Rapid Method for Generation Prioritization during System Restoration with Renewable Resources

Abstract: Quick and reliable power system restoration is critically important after natural disasters or other sudden threats, such as cyber-attacks. Leveraging renewable resources in system restoration shortens recovery times, resulting in prevented life-loss and avoided economic-loss, and improves the resilience of the entire grid. However, it is not a common practice today; the inherent variability of these resources represents a challenge for a streamlined restoration process. This paper presents a prioritized method - starting with renewable generator units then lowering priority to conventional units - to plan the operational schedule of a power system during the restoration process. The goal is to achieve a well balanced system in the presence of significant renewable penetration. Validation and benchmarking experiments were performed on a customized version of the RTS-GMLC test system using six months out of year-long data, tested through hourly simulations. After evaluating the performance and computational costs, this method proved faster than common approaches: a MILP Unit Commitment algorithm, widely used today, and an "enable-and-try" algorithm. In summary, herein a more convenient method is provided to be utilized during time-sensitive restoration, as an online operation-planning aid.