Availability And Resiliency Analysis Of Modern Distribution Grids Using Stochastic Reward Nets

This paper presents a method to evaluate the availability and resiliency of a modern distribution grid using Stochastic Reward Petri Nets (SRNs). SRNs are a modelling formalism used to evaluate the complex dependencies of components during fault recovery. The method is verified using the RBTS Bus 2 Test system and then applied to an enhanced version of the distribution grid which employs remote communications and distribution automation to hasten the recovery process. Sensitivity analysis is applied to the enhanced version of the test system to demonstrate improvements in recovery time and reduction in downtime with respect to to component failure. Finally, resiliency analysis is performed to the enhanced system to evaluate the systems ability to recover from unexpected and severe events and demonstrate the improvements that this technology provides.