Impact of distributed energy resources on power system resilience against earthquakes

Distributed energy resources (DERs) can enhance power system resilience against natural disasters. However, a high penetration of DERs changes the structure and dynamics of power systems at the transmission level. Their overall impact on resilience requires a thorough analysis. This paper describes a probabilistic resilience assessment method to assess how different levels of DERs penetration affect the system dynamics at the transmission level. Using a modified version of the IEEE39 test system, it quantifies how DERs can affect the resilience of the system to earthquakes. Additional probabilistic sensitivity studies investigate the effect of inertia on the resilience. Finally, the analysis of a specific scenario illustrates the effect of the DERs on the dynamics of the power system.