A preliminary study of power system reliability considering cloud service reliability

Smart grid development heavily relies on the powerful and reliable computing infrastructure due to the high volume of data generated. Cloud computing is a promising technology to satisfy the increasing computing demand for the smart grid applications. However, the cloud service is not fully reliable considering the probable failures in its associated hardware, software or communication facilities. So far little research has been conducted for quantifying the impact of cloud service reliability on the overall power supply reliability. In this paper, a cloud-physical bridge is developed to evaluate the impact of cloud service on power system reliability. A framework for power system reliability analysis is proposed by incorporating cloud service reliability. An illustrative example is presented based on a representative IEEE reliability test system, where a suite of decision making tools are outsourced as a cloud service for aiding in power dispatch in various scenarios. Simulation results show that power system reliability may be impacted by the unreliability of cloud service, and the effect is non-negligible. Also the results obtained from a sensitivity study indicate that alternative decision-making support tools will be necessary to maintain the power system reliability in the absence of reliable cloud services.