The structural dimensions in the security of power transmission systems

This chapter discusses the security of power transmission systems from a structural perspective. It introduces a systematic concept of structural analysis for power grids security assessment applying extended topological approaches based on an adaptation of the theory of complex networks modified to capture the physical behavior of transmission networks as “flow networks”. The concept of structural analysis is introduced as an alternative approach for discussing the relation between structure and state of power grids. A general review of complex networks applied to power grids security serves as introduction to a discussion of the shortcomings of pure topological approaches. Finally, authors describe the proposed systematic extended topological approach. In this chapter, “entropic degree” and “T-betweenness” are used to provide a measure of the criticality of buses and lines of transmission networks. Then, authors proceed with a dynamic way to rank critical components. Third, integration the previous concepts as metrics for distinguishing important components from critical ones, and for indicating their correlations are done. Finally, taking an overall perspective, and departing from net-ability, authors discuss the concept of path-redundancy as a new metric for survivability.