Vulnerability and security in a changing power system

This report presents the main results from the knowledge-building project Vulnerability and security in a changing power system. The main stakeholders of this project are the energy authorities, system operators and network companies. The project has emphasized vulnerabilities in relation to extraordinary events with low probability to occur and high impact on the security of electricity supply, like wide-area power supply interruptions. It is of great importance to study how vulnerability in power systems evolves and if the probability of wide-area interruptions is increasing, due to ageing, increased utilization and operational stress, increasing dependencies on ICT, new operating scenarios, etc. For this purpose, we need methods to analyse and identify vulnerability as well as indicators that can be used to measure and monitor vulnerability. The main contributions from this project are:
• A framework for monitoring and classifying vulnerabilities in electric power grids.
• A methodology for risk and vulnerability analysis emphasizing extraordinary events.
• Recommendation of risk analysis methods aiming to increase the power system's
operational security.
• Case studies illustrating the development of vulnerability indicators and methods
and the use.