Abstract: The escalating frequency and severity of natural disasters necessitates a fundamental reevaluation of operational strategies for critical microgrids serving essential facilities such as hospitals, emergency response centers, and security establishments. Traditional approaches to microgrid resilience – whether through preemptive islanding or responsive load shedding – are becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive and operationally risky. Preemptive islanding strategies, while protective, can trigger frequent false alarms that deplete valuable energy and fuel reserves. Conversely, responsive load-shedding approaches often result in significant operational disruptions due to inadequate preparedness for islanding events.
This talk introduces an innovative adaptive defense framework that bridges this operational gap through optimally balanced defensive strategies. Our approach leverages simulation-optimization techniques to capture the complex nonlinear dynamics during potential islanding transitions, enabling a defense plan that maintains operational economy while ensuring reliable islanding capability. The methodology's distinctive feature lies in its ability to dynamically adjust defensive measures based on real-time risk assessment, significantly reducing both operational costs and islanding transition-related disruptions.
The presentation will detail the mathematical formulation and solution methodology, with particular emphasis on the framework's application to inverter-dominated microgrids. We will explore the critical role of mode-transition-capable grid-forming (GFM) inverters and present a comprehensive analysis of current research developments in this domain. The discussion concludes by examining future research trajectories, including framework scalability for interconnected microgrid systems and its adaptation for emerging grid-edge technologies, with specific focus on enhancing resilience in critical infrastructure applications.