Towards Resilient Self-Proactive Distribution Grids Against Wildfires: A Dual Rolling Horizon-Based Framework

Wildfires have recently posed a significant danger to the security and reliability of electrical power systems, prompting the development of innovative frameworks for enhanced resilience. Existing literature has primarily focused on service restoration using stochastic optimization models that lack the necessary dynamism to tackle uncertainties effectively. To address this problem, a Dual Rolling horizon optimization (DRHO) is utilized to devise a smart resilience controller (SRC) that mitigates distribution network outages caused by wildfire disruptions. The proposed SRC can dynamically monitor and analyze the spatiotemporal behaviors of wildfires, such as their intensity, arrival time, and binding pathways from their ignition sources to electrical equipment. In doing so, it can proactively take real-time corrective measures before the wildfire reaches power distribution lines. The primary objective is to minimize load shedding and operational costs through re-configuring the network and employing a mix of stationary and mobile distributed energy resources (MDERs) that operate under a master-slave control scheme. The effectiveness of the proposed DRHO-based SRC is validated through diverse case studies and is compared against scenario-based approaches. Considering real-world data of Alberta wildfires, simulation results demonstrate the proposed solution's robustness to uncertainties, significantly reducing power outages and ensuring enhanced resilience.