As the backbone of the U.S. energy infrastructure, the electric grid transmits power to the nation, with a revenue of around 400 billion dollars annually. The electric grid is vulnerable to a variety of weather-related natural disasters. The evaluation and mitigation of disruption-related risks and impacts are often computationally prohibitive due to the complexity of the power system, uncertainty of weather conditions, and the combinatorial nature of component failures. This project will advance the use of analytical models and scalable solution methods to assist system operators to better evaluate and mitigate disruptions. The PIs, as well as their graduate students, will collaborate with a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, which will facilitate connections with power systems operators.
This award will study a new class of data-driven optimization methodologies to support strategic and operational planning in power systems management. As part of this research, the PIs will study probabilistic modeling of electricity grid disruptions based on meteorological and historical transmission availability data. These data will be incorporated in distributionally robust optimization (DRO) models to (a) conduct risk assessment analysis, (b) harden pre-disaster electricity grid, (c) take corrective actions during disasters, and (d) conduct post-disaster self-healing and system restoration. The DRO approach will allow the consideration of an exponential number of disruptions, as well as their probabilities of occurring, to be inferred from the analysis of the data. In addition, this project will investigate new DRO solution approaches based on mixed-integer programming.
