Efficient Topology Assessment for Integrated Transmission and Distribution Network with 10,000+ Inverter-based Resources

TL;DR

This paper introduces a fast, graph-based topology assessment method for large-scale integrated transmission and distribution networks with over 10,000 inverter-based resources, enabling efficient impact evaluation of distributed energy resources.

Contribution

It develops a scalable, graph analysis approach utilizing high-performance computing to evaluate complex power system topologies with extensive inverter-based resources.

Findings

Validated the method on large-scale test systems.

Revealed interactions between grid-forming and grid-following inverters.

Demonstrated high computational efficiency and applicability.

Abstract

The renewable energy proliferation calls upon the grid operators and planners to systematically evaluate the potential impacts of distributed energy resources (DERs). Considering the significant differences between various inverter-based resources (IBRs), especially the different capabilities between grid-forming inverters and grid-following inverters, it is crucial to develop an efficient and effective assessment procedure besides available co-simulation framework with high computation burdens. This paper presents a streamlined graph-based topology assessment for the integrated power system transmission and distribution networks. Graph analyses were performed based on the integrated graph of modified miniWECC grid model and IEEE 8500-node test feeder model, high performance computing platform with 40 nodes and total 2400 CPUs has been utilized to process this integrated graph, which has 100,000+ nodes and 10,000+ IBRs. The node ranking results not only verified the applicability of the proposed method, but also revealed the potential of distributed grid forming (GFM) and grid following (GFL) inverters interacting with the centralized power plants.