithm under time-varying delays, this paper designs new update rules and introduces a reduction approach to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. The results reveal that the modified algorithm can always converge to the optimal solution with a tactical initial setup in a distributed manner if the undirected interaction topology is connected and the gain parameter is sufficiently small. The analytical expression of the gain is also given. Furthermore, we show that the convergence time is determined by the maximum time delays, the number of generators, and the convergence accuracy. Several numerical simulation studies validate our theory. • The mechanism that delays lead to nonoptimality in consensus-based algorithms is given. • The modified dispatch algorithm converges to optimal solution under bounded delays. • The relationship between the convergence time and the maximum delays is pinpointed. • The maximum delay can be estimated if the algorithm converges in a given time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of the variable renewable energies makes the operation conditions of the power system ever-changeable. Consequently, the power system operational reliability evaluation is increasingly important. This paper introduces the concept of decision-dependent uncertainty (DDU) in the operational reliability evaluation. Unlike the exogenous uncertainties, DDU reveals that the decisions of the system operation could significantly affect the resolution of the uncertainties which influence the reliability metrics. In this paper, the proposed DDU modeling method links the device reliability indices, i.e., the forced outage rate, and the operational-decision variables. The impacts of DDU on operational reliability are analyzed based on a reliability-constrained stochastic unit commitment (UC) model. An adaptive reliability improvement UC (ARIUC) algorithm is proposed to efficiently solve the problem. Case studies underline the necessity of considering DDU in power system operational reliability evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross-entropy (CE) method can accelerate power system reliability evaluation effectively. An importance sampling (IS) based iterative parameter updating algorithm is usually used in CE optimization. However, the efficiency in capturing the concerned samples for parameter updating may be unsatisfactory, especially for a system with intrinsic nature of rare failure events. Besides, the stopping criterion of this iterative algorithm is usually determined subjectively, incurring insufficient or excessive parameter updating and a resultant higher computational burden of the entire simulation. To address the above two problems, a CE method based on subset simulation and minimum computational burden criterion is proposed. In CE optimization, the subset simulation combined with M-H sampling is adopted as an alternative to IS to effectively improve the efficiency of capturing desired samples for parameter updating at each iteration. Moreover, a novel quantitative stopping criterion is presented in such a way that the computational burden for the entire simulation is estimated and compared after each parameter updating iteration, and the optimal parameters corresponding to the minimum computational burden can be determined. The computational performance of the proposed method is validated by comparing the proposed approach with existing methods under several numerical tests including a realistic power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a coupled interaction matrix is proposed to describe the interactions between line outages and the load shed at buses. The coupled interaction matrix is effectively estimated by the Expectation Maximization algorithm. A highly probabilistic coupled interaction model is further proposed to efficiently generate cascades with both line outages and the load shed based on the coupled interaction matrix and the distribution of initial outages. To mitigate cascading failures, critical links are identified based on the coupled interaction matrix by calculating a comprehensive severity index that considers the consequences of both line outages and the load shed. Simulation results on the IEEE 300-bus system verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The cascades generated from the coupled interaction model match the statistics of the original cascades very well. The identified critical links based on the comprehensive severity index enable a proper tradeoff between reducing line outages and reducing the load shed, leading to a better mitigation effect than only considering either line outages or the load shed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contingency screening is vital for maintaining the transmission system reliability. Bilevel programming is a powerful tool for the accurate identification of critical events. To accelerate the contingency screening with bilevel programming, this study proposes a root-event-based dynamic space pruning algorithm. A root event is an event in which all the failed components have contributions to the event impact. Considering the fact that numerous N − k events describe the same critical scenario, the proposed space pruning principles partition the N − k event space into the subspace of root events and the complement subspace. To accelerate the screening of subspace of root events, bilevel programming is constructed to identify new critical events having high risk and causing more severe load shedding than the root event. Besides, relaxed bilevel programming is proposed to accelerate the screening of the complement subspace. The relaxed scheme replaces the constraints of power flow by constraints of transmission capacity, and enables the identification of most of the critical events in the complement subspace with a low computational cost. Case studies on the IEEE RTS and a provincial grid in China indicate that the proposed algorithm significantly accelerates the screening process without missing critical events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the lack of feeder corridors, the Chinese utility companies frequently choose the technique of putting multiple overhead feeders on a same tower (MFST) to meet the load demand in a heavy load area. In many situations, the distance among the feeders of MFST in an electrical distribution network (EDN) is usually too small to meet the requirements of safety regulation for repairing and maintenance. Therefore, when a fault occurs on a feeder of MFST, the other feeders have to be in a triggered passive outage (TPO) state to assist the repairing of the failed feeder. This paper presents a reliability evaluation algorithm for EDNs containing MFST using the section technique. The definition of TPO and the equivalent TPO rate and TPO duration are also proposed. Based on the TPO parameters and the section technique, the reliability evaluation algorithm containing the MFST can be obtained. Case studies on the modified RBTS-BUS6 and the EDNs of three districts in Dongguan city, China, show that the MFST has a significant impact on the EDN reliability and should be considered in the reliability evaluation. The results also show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]