Two-stage multi-fault emergency rush repair and restoration robust strategy in distribution networks

Abstract The multi-fault emergency rush repair and restoration in distribution networks is a discrete dynamic combinatorial problem with topology constraints. The fault repairing time cannot be exactly predicted in advance. To accommodate the uncertainty of the repairing time, it is assumed as a symmetric and bounded random variable, which takes values in a given interval. Then a two-stage robust multi-fault rush repair and restoration optimization model is developed to determine the robust repairing strategy in order to minimize the outage loss and total repairing time. In the first stage, the optimal repairing and restoration strategy is obtained and the second stage discovers the worst-case repairing time contingency scenario in the predicted uncertainty set. By utilizing linearization method and duality theory, the robust model is reformulated as a mixed-integer linear program problem. Also an uncertainty budget is used to coordinate the optimality and conservatism of the proposed model. Column-and-constraint generation algorithm is used to solve the proposed model to generate the optimal robust repairing and restoration strategy. Finally, this approach is tested on a modified Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) 69-bus distribution network and a modified 119-bus system. The simulation results show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach.