Abstract
The paper summarizes the results of a recent industry supported research and development study in which a novel framework for evaluating meaningful power system reliability and quality indices was developed and applied. The system-wide integrated performance indices are capable of addressing and revealing areas of deficiencies and bottle-necks as well as redundancies in the composite generation-transmission-demand structure of large-scale power grids. The novel technique utilizes a basic linear programming formulation, which offers a general and comprehensive framework to assess the harmony and compatibility of generation, transmission, and demand in a power system. Practical application to a portion of the Saudi power grid is also presented in the paper for demonstration purposes. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.