Reliability Assessment for Multi-area Load Frequency Control Systems with Degraded Components

The paper evaluates system reliability performance for multi-area load frequency control systems with degraded components. Some key components including turbines and frequency sensors in load frequency control systems suffer degradation. As a result, the reliability of load frequency control systems is jeopardized. First, a dynamic model is proposed for multi-area load frequency control systems with degraded components. Degradation paths of components are considered as unit-to-unit variability due to different operation environments. Then, a series of operational performance indicators are used to quantify reliability performance. In addition, quantitative reliability analysis is carried out using Monte Carlo simulation method. Finally, a three-area load frequency control system is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.