Distribution Service Restoration With Renewable Energy Sources: A Review

Distribution service restoration plays a vital role in mitigating the adverse impacts of power outages stemming from extreme weather conditions. With incentives toward reducing the carbon footprint of power generation on the environment and the reliance on fossil fuel resources, the future distribution networks are equipped with distributed renewable energy sources. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art frameworks proposed for service restoration in the distribution networks with renewable generation technologies. First, the objectives of the distribution service restoration and the challenges to accomplishing this task are discussed. Later, the existing approaches to restoring the distribution networks and the control architectures are presented. The contribution of microgrid technology and the models used to incorporate renewable energy resources in distribution service restoration are discussed. In this context, the application of artificial intelligence to distribution service restoration is highlighted, and potential research opportunities in distribution service restoration are presented.