Evaluating smart grid reliability based on impacts of cyber (control, monitoring and protection) network and its different topologies

The modern smart grid involves two distinct and intricate cyber-power networks. Cyber networks are employed to protect, monitor and control different types of physical systems. Various topologies of the cyber network affect reliability of the power grid. In conventional methods, it is supposed that the cyber components are failure free, but this simplification has errors and is not precise. So, in this paper, a novel analytical method is proposed to evaluate the reliability indices considering cyber-power interdependencies. The introduced method evaluates the smart grid reliability under failure of power and cyber elements and uncertainties of renewable resources such as wind distributed generation. Also, a new procedure is proposed based on changing structure of cyber topology. The proposed method is applied to a realistic distribution network in Iran. The reliability indices of each configuration are calculated. The test results indicate that it is vital to consider cyber effects on power grid in reliability assessment of smart grid as well as power effects. Cyber network properties and topologies which are important are investigated.