Traditional adequacy evaluation of power distribution systems does not consider the effect of momentary interruptions or voltage sags, assessing only sustained interruptions lasting longer than few minutes. This might lead to an overestimation of the performance of the distribution system, by neglecting failures/phenomena related with power quality concerns. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to integrate short-circuit analyzes with reliability adequacy assessment, providing a chronological perspective to the evaluation of the performance of power distribution systems. For this accomplishment, an algorithm based on sequential Monte Carlo simulation was developed to capture phenomena associated with short-circuit events. In this algorithm, resident time of components in temporary and permanent failures are sampled alongside fault impedance, fault section location, fault type, and phases involved. Furthermore, novel indices and test-functions for momentary and voltage sag events were designed to provide quantitative information regarding the service delivered.

 

The proposed approach was tested in a three-phase IEEE 34 node test feeder. Besides, the impact of distributed generation on the developed integrated assessment is also evaluated under the scope of the developed indices. The results obtained produced discussions regarding the necessity of combining short-circuit analyzes with reliability adequacy assessment. Additionally, they indicate that power quality concerns must not be underestimated in the performance assessment.