Pahwa, SakshiHodges, A.Scoglio, Caterina M.Wood, S.2010-07-082010-07-082010-06-07http://hdl.handle.net/2097/4264This paper presents a complex systems overview of a power grid network. In recent years, concerns about the robustness of the power grid have grown because of several cascading outages in different parts of the world. In this paper, cascading effect has been simulated on three different networks, the IEEE 300 bus test system, the IEEE 118 bus test system, and the WSCC 179 bus equivalent model. Power Degradation has been discussed as a measure to estimate the damage to the network, in terms of load loss and node loss. A network generator has been developed to generate graphs with characteristics similar to the IEEE standard networks and the generated graphs are then compared with the standard networks to show the effect of topology in determining the robustness of a power grid. Three mitigation strategies, Homogeneous Load Reduction, Targeted Range-Based Load Reduction, and Use of Distributed Renewable Sources in combination with Islanding, have been suggested. The Homogeneous Load Reduction is the simplest to implement but the Targeted Range-Based Load Reduction is the most effective strategy.This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/Cascading effectMitigation strategiesNode lossPower degradationText