Modeling Electric Power and Natural Gas System Interdependencies

Abstract

To promote the resilience and protection of infrastructure assets from an all-hazards perspective, this paper describes the progress of interdependencies modeling and integration efforts to anticipate cascading failures among critical infrastructure systems. A data-centric architecture is adopted that integrates existing and proven infrastructure models used for impact assessment analyses to aid and enhance the design of resilient infrastructure systems. The assessment framework is applicable to all types of critical infrastructure and permits (1) the integration and automation of the assessment process, including threat and hazard identification and data acquisition; (2) the estimation and projection of impact zones; (3) the simulation of the initial effects on infrastructure assets resulting from an initiating disruptive event; (4) the evaluation of propagating effects within each infrastructure system; and (5) the simulation of the influence of cascading failures across infrastructure systems. The paper presents the application of the framework to integrate two proven energy models—EPfast, for electric power, and NGfast, for natural gas—to anticipate regional and local cascading failures, and design resilient energy systems. Two state-level case studies illustrate the approach in simulating the propagation of disruptions between the natural gas and electric power systems.