Developing a Survivability Index for Distribution Systems Including Islanding

Electrical power systems are vulnerable to contingencies due to the possibility of fault or damage. When a serious fault (which cannot be removed immediately) occurs in the power system, the fault needs to be isolated, and the remaining system should be reconfigured to make efficient use of available energy. Reconfiguring the system by making a island can be one of the strategies to continue the energy supply with remaining generation capacity. The challenge is to reconfigure the system without causing negative impact on voltage support, stability and reliability of the system. A survivability index of the system can be developed to analyze the effect of contingencies based on voltage support, reliability and the stability indices with predefined weights given to each performance criterion. These weights may vary for different system conditions. The purpose of this research work is to develop a survivability index for the distribution power system and rank contingencies based on developed index. Corrective measures can be taken to maximize the survivability during reconfiguration after contingencies.