Reliability and Optimum Design of the Interconnections of a Power System

A power system is assumed to be a communication network where interconnecting lines are information channels and current flow is equivalent to information flow. Given a set of power stations and cities with current demands, the interconnecting (lossless) links may be unreliable. Techniques to compute the probability of satisfying the power demands and methods of increasing this probability are discussed. In reality, there is a cost associated with sending a flow through a given line. A synthesis procedure, based on linear programming, to design a minimum cost distribution system which satisfies the given power demands is presented. Various extensions and generalizations of the problem are also given.