Effect of disorder and noise in shaping the dynamics of power grids

¹ Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin - Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany
² INRIA Sophia Antipolis Méditerranée - 2004 Route des Lucioles, 06902 Valbonne, France
³ CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi - 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

Received: 31 May 2018
Accepted: 20 July 2018

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate complex dynamic networks which can model high-voltage power grids with renewable, fluctuating energy sources. For this purpose we use the Kuramoto model with inertia to model the network of power plants and consumers. In particular, we analyse the synchronization transition of networks of N phase oscillators with inertia (rotators) whose natural frequencies are bimodally distributed, corresponding to the distribution of generator and consumer power. First, we start from globally coupled networks whose links are successively diluted, resulting in a random Erdös-Renyi network. We focus on the changes in the hysteretic loop while varying inertial mass and dilution. Second, we implement Gaussian white noise describing the randomly fluctuating input power, and investigate its role in shaping the dynamics. Finally, we briefly discuss power grid networks under the impact of both topological disorder and external noise sources.