Robust Optimization-Based Resilient Distribution Network Planning Against Natural Disasters

Natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy can seriously disrupt the power grids. To increase the resilience of an electric distribution system against natural disasters, this paper proposes a resilient distribution network planning problem (RDNP) to coordinate the hardening and distributed generation resource allocation with the objective of minimizing the system damage. The problem is formulated as a two-stage robust optimization model. Hardening and distributed generation resource placement are considered in the distribution network planning. A multi-stage and multi-zone based uncertainty set is designed to capture the spatial and temporal dynamics of an uncertain natural disaster as an extension to the traditional N-K contingency approach. The optimal solution of the RDNP yields a resilient distribution system against natural disasters. Our computational studies on the IEEE distribution test systems validate the effectiveness of the proposed model and reveal that distributed generation is critical in increasing the resilience of a distribution system against natural disasters in the form of microgrids.