| As a result of more outage-sensitive loads being integrated onto electrical power grids, standards for measuring the impacts of outages have been developed and implemented throughout the electric utility industry. Reliability standards include the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), the Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI), and the Average Service Unavailability Index (ASUI). Intermittent green energy supplies, such as wind generation, connecting on those same electrical power grids have increased the possibility of negatively impacting system reliability.;This research avoids the negative reliability affects of integrating variable wind generation onto the electrical system by considering an interconnection that (1) converts wind electrical power to stored hydrogen and (2) generates electrical power at load centers by using the stored hydrogen. A hydrogen distribution model, using a topology similar to the topology currently used for designing electrical distribution systems, was developed and evaluated using SAIDI, SAIFI, CAIDI, and ASUI while also considering the probability of lateral equipment failure. The results of the reliability analysis of the hydrogen model were then compared to the results of the reliability analysis of a typical electrical distribution system, showing significant savings for the hydrogen system. However, as equipment failures were introduced to both the hydrogen and typical electrical distribution system models, the hydrogen distribution system exhibited the greater performance degradation.;The results of the model analysis showed that operationally the hydrogen distribution system will be a viable alternative to an electrical distribution system. The more emphasis on hydrogen component development would further reduce component degradations, frequency of customer interruptions, and outage durations. |
