Power Transmission System Vulnerability Assessment Using Genetic Algorithm

Recent blackouts in power systems have shown the necessity of vulnerability assessment. Among all factors، transmission system components have a more important role. Power system vulnerability assessment could capture cascading outages which result in large blackouts and is an effective tool for power system engineers for defining power system bottlenecks and weak points. In this paper a new method based on fault chains concept is developed which uses new measures. Genetic algorithm with an effective structure is used for finding vulnerable branches in a practical power transmission system. Analytic hierarchy process is a technique used to determine the weighting factors in fitness function of genetic algorithm. Finally، the numerical results for Isfahan Regional Electric Company are presented which verifies the effectiveness and precision of the proposed method according to the practical expriments.