Power system stability scanning and security assessment using machine learning

Future grids planning requires a major departure from conventional power system planning, where only a handful of the most critical scenarios is analyzed. To account for a wide range of possible future evolutions, scenario analysis has been proposed in many industries. As opposed to the conventional power system planning, where the aim is to find an optimal transmission and/or generation expansion plan for an existing grid, the aim in future grids scenario analysis is to analyze possible evolution pathways to inform power system planning and policy making. Therefore, future grids’ planning may involve large amount of scenarios and the existing planning tools may no longer suitable. Other than the raised future grids’ planning issues, operation of future grids using conventional tools is also challenged by the new features of future grids such as intermittent generation, demand response and fast responding power electronic plants which lead to much more diverse operation conditions compared to the existing networks. Among all operation issues, monitoring stability as well as security of a power system and action with deliberated preventive or remedial adjustment is of vital important. On- line Dynamic Security Assessment (DSA) can evaluate security of a power system almost instantly when current or imminent operation conditions are supplied. The focus of this dissertation are, for future grid planning, to develop a framework using Machine Learning (ML) to effectively assess the security of future grids by analyzing a large amount of the scenarios; for future grids operation, to propose approaches to address technique issues brought by future grids’ diverse operation conditions using ML techniques. Unsupervised learning, supervised learning and semi-supervised learning techniques are utilized in a set of proposed planning and operation security assessment tools

Data Challenges and Data Analytics Solutions for Power Systems

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Data generation and model usage for machine learning-based dynamic security assessment and control

The global effort to decarbonise, decentralise and digitise electricity grids in response to climate change and evolving electricity markets with active consumers (prosumers) is gaining traction in countries around the world. This effort introduces new challenges to electricity grid operation. For instance, the introduction of variable renewable energy generation like wind and solar energy to replace conventional power generation like oil, gas, and coal increases the uncertainty in power systems operation. Additionally, the dynamics introduced by these renewable energy sources that are interfaced through converters are much faster than those in conventional system with thermal power plants. This thesis investigates new operating tools for the system operator that are data-driven to help manage the increased operational uncertainty in this transition. The presented work aims to an- swer some open questions regarding the implementation of these machine learning approaches in real-time operation, primarily related to the quality of training data to train accurate machine- learned models for predicting dynamic behaviour, and the use of these machine-learned models in the control room for real-time operation. To answer the first question, this thesis presents a novel sampling approach for generating ’rare’ operating conditions that are physically feasible but have not been experienced by power systems before. In so doing, the aim is to move away from historical observations that are often limited in describing the full range of operating conditions. Then, the thesis presents a novel approach based on Wasserstein distance and entropy to efficiently combine both historical and ’rare’ operating conditions to create an enriched database capable of training a high- performance classifier. To answer the second question, this thesis presents a scalable and rigorous workflow to trade-off multiple objective criteria when choosing decision tree models for real-time operation by system operators. Then, showcases a practical implementation for using a machine-learned model to optimise power system operation cost using topological control actions. Future research directions are underscored by the crucial role of machine learning in securing low inertia systems, and this thesis identifies research gaps covering physics-informed learning, machine learning-based network planning for secure operation, and robust training datasets are outlined.Open Acces

On machine learning-based techniques for future sustainable and resilient energy systems

Permanently increasing penetration of converter-interfaced generation and renewable energy sources (RESs) makes modern electrical power systems more vulnerable to low probability and high impact events, such as extreme weather, which could lead to severe contingencies, even blackouts. These contingencies can be further propagated to neighboring energy systems over coupling components/technologies and consequently negatively influence the entire multi-energy system (MES) (such as gas, heating and electricity) operation and its resilience. In recent years, machine learning-based techniques (MLBTs) have been intensively applied to solve various power system problems, including system planning, or security and reliability assessment. This paper aims to review MES resilience quantification methods and the application of MLBTs to assess the resilience level of future sustainable energy systems. The open research questions are identified and discussed, whereas the future research directions are identified

Big data analytics in smart grids: a review

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Learning and Management for Internet-of-Things: Accounting for Adaptivity and Scalability

Internet-of-Things (IoT) envisions an intelligent infrastructure of networked smart devices offering task-specific monitoring and control services. The unique features of IoT include extreme heterogeneity, massive number of devices, and unpredictable dynamics partially due to human interaction. These call for foundational innovations in network design and management. Ideally, it should allow efficient adaptation to changing environments, and low-cost implementation scalable to massive number of devices, subject to stringent latency constraints. To this end, the overarching goal of this paper is to outline a unified framework for online learning and management policies in IoT through joint advances in communication, networking, learning, and optimization. From the network architecture vantage point, the unified framework leverages a promising fog architecture that enables smart devices to have proximity access to cloud functionalities at the network edge, along the cloud-to-things continuum. From the algorithmic perspective, key innovations target online approaches adaptive to different degrees of nonstationarity in IoT dynamics, and their scalable model-free implementation under limited feedback that motivates blind or bandit approaches. The proposed framework aspires to offer a stepping stone that leads to systematic designs and analysis of task-specific learning and management schemes for IoT, along with a host of new research directions to build on.Comment: Submitted on June 15 to Proceeding of IEEE Special Issue on Adaptive and Scalable Communication Network

DETERMINING GRID SECURITY THROUGH DYNAMIC STABILITY ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CONTINGECIES AND INCREASED RENEWABLE PENETRATION

The challenge of ensuring grid security becomes more complex with the advancement of new technology and major events causing widespread damage in the system. Threats of cyber-attacks create permutations of possible contingencies that may have never been considered in typical operations and planning. Natural disasters have caused devastating effects, taking out entire power systems and leaving thousands of customers without service for extended periods. The integration of more renewables into the grid creates dynamic stability concerns due to the replacement of large, rotating machines. In these examples, security can be assessed by studying dynamic stability, while also considering the consequences of each contingency or modification in the system.Security has been analyzed in three separate projects using various systems. The first project is Multi-Timescale Integrated Dynamics and Scheduling for Solar (MIDAS). In this project, a machine learning tool was used to determine security criteria for frequency, transient, and small-signal stability of a power system integrated with renewables. Security assessment is a fundamental function for both short-term and long-term power system operation. The developed data-driven security assessment (DSA) criteria uses machine learning to determine when it is necessary to trigger dynamic simulation by linking traditional isolated dynamic simulation with long-term scheduling. In the second project, a model of Puerto Rico’s 2018 transmission system was created. Simulations of major contingencies were performed on the Puerto Rico system, including the trip of main transmission corridors along the path of destructive Hurricane Maria. In the future, higher renewable penetration in the Puerto Rico system is expected. Therefore, studies were run at high solar penetration levels to assess dynamic stability under these conditions. Lastly, a cybersecurity study of a large system was also performed. Several scenarios were analyzed to determine stability boundaries and effects of possible targeted attacks. The goal was to determine critical contingencies that would cause system collapse

Recent Developments in Machine Learning for Energy Systems Reliability Management

peer reviewedThis paper reviews recent works applying machine learning techniques in the context of energy systems reliability assessment and control. We showcase both the progress achieved to date as well as the important future directions for further research, while providing an adequate background in the fields of reliability management and of machine learning. The objective is to foster the synergy between these two fields and speed up the practical adoption of machine learning techniques for energy systems reliability management. We focus on bulk electric power systems and use them as an example, but we argue that the methods, tools, {\it etc.} can be extended to other similar systems, such as distribution systems, micro-grids, and multi-energy systems