Electric Power Substation Reliability Analysis

1 . A method for managing an electrical power substation, the method comprising:

obtaining statistical reliability data for each of a plurality of components in the electrical power substation;

obtaining component condition assessment data for each of one or more of the plurality of components in the electrical power substation;

adjusting the statistical reliability data for each of one or more of the plurality of components for which component condition assessment data has been obtained, based on the corresponding condition assessment data; and

computing a substation reliability model, based on at least the adjusted statistical reliability data.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the statistical reliability data comprises, for at least one of the plurality of components, using a component age or a component manufacture data to retrieve statistical reliability data that corresponds to the component age or component manufacture date.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining service time data for each of one or more of the plurality of components, wherein computing the substation reliability model is further based on the obtained service time data.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating a component importance value for each of one or more of the plurality of components, based on the corresponding component's contribution to substation reliability as reflected in the computed substation reliability.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein calculating the component importance value for each of one or more of the plurality of components is based on the respective component's effect on one or more of:

power outage frequency;

power outage duration;

expected energy not supplied; and

cost of power interruption.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the calculating the component importance value for each of one or more of the plurality of components takes into account the respective component's effect on one or more particular load feeders.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising computing a maintenance cost for the substation, based on the computed substation reliability model.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising selecting from a plurality of maintenance strategies, wherein computing the maintenance cost for the substation is further based on the selected maintenance strategy.

9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising calculating a lifecycle operating cost for the substation, based on at least the computed maintenance cost.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying two or more technical modification plans for the substation, the technical modification plans each comprising a refurbishment, retrofit, and replacement, for one or more of the plurality of components;

recalculating reliability data for each component following the impact of the refurbishment, retrofit, and replacement action on their failure mode;

computing, for each of the two or more technical modification plans, a respective alternative substation reliability model, based on the respective technical modification plan and further based on at least the adjusted statistical reliability data; and

computing, for each of the two or more technical modification plans, a respective alternative lifecycle operating cost for the substation, based on the corresponding alternative substation reliability model.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein computing the alternative substation reliability models comprises adjusting reliability data for each of the replaced and/or refurbished components.