Model-based assessment of multi-region electric power systems showing heterogeneous characteristics

Analysis of complex systems, as critical infrastructures are especially because of interdependent structure and behavior of their composing parts, is typically tackled in a number of refinements steps. Simplistic models of the system under analysis are initially set-up, then gradually extended to encompass more and more sophisticated phenomena and behavior which lead the model to be more adherent to reality. This was the process followed in a series of studies, conducted by (part of) the authors of this paper, targeting the analysis of Electric Power Systems (EPS) to understand the impact of interdependencies between the electric power grid and of the cyber control infrastructure in critical scenarios. Specifically, from the original model accounting only for a regional EPS, we moved to a more sophisticated and realistic multi-region organization, first characterized by homogeneous conditions of the network parameters and of the cost associated to power losses and to power generation and subsequently enriched with some aspects of heterogeneity. Here, we go further with exploring other aspects of heterogeneity and related impact on black-outs indicators, to both prove the feasibility of the developed modeling framework and to assess the relevance of accounting for such heterogeneity.